Deep Sky Observing

In my latest article in Sky & Telescope magazine, we take a tour of deep-sky sights on a side road off the summer Milky Way. Through the tiny constellations Sagitta, Vulpecula, Delphinus, and Equuleus, we find star clusters, nebulae, and fine double stars that make for splendid summer viewing with a small scope.

Click on the thumbnail to read the article (PDF format, 12MB). And consider getting your own subscription to the magazine to stay up to date on developments in the latest equipment, techniques, and research in astronomy.

So many galaxies, so little time! A good place to begin an evening of galaxy hopping on a northern spring or summer night is with the Messier galaxies M81 and M82 in the constellation Ursa Major (see above). Conveniently located by drawing a line through the Big Dipper stars Phecda and Dubhe and extending it an equal distance beyond the Big Dipper asterism, this is probably the finest galaxy pair in the sky. Separated by just 38 arc-minutes, both fit into the low power field of a small telescope. With a 22mm Panoptic eyepiece in my 8″ EdgeHD telescope, I had 93x and a field of view of 45 arc minutes, so I had to slew the mount a little from one to the other to see them both well [Read more…] about Hopping Galaxies in the Bear’s Den

In this month’s sky tour, we grab our optics (or our favorite smart telescope) and tour of a few of the deep-sky highlights of the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. Auriga lies along the relatively rich path of the northern Milky Way. And while it’s not Sagittarius, to be sure, the constellation has an eclectic selection of open clusters, nebulae, and interesting stars.  Southern-hemisphere stargazers can also spot the constellation over the northern horizon in December through February [Read more…] about Ambling Through Auriga