AstroPioneer

In this article we are going to discuss all three clusters in the Summer Triangle M29, M56 and M71 and how to find them. But first how to find the Summer Triangle? How to Find the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair) Click to enlarge Summer Triangle As mentioned in our Dumbbell Nebula article there are three stars and make up the Summer Triangle Vega (in Lyra), Deneb (in Cygnus), and Altair (in Aquila). The Summer Triangle asterism happens to consist of some of the brightest stars in the summer skies and in the northern hemisphere, which makes it easy to locate. As these will be located directly overhead during summer. High overhead in summer, Vega is the brightest of the three, with Deneb forming the upper-left point and Altair forming the lower point pointing south. How to find M29? Click to enlarge M29 star chart To start off with we will locate the open cluster M29, which is the easier of the clusters in the Summer Triangle to locate. To start with find the bright star D...

The Ring Nebula also known as Messier 57 (M57) is a great object to find in the summer months as it is bright enough to stand out against the lighter sky as well as being visible in telescopes of 60 millimetres aperture or larger. The nebula was discovered in January 1779 by Charles Messier is estimated to be between 1,000 and 5,000 light-years away from Earth. This is not a normal nebula, but a planetary nebula these occurs when a shell of ionized gas, usually mostly hydrogen and helium, is ejected from an old red giant star. Leaving a nebulas gas with a small hot central star. The central star in the Ring Nebula is too faint to be viewed in any telescope less than 12 inches in aperture. How to find the Ring Nebula? Click to enlarge Ring Nebula star chart To find the Ring Nebula first locate the bright star Vega one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere during summertime. Then head down from Vega and slightly to the south a short way away you will find two stars...