Plan by type of object

Planets

Different planets are visible in the evening from year to year. You will need to look up what is visible when you use this plan. The bright, easy-to-see planets that might be in the sky in the evening are:

• Mercury (but it is always difficult to find low on the horizon
• Venus
• Jupiter
• Saturn

Everybody has heard of Mars, but it usually appears as only a pale orange dot. It is exciting when you know what it is, or if you can see surface features at high magnification, but Mars is usually not a successful choice for an easy target with youth.

Comets

Only occasionally does a bright comet appear in the sky.  If you hear of an opportunity to show one, take advantage of it.

Nebulas

The best nebulas are easy to see in other parts of the year.

The Milky Way contains many dust lanes, best seen now.

• • Trifid Nebula M20 in Sagittarius.

Galaxies

• • The Milky Way is high, spanning most of the sky in the summer..
  • The Whirlpool Galaxy M51 in Canes Venatici. A faint fuzzy, and so not a great target for kids, unless high magnification can make the spiral structure visible.
  • M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. Faint fuzzies, but the close association may give a feeling for how common galaxies are.

Open clusters

• The Big Dipper in Ursa Major, though it is so spread out it does not impress kids as a cluster. All but two of its stars are in the Ursa Major Moving Group. Technically, it has spread out more than groups we typically call clusters.
• Coma Berenices Cluster Mellotte 110 in Coma Berenices, high between Ursa Major’s handle and Virgo. Technically the entire constallation is not a cluster, but the Coma Berenices Cluster dominates the constellation.

Globular clusters

All globulars look like small faint fuzzies to kids. But summer features two that illustrate what a globular is:

• The Great Hercules Cluster M13 in Hercules. Best example.
• M3 globular cluster in Canes Venatici. Difficult to find. Right ascension 13h 42m 11.62s, Declination +28° 22′ 38.2″, halfway along a line from Arcturus to Cor Caroli.

Planetary Nebulas

• Dumbell Nebula M27 in Vulpecula, between Cygnus and Delphinius. Rises late at night in the spring, easier to find in the summer. Among the brightest planetary nebulas. Right ascension 19h 59m 36.340s Declination +22° 43′ 16.09″

Colored Stars

• Arcturus in Bootes (red giant, some class it as yellow)
• Antares in Scorpius (red giant)
• Regulus in Leo (blue giant)
• ρ (rho) Cassiopeiae is a yellow hypergiant, a very rare type of star. 23h 54m 23.0s +57° 29′ 58″. Below the line of Cassiopea formed by α (alpha) and β (beta).
• La Superba Y Canum Venaticorum, red carbon star in Canes Venatici. 12h 45m 24.2s +45° 24′ 49″.

Double Stars

• Albireo, beta Cygni in Cygnus. Many consider this the most beautiful double star in the sky.
• Mizar and Alcor in Ursa Major
• ι (iota) Cassiopeiae in Cassiopea
• Polaris (you will need high magnification to split the double)
• Cor Caroli carbon star in Canes Venatici, high, under the handle of the Big Dipper

Constallations

• Ursa Major, with asterism Big Dipper upside down
• Ursa Minor, with asterism Little Dipper
• Bootes
• Canes Venatici
• Corona Borealis
• Coma Berenices
• Hercules
• Lyra
• Cygnus
• Cassiopea
• Zodiacal constellations:
  • Leo
  • Virgo
  • Libra
  • Scorpius
  • Sagittarius
• Summer Triangle, an asterism composed of
  • Vega in Lyra
  • Deneb in Cygnus
  • Altair in Aquilla

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Plan in target order

Canes Venatici

story of King Charles and the hunting dogs

Cassiopeia

Ursa Major

Ursa Minor

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Story of a Star Life

Sagittarius Star Cloud

Birthplace of stars.

Vega

A main sequence star.

Saturn

Example of planet formation. Rings are common.

Albiereo in Cygnus

Many stars are found in pairs.

Coma Berenices

Open cluster. Stars are often born together, and are found in clusters after their creation.

Great Hercules Globular Cluster M13

A larger grouping of stars.

Milky Way Galaxy

An even larger grouping of stars. Galaxies are important structures in the larger universe.

Polaris

A blue giant. A large star may become this instead of a main sequence star.

Antares

A red giant. A main sequence star in old age may become this.

Dumbell Nebula M27 in Vulpecula

A planetary nebula. An older star sheds its outer layer to make a nebula. This is the brightest summer candidate.

Polaris B

A white dwarf is the core remnant after a giant loses mass. We probably won’t be able to distinguish the white dwarf

Crab Nebula M1

A supernova remnant. A supernova is another possible end of star life. This is not easy to see. A supernova might leave behind a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

Sagittarius A*

A black hole. You can’t actually see it, but you can point out the location of the black hole at the center of our own galaxy. A black hole is another possible end of star life.