From city lights to deep space

PART 2 OF 4

When it comes to deep sky objects, in the summer the galaxies lying outside the plane of the Milky Way are setting and the marvels within our own Milky Way are on the rise. Urban observers don’t have as easy a time viewing the deep sky in summer, as the air tends to be humid and moisture scatters light pollution, making the sky brighter. Nevertheless, it is possible to see a multitude of distant and beautiful objects; you’ll just need to tailor what you are looking for according to the weather conditions. On humid summer nights look for bright star clusters, saving more difficult objects like galaxies for times when the weather is dry and the sky is dark.

Whatever the conditions, when deep sky observing there’s one characteristic that’s most important in the telescope you use – aperture, the size of its light-collecting lens or mirror. A telescope with an aperture of at least 200mm is recommended in areas with light pollution. However, one with a 250mm aperture will be as portable and only a bit more expensive –