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Deep Sky


Orion Nebula
Ready to voyage beyond the Solar System? Here's what you can see.

urban observer
Here's how to hone your galaxy-hunting skills — and what to expect at the eyepiece.

Stars and charts
Expert observer Brian Skiff explains NGC, UGC, and everything in between.

The Eagle by Johannes Schedler
Today’s digital cameras are no longer limited to bright targets, such as the Sun, Moon, or planets. Even star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae are now fair game.

M13 globular cluster
You don't need a big telescope to be dazzled by deep-sky wonders, particularly if your target is one of the many lovely star clusters.

Open cluster NGC 7789
Open clusters are popular targets for deep-sky observers, particularly when composed of varied-color stars. Here are some treats for scopes both large and small.

M46, M47, and NGC 2423
The sky between the Big and Little Dogs may be poor in bright stars, but it’s rich in star clusters for small telescopes.

Globular Cluster M80
If you can find bright Antares in Scorpius, you can use our chart to find these half dozen globular star clusters with a telescope — and maybe even binoculars.

M22 in Sgr
Globular clusters are more concentrated in the direction of Sagittarius since that's where we find the center of the Milky Way. This area of the sky affords us opportunities to see several of these rich, ancient clusters in close proximity.

Horsehead Nebula silhouetted by IC 434
Nebulae are among the most beautiful sights in the night sky but their diffuse nature can make them challenging to locate. Here are a few interesting nebulae, and most are easy to spot.

Orion Nebula
When you leave the planets, moons, and comets of our solar system behind, you enter the realm of the deep sky, a place of subtle glows and faint lights.

The Helix Nebula
Despite its dodgy reputation, this planetary nebula is easy to find (for both Northern and Southern Hemisphere observers) if you go about it the right way.

Triffid Nebula
Amateur skygazers can spend hours roaming ghostly clouds of interstellar dust. You just need to know where to look.

NGC 2440
Butterflies of the Milky Way await scrutiny with telescopes small and large.

The Southern Cross with Alpha and Beta Centauri
On a long-awaited tour of the southern Milky Way, Alan Whitman discovers many splendid sights in far-southern skies.

Sagittarius and the summer Milky Way
If you think all galaxies are faint, fuzzy blobs, think again. Here are two easily-seen galaxies that will change your mind.

Galaxy Field near M92
Many interesting but faint objects are often overlooked when they're beside a "showpiece" object. A collection of galaxies near M92 are a good example of this.

M96
Even with a modest telescope and a poor sky, you can ferret out many faint, far galactic wonders by using a good map.

M100
Trained eyes and clear, dark skies can open up a new dimension in deep-sky observing.



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