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Star hopping will take some getting used to and objects that
don’t have stars near them that are visible to the naked eye are
challenging. One such object is M57, the famed Ring Nebula.
Here’s how to find it:
1. Find the constellation of Lyra, a small parallelogram visible in
the summer and fall months. Lyra is easy to pick out because
it contains the bright star Vega.
2. Start at the star Vega — Alpha (α) Lyrae — and move a
few degrees southeast to find the parallelogram. The four
stars that make up this geometric shape are all similar in
brightness, making them easy to see.
3. Locate the two southernmost stars that make up the
parallelogram — Beta (β) and Gamma (γ) Lyrae.
4. Point about halfway between these two stars.
5. Move about ½° toward Beta (β) Lyrae, while remaining on a
line connecting the two stars.
6. Look through the telescope, and the Ring Nebula should be
in your field of view. The Ring Nebula’s angular size is quite
small and difficult to see.
7. Because the Ring Nebula is rather faint, you may need to use
“averted vision” to see it. Averted vision is a technique of
looking slightly away from the object you’re observing. So, if
you are observing the Ring Nebula, center it in your field of
view and then look off toward the side. This causes light from
the object viewed to fall on the black and white sensitive
rods of your eyes, rather than your eye’s color sensitive
cones. (Remember that when observing faint objects, it’s
important to try to observe from a dark location, away
from street and city lights. The average eye takes about 20
minutes to fully adapt to the darkness. So always use a red-
filtered flashlight to preserve your dark-adapted night vision).
These two examples should give you an idea of how to
star hop to deep-sky objects. To use this method on other
objects, consult a star atlas, then star hop to the object of
your choice using “naked eye” stars.
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