Pocket Sky-Atlas Challenges for July

July Sky

With half the year gone, we now look forward 6 months of reunions with our old celestial friends. July is a good time to pull out the lawn chairs and do a little sit down binocular work. Hey, it’s Astronomy-to-Go, instead of Go-To Astronomy!

Star Party season is also in full swing. It is an interesting exercise to work through a list of objects at your usual observing site, and then compare the views to those you may find at your star party site. It also gives you a starting place to look under unfamiliar skies.

For those in more northern latitudes, waiting for darkness allows a bit of time to check out your equipment before starlight appears. Take a little extra time to get comfortable and set thing up to have them in easy reach.

 I’ve indexed the object to its star chart page.

Naked Eye

 

Eltanin and Rastaban, Page 52.
Rasalgethi and Rasalhague page 54. Two stars apparently close in the sky but are very different.
Kaus Borealis, Kaus Media and Kaus Australis, Page 67

 

Larger Scopes

 

M13, page 52.
NGC 6210, page 54.
NGC 5962 Page 55.
Blaze Star (T Coronae Borealis), Page 55.
Harvard 20, Page 64.

 

Small Scopes and Binoculars

 

Cebalrai, Page 54.

Marfik and Sabik Page56.
Epsilon Lyra, Page 63 (this will be nice in larger scopes as well).
Sulafat and Sheliak, Page 65.

 

Bonus Objects

 

NGC 6543, Page 51.
UGC 10822, Page 52.
IC 4665, Page 54.
Yed Prior and Yed Posterior, Page 56.

 

Happy Hunting!

Remember: Bug spray and optics do not blend well together.
Always spray well away from your ( or anyone else’s) equipment.

 

Published with permission of John Kulczycki, 2012 all rights reserved.

About the Author

I’ve been a freelance writer for more than 20 years, but I’ve been an amateur astronomer for longer than that. Astronomy is the one science that everyone can try and make significant contributions. All you need to do is take the first step and go outside to enjoy then night sky.

I’ll see you there!