Ade Ashford evaluates the first Dobsonian telescope to use your smartphone for real-time star alignment and object location. How does it work? Brilliantly!
NGC 6946 is a marvellously handsome-looking galaxy, with its enticing ‘pinwheel’ spiral structure set in a star-sparkling field for those imagers looking for the prettiest of pictures.
NGC 6791 is well placed on August nights; located under 10 degrees east of brilliant Vega (alpha [α] Lyrae), it rides high and can be observed throughout the darkening nights.
It’s quite an accolade for NGC 4565, a stunning edge-on galaxy in Coma Berenices that’s also known as Caldwell 38 and the Needle Galaxy, to be widely regarded as the finest in its class.
Messier 63 (NGC 5055), the Sunflower Galaxy in Canes Venatici, sits comfortably with its reputation as one of the great galaxies visible in the night sky at springtime.
Albireo (beta [β] Cygni) is unquestionably the finest colour-contrast double star in the entire heavens, providing an unmissable target on summer nights.