Cygnus with Its famous
North America Nebula (top) Is reproduced in color to show the approximate hue of the monocular's white-phosphor viewing screen.
Cygnus has other attractions to explore--including the
North America Nebula and the Veil Nebula--if you have a dark sky, detailed charts, and some skill in locating objects in a telescope.
In Cygnus there is I think a somewhat under-observed planetary NGC 7026, which lies north and east of the
North America nebula. It is quite bright, and should be easily seen with a medium sized scope.
MAGICAL: Star trail shot taken by Mike Dickson over Kielder.; SPECTACULAR:
North America Nebula in Cygnus by Mike Dickson, above.
There are open star clusters, M29 and M39 and The
North America Nebula, named due to its likeness in shape to that continent.
The
North America Nebula (NGC 7000) is a region of ionized hydrogen in the constellation Cygnus.
North America Nebula from the surrounding Milky Way with your naked eye?
For example, an image of NGC 7000, the
North America Nebula, showed some star clusters within this extended nebula.
Gendler's photo not only captures the
North America Nebula, it places it an unfamiliar context by showing the whole region wreathed in wispy nebulosity.
The entire Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair is high, with the iconic sights of those stars' constellations well-placed: M57 (the Ring Nebula) and Epsilon (e) Lyrae (the Double Double) in Lyra; and Beta (p) Cygni (the splendidly colorful double star, Albireo), the
North America Nebula, and Veil Nebula in Cygnus.
This time we return to Cygnus, but to bright rather than dark nebulae, and to one object in particular, the emission nebula NGC 7000, commonly known as the
North America Nebula. Some deep sky objects bear a slight resemblance to the object they are named after, and usually require a bit of imagination on the part of the observer to see the likeness; however with NGC 7000 the similarity is remarkable, detailed images looking just like satellite photographs of the North American continent with the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico particularly prominent.
Dark skies are a must, but at least the
North America Nebula's position is easy to pin down, just a couple of degrees east of Deneb.