DEEP SKY CHALLENGE - DIVING DEEP INTO THE SUMMER SKY

Find the ghostly remains of dead stars, glittering ancient star clusters and a spectacular distant galaxy

Astronomy is, very generally speaking, the study of stars and everything to do with them - how they are born, live and die; how they work; the objects that go around them and much more. The sky in August and September offers the naked eye observer some of the most beautiful stars in the sky and the mottled band of the Milky Way, too, itself made out of countless billions of stars.

But beyond the stars, through their misty veil, lie objects that are as fascinating as they are faint and as beautiful as they are subtle. Four of our six challenging deep-sky objects this month are nebulae, one is a distant glittering star cluster and the sixth is another galaxy altogether, an elegant Catherine wheel of stars far beyond the boundary of our own Milky Way. All these objects are going to be a challenge for you if you live somewhere that isn't blessed with a dark sky - and a couple require a large telescope to see them - but they're all worth looking for.