DEEP SKY CHALLENGE : STELLAR TREASURES OF THE ARCHER AND SCORPION

Summer skies are stuffed full of amazing objects for your telescope - if you're prepared to stay up late

Summer in mid-northern latitudes gives us short nights that are never truly dark, which can wreak havoc on your viewing plans. However, they are dark enough to see some real celestial wonders. The Milky Way arcs almost from north to south at this time of year and brings with it all kinds of deep-sky gems, including open star clusters, globular star clusters and nebulae on which to feast your eyes. Down near the southern horizon you will find the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius, which are packed with many such objects.

For example, there's open star cluster Messier 7 - this object can be challenging for Northern Hemisphere observers as it is so close to the horizon during this time of the year. On the other hand, the exquisite Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is much more straightforward to spot.