The steel-blue afternoon sky inspired me to rally my stargazing buddies for a night of observing. At 8:45 PM, the two of us rumbled up the winding road to Bürg in Mike’s "Ford Galaxy." From there, we saw a blood-red crescent moon resting on the horizon behind the town of Winnenden. Anticipation for great conditions began to build!

After driving another 20 minutes into the Swabian outback, we arrived at a high plateau in the Swabian Forest—far removed from streetlights and their intrusive stray light. You need at least two ranges of hills in between to escape the light pollution from Stuttgart and the Rems Valley!

My nice "stroll-and-gaze" telescope—an old Jaegers 6" f/5 refractor—was quickly set up.

While Mike was still assembling his beautiful 12.6" f/6 Dobsonian, I already had Messier7 in my field of view, framed by the treetops. The "Butterfly Cluster" is one of the southernmost objects that can be glimpsed from the Swabian Forest.

The constellation Sagittarius offered up a succession of globular clusters for viewing: Messier69, Messier70, Messier54, NGC 6624, NGC 6522, and M28, as well as the beautiful Messier22. M22 is already resolved at 25x magnification in a 6-inch telescope. A 3.3° field of view allows for a easy star hopping among these objects.

Messier55 is located somewhat apart, further to the east. Its stars are too faint to be resolved individually in a 6-inch telescope; it appears as a cotton-ball-like patch about 1/4° in size, with no central concentration. Mike’s 12.5-inch telescope resolves this globular cluster into individual stars.

As I turn towards the center of the Milky Way, I come across Messier8 and Messier20. Both are visible within the field of view of my Jaeger telescope at 25x magnification.

With a 2" Astronomik UHC filter, M8 displays stars beautifully embedded within the nebula. A dark dust cloud—the Lagoon—divides this lovely object.

In M20, dark lanes are visible that divide the nebula into three parts. In Mike's 12.5-inch telescope, both objects appear individually more detailed and impressive.

Bei M20 sind Dunkelschläuche , welche eine Dreiteilung des Nebels bilden erkennbar.
In Mike,s 12,5" werden beide Objekte einzeln detaillierter und eindrucksvoller gezeigt.

However, seeing both objects—suspended in space within the same field of view and revealing the details that give them their names through the 6-inch Jaegers—delights Mike as well.

Moving on—again without a filter—I passed the unassuming Messier21, an open cluster near Messier24 (the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud). This carpet of glittering stars, measuring roughly 1° by 1.5°, is another magnificent sight in the 6-inch scope.

The search for NGC 6567, a planetary nebula near M24, was abandoned after a few attempts. At 25x magnification, an object measuring 0.1 arcminutes is simply too small.

A shift of about 1.5 fields of view (FOV) eastward from Messier24 reveals Messier25, while a similar shift of 2 FOVs to the west-southwest reveals Messier23; I find Messier18 one FOV (with a width of just over 3°) above the Sagittarius Star Cloud. All of these are open star clusters in the summer Milky Way.

When Messier18 is centered in the field of view, a delicately structured form—the beautiful gas nebula Messier17—appears at the top edge of the image in my Jaegers telescope. The English name "Swan Nebula" is far more fitting for the view in a 6-inch instrument than the German designation "Omega Nebula."

If you position Messier17 at the bottom edge of the field of view (the 6 o'clock position), another beautiful object—the star cluster Messier16—appears at the 1 o'clock position. With a UHC filter, IC 4703, which envelops M16, becomes visible. Using a 6-inch telescope, one can also easily appreciate why the nebula is named "The Eagle" by observing its structure.

The next object is Messier11. Nestled at the edge of the Scutum Star Cloud, it is a showcase object for a comet-hunting telescope. Right in the middle of the cloud's northwestern boundary, the dense star cluster stands out brilliantly against its surroundings. This impression of beauty cannot be fully appreciated with larger instruments.

Below the Scutum Star Cloud, about 3° to the south, I find the globular cluster NGC 6712, which forms a lovely pair with the planetary nebula IC 1295—an object that is only just discernible in a 6-inch telescope. Using a UHC filter alters the view in favor of the planetary nebula.

The next object takes me southeast toward the border with Capricorn: the planetary nebula NGC 6818. Measuring just 0.4 arcminutes across—and having already swept past it twice—I spot it as a tiny disk of nebulosity at 25x magnification. Now I understand why I failed to find the 0.1-arcminute NGC 6567 near M24.

he nearby galaxy NGC 6822—also known as Barnard's Galaxy—remains invisible to me, despite its position being precisely located in the 6-inch telescope.

10° to the southeast, I find Messier75, a globular cluster that appears bright and strongly concentrated.

Moving another 15° or so to the northeast—past the triangle of Capricorn and into the constellation Aquarius—I pass the globular clusters Messier72 and Messier73 (the latter actually consisting of just four stars) to reach the planetary nebula NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula. The Jaeger refractor’s pinpoint star images make it easy for me to spot the small green disk at 25x magnification.

In Mike’s 12.5-inch telescope, viewed at 280x (using a 7mm Nagler eyepiece), it appears as an oval green disk with two attached jets—the "ansae" that give the object its name.

Next, I seek out the globular cluster M30 in Capricorn. As I gaze at the small, concentrated cotton ball, I am reminded of how out of reach this object is during Messier Marathons held on spring nights at our latitudes.

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is an easy target when viewed with a UHC filter in the region between Aquarius and Capricorn. At 25x magnification, the 6-inch Jaegers telescope reveals a striking, filled-in ring about half the diameter of the Moon.

At the northern border between Aquarius and Pegasus, I visit the beautiful globular cluster Messier2, which is resolved at the edges at 25x magnification.

After slewing the telescope four fields of view to the north, I arrive at Messier15 in Pegasus.

After that, I feel like looking at the Milky Way again—this time, the section in Cygnus.

First, the Cirrus Nebula is centered in the field of view. The brighter eastern arc (NGC 6992) and the "Witch's Broom" (NGC 6960)—also known as Pickering's Triangular Wisp—just barely fit into the field of view of the Jaeger eyepiece. With the UHC filter, the delicate structure of the "Witch's Broom" in the center of the image also becomes visible.

The nebulae around Gamma Cygni are also visible with the UHC filter within the field of view, which spans over 3 degrees.

When the field of view is panned toward Albireo, the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) comes into view. Its shape reminds me of a human ear pierced with stars.

To the naked eye, a small dark cloud bordered by a bright, hook-shaped feature is visible east of Deneb. Through 7x50 binoculars, this hook-shaped feature can be identified as the North America Nebula.

A little further south—with the North America Nebula positioned at the edge of the field of view—the structure of the Pelican Nebula (IC 5067) is visible at 25x magnification. Excellent transparency at the zenith!

The nebulae around Gamma Cygni are also visible with the UHC filter within the field of view, which spans more than 3 degrees.

Unfortunately, the horizon is becoming increasingly hazy, so after swinging northward to Kemble's Cascade in Camelopardalis—as well as the lovely star cluster NGC 1502 and the planetary nebula NGC 1501—we decide to slowly wind down the evening. Through Mike’s 12.5-inch telescope, a faint greenish ring is visible around NGC 1501, within which the tiny central star occasionally flashes into view when using averted vision.

While Mike is busy dismantling the equipment, I use the time for a quick excursion to Messier 31/32/110 and the Triangulum Galaxy (Messier33).

I also take a brief look at the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) in Cassiopeia using a UHC filter. Three-quarters of the "nebula-cake" are clearly visible, appearing somewhat frayed at the cut edges.

There is one more thing I left out: Observing Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius with Mike's 12.5-inch telescope.

A nocturnal hunting call from the starry sky in the heart of the Swabian Forest – by Gerd