Eastern Vulpecula
By Shawn Grant
The summer Milky Way is one of the most spectacular sights of the night sky. It extends high in the north of Cygnus and reaches far south through Sagittarius. The most observed section of the summer Milky Way is the Sagittarius region. There are splendors such as M22, M18, M16 and M8. Vulpecula the fox is a little observed area except for the occasional glance at M27 or perhaps Collinder 399 better known as the coat hanger. If you dig a little deeper, Vulpecula has many treasures to explore. Be sure to have your binoculars ready because some of the objects on the tour are best seen with them.
We will start our tour of this magnificent area with the star Alpha Vulpecula. It is a 4.4 magnitude star just 3 degrees south of Albireo. This star will be a jump off point to certain deep sky objects. 30 minutes to the northwest is the open cluster NGC 6800. The cluster is 10 minutes in size and the stars range in magnitude of 10 to 13. The cluster is small, with faint stars. It is loose with little compression.
The next cluster is Stock 1 and this is best seen with binoculars. The cluster is 1 degree in size. It does look nice with a wide-angle eyepiece that yields over a degree field of view. The cluster is made up of a loose scattering of 7th to 12 magnitude stars. The over all appearance of the cluster looks like a butterfly. The cluster is great in binoculars.
Go back to Alpha Vulpecula and then move 2.7 degrees to the southwest to the cluster NGC 6793. This cluster can be very hard to pin point its exact location. The reason for this is because the star field is quite rich and the cluster is inconspicuous. This will be a good challenge. The cluster is 6 minutes in size. The stars are 10th magnitude or fainter.
Collinder 399 is a well-known binocular favorite. It has a distinctive shape that looks like a coat hanger. The cluster is large with a size of 1.25 degrees and the magnitude of the stars range from 7 to 10. The cluster is very pretty in binoculars and sharp-eyed observers can see the cluster naked eye.
On the eastern edge of Collinder 399 is the open cluster NGC 6802. The cluster has a small size of 3.2 minutes and is very faint. You will need a larger telescope to resolve the cluster. In a small telescope 6 inches to 10 inches you will see a small, faint hazy patch. With a larger telescope you will see individual stars that form a rectangle shape. The cluster is fairly rich and compressed. The cluster demonstrates a good challenge for observers. It is a good cluster to improve your adverted vision and other observing techniques.
Point your telescope to 13 Vulpecula. This will be a jump off point for the next set of objects. 2.4 degrees to the southwest lies the open cluster and nebula complex NGC 6823 and NGC 6820. NGC 6823 is the open cluster. It is 12 minutes in size with an over all magnitude of 7. The cluster is considerably rich with about 30 stars ranging magnitude 8th to 13th. The nebula NGC 6820 is a faint haze that surrounds the cluster. The nebula is best 
seen with a nebula filter.
1.7 degrees to the east is the open cluster NGC 6830. The cluster has a size of 12 minutes but most of the stars are contained within a 6-minute area. The stars are fairly faint from 10th to 15th magnitude. The cluster is rich and very compressed. It stands out very nicely against the background. It is one of the better clusters in this star hop.
The last object is the famed dumbbell nebula, M27. The planetary nebula got its name because it looks like a dumbbell. It is very bright and large. Be sure to experiment with your nebula filters on M27. Try your narrowband and OIII if you have one. They can yield surprising results. M27 is one of those objects you can observer for hours.
Eastern Vulpecula has many more objects then I have mentioned. The region has many dark nebula that can be a rewarding challenge. Be sure to explore the western portion of the constellation. It has just as many objects.