What to photograph in July

The North America Nebula in Cygnus looks like the continent, with a dark lane for the Gulf of Mexico.

M39 is a large, sparse open cluster in Cygnus, roughly triangular, with bright stars spread widely.

M15 is one of the densest globular clusters known.

M2 is one of the larger and richer globular clusters, a ball of well over a hundred thousand stars in Aquarius.

The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and densest open clusters in the sky, a wedge of thousands of stars in Scutum.

The Dumbbell Nebula is a large, bright planetary nebula in the small constellation Vulpecula, the shell of gas thrown off by a dying star.

IC 1396 is a very large emission nebula in Cepheus surrounding a hot, bright star.

The Witch's Broom is the western arm of the Veil Nebula, the remains of a star that exploded in Cygnus roughly 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.

The Eastern Veil Nebula is a bright arc of the Cygnus Loop, the expanding shell of a star that exploded thousands of years ago.

The Pelican Nebula is a large emission nebula in Cygnus, separated from the North America Nebula by a band of dark dust.

The Eagle Nebula is where the famous Pillars of Creation live: columns of gas and dust where new stars are forming.

The Crescent Nebula is a shell of glowing gas in Cygnus, blown out by the fierce wind of a Wolf-Rayet star.

The Iris Nebula is a blue reflection nebula in Cepheus, lit by a bright young star.

M26 is a small, faint open cluster in Scutum with an unusual gap of dim stars in its middle, thought to be a region where dust blocks the light.

M56 is a small, faint globular cluster in Lyra, sitting in a rich star field midway between Albireo and Gamma Lyrae.

M71 is a small, loose globular cluster in Sagitta, so open in structure that for a long time it was debated whether it was a globular or a dense open cluster.

M29, the Cooling Tower Cluster, is a small open cluster in Cygnus, a few degrees from Sadr (Gamma Cygni).

The Ring Nebula in Lyra is a small, neat smoke ring of gas around a dying star.

NGC 6820 is a faint emission nebula in Vulpecula, together with the open cluster NGC 6823 beside it.

The Fireworks Galaxy is a face-on spiral on the border of Cepheus and Cygnus that has hosted around ten recorded supernovae.

M72 is a faint, distant globular cluster in Aquarius.

The Cat's Eye Nebula in Draco is a small, bright planetary nebula with an intricate structure of nested shells and jets, plus a much fainter halo around it.