Re: Ring Nebula

Dear Savanna Dana:

The Ring Nebula (M57) looks very much like a white ring or a white halo.  
Once you see it you will know you have it!  There are several 
reddish/orange stars in the area of Lyra, so I cannot tell you for certain 
what star you saw. 

The reddish star "delta 2 Lyr" is at one of the corners of the 
parallelogram of Lyra.  It is near the edge of naked eye visibility, 
especially if you are observing from an urban area with light pollution. 
You may not see it without the telescope.  A good test to determine if this 
is the star you saw is to pick out where the corner stars of Lyra are (even 
if you cannot see them with your naked eye), then point your scope toward 
each of them. You may just recognize the star you saw last night!

Best Regards,

Rick 
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Richard T. De Van
Salt Lake City, Utah
rdevan@rtd1.com