The constellation Sagittarius is at the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy and there are wonderful deep space objects around it including four great nebulae: Lagoon, Trifid, Omega and Eagle. From a dark site all of these can be found in binoculars but they are at their best in a telescope.
Of these the Eagle Nebula is the most difficult to find because it is the dimmest. However it might just be the most famous -- years ago it was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope and the image, named Pillars of Creation, made quite a sensation. Look this up at Wikipedia and you'll understand why it became so famous.
Viewing Eagle Nebula/M16
Level
Challenging
Rating
Best Viewing
June to October
Find
Start by finding the teapot asterism in the constellation of Sagittarius. Then use the two stars that form the spout including bright Kaus Media to form a triangle with the Lagoon Nebula as the third point. Using binoculars, look up (north) to find the Trifid Nebula and then further up and left (north-east) to find the bright Omega Nebula. Continuing look up (north) until you find the Eagle Nebula. It is much dimmer than the Omega. See the map above and the links below for help.
From a dark, moonless site, biinoculars will reveal glowing nebulosity and stars.
For the best views, use a telescope. Begin with low power to center it. Then switch to higher power to see the beautiful wisps of gases and countless bright stars. The larger the telescope, the better the views. Take time to enjoy the view! Try drawing it.
