The Swan, the moon’s pull, and seeing Saturn

Last month in my article, I wrote that mid-to-late summer is the most favorable period to see the Milky Way. In Texas as far south as we live, this also applies to September.

One of my favorite targets to view and image in the late summer is M17, the Omega nebula (or as I’ve known it all my life, “the Swan”). It lies in our far southern sky in Sagittarius. Note we see it in the northern hemisphere upside down.

The Swan is in the center with a curved neck and floating on water. It’s much easier to see it as a swan visually than in a photograph.