Spark and Perl go looking
It looks like a dandelion I could blow.
Do not.
What is it really?
Hundreds of thousands of stars, packed into a ball.
What if I lived in the middle?
The nearest stars would be close enough to throw your shadow.
It would never get properly dark.
Then it is the best place in the universe to look at stars.
You would see nothing else.
…A sky that bright would drown everything behind it.
The good skies are the empty ones.
Which is why we drove out of town.
Yes — in summer, high in the sky.
You can see this from almost anywhere — but not the very far south.
Where to find the Hercules Cluster (M13), and when
Where the Earth is clear, it climbs high in the sky. The darker it gets, the lower it stays. Where it is black, it never comes up. No shading at all: it does not matter where you live.
What do I need to see the Hercules Cluster (M13)?
Binoculars with 10× magnification show it, if you rest them on a fence or a wall.
A 150 mm telescope is what shows it properly. This picture is about 25× — which is what that telescope gives on a good night.
It stays grainy rather than sparkly, and that is honest.
Space
Eyes, binoculars, or telescope?
Read on
Go and look