Start by finding the Summer Triangle, which consists of the three of the brightest stars in the sky--Vega, Deneb, and Altair. The Summer Triangle is high overhead throughout the summer, and it sinks lower in the west as fall progresses.
For this star hop, start from Deneb, the first-magnitude star that forms the tail of Cygnus, the swan (or if you visualize the brightest stars of Cygnus as a cross shape, Deneb is at the top of the cross).
From Deneb, the North America Nebula is just about 3 degrees to the east. It may be visible to the naked eye, and is a nice sight through binoculars on a dark night. With a telescope, it is best viewed with a wide-field eyepiece. There are faint patches of nebulosity and star clouds visible throughout the area. See if you can spot the dark nebula that represents the Gulf of Mexico.
