I'm sure this kind of question has been asked a million times over and did a search in the forums but just want to be clear. are there any deep space objects visible through a 6 inch dob from the metro los angeles area during this month. When the orion nebulae was up I could see that through my scope fairly easily but havent found any others I haver looked on the sky view cafe and through stellarium but havent located any through my scope and it's hard to tell if any of them will be visible to me. I don't expect much knowing about the light situation but if there are a few brighter ones.   Thanks

At this time of year, bright planetary nebulae such as M27, M57, and NGC 6543, open clusters like M6, M7, and M11, and globular clusters such as M3, M5, and M13 will be your best DSO targets.   You may be able to see the galaxies M81 and M82 too.  When Sagittarius is well-placed, the emission nebulae M8 and M17 should be visible.

There are a number of links on urban astronomy posted at http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=152

Two articles that you may want to consult are posted at
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/basics/3303991.html and
http://ezinearticles.com/?Urban-Astronomy---Seeing-the-Skies-in-Light-Polluted-Areas&id=1468200

Here are some lists of deep-sky objects that are visible from cities:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/projects/3074841.html

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/urban/urbanld.html

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=4744

Dave Mitsky

Open clusters are an urban stargazers best friend.

I'm in a similar position, got an 8" dob in sort of suburban, sort of urban skies. Galaxies are faint and don't show much detail in these conditions as far as I've discovered. Star clusters and nebulae are better targets. Also don't forget about double stars, they're easy to find and there's plenty of them in the sky.

Thanks I will check it out. The one thing I have to remeber is to let my telescope get adjusted to the outside air temp when pulling it out of the garage into the back yard.

 So far I haven't used my dob's cooling fan, I should try it.

 If you can afford one, a good light pollution filter will enable you to see objects like M57 better.

If you have transportation, you could join the a local club. In LA it is the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. They have a dark-sky site that is out of town in Lockwood.