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 brilliant blue-white Vega (magnitude 0), the brightest of the three stars of the Summer Triangle.
The constellation Lyra has a distinctive shape consisting of a small triangle (including Vega) connected to a parallelogram. Look for the southern-most star of the parallelogram, the one furthest from Vega, which is γ (Gamma) Lyrae. Just south of γ, there is a chain of 4 dim stars that will be visible through a finderscope or binoculars. Follow this chain to the southeast, as shown below. Get the last star in this chain centered in the eyepiece, then look less than 1/2 degree south to find M56.
