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 two southern stars of the parallelogram, those furthest from Vega. The Ring Nebula is about 2/3 of the way from γ (Gamma) to β (Beta) Lyrae. It may be too dim to see through a finderscope, but point your scope between those two stars and look through the telescope with a low-power eyepiece for the oval ring. Then use higher magnification for a better view.
