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, look to the southwest for Sadr, the magnitude 2 star at the center of the Cygnus cross shape and then southeast to Epsilon (ε) on the eastern arm of the cross. Then look 4 degrees to the south for 4th magnitude 52 Cygni, which almost touches the brightest streak of NGC 6960. To find NGC 6992-5, move 3 degrees to the east.
