Spotting Constellations

The Big Dipper looks like a ladle with seven bright stars. The two stars at the end of the bowl point straight to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris stays in the same spot all night while other stars seem to move around it. That is because it sits almost directly above Earth's north pole. Once you find the Big Dipper, you can always find north. Sailors and hikers have used this trick for centuries.

Constellations are connect-the-dots pictures made from stars. The Big Dipper is part of a bigger constellation called Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Orion the Hunter has a famous belt of three stars in a row. Cassiopeia looks like a W or M in the northern sky. Start with the brightest patterns. Use a star map or app to match what you see. On a clear night away from city lights, you can spot dozens of constellations.

At night, the North Star is your best guide. Face Polaris and you face north. Your right hand points east, left hand west, back faces south. The Big Dipper rotates around Polaris through the night and across seasons, but the pointer stars always aim at it. In the daytime, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. At noon in the northern hemisphere, shadows point north. These natural clues work anywhere you can see the sky.