FINDING NORTH
For Northern Hemisphere skywatchers, the sky provides a bright star close to the north celestial pole which is a good place to start. Just find the Big Dipper (in Ursa Major), mentally draw a line joining the two stars at the end of the bowl, extend it five times, and you're at Polaris.
This is easy if the Big Dipper is in the sky, which it is from mid-northern latitudes every evening of the year. However, in fall and winter you may not be able to see
it unless you have a clear northern horizon. From the southern United States, the Dipper lies below the horizon on winter evenings. If the Dipper is low, then the W shape of Cassiopeia, on the other side of the pole, will be high. It does not point the way as clearly as the Dipper, but it will give you an idea of the direction of the Pole Star.
FINDING SOUTH
For Southern Hemisphere skywatchers, finding south is not quite so easy. But although the south celestial pole is not marked by a bright star, there are several well known ways to find the pole. The easiest is to simply extend the long arm of Crux, the Southern Cross, four and a half times to reach close to the pole.
The Big Dipper can lead you to other stars and constellations in the sky. Joining the three stars in the handle forms a curved line or arc. If you extend the line away from
the Dipper you can "arc to Arcturus", the brightest star in Bootes, the Herdsman, and then "speed to Spica", in the same direction,the bright star in Virgo. Judging these distances in the sky can be tricky to begin with, it just takes a little practice.
You can devise your own star hopping journeys. Start at a bright star and move around the sky, one star at a time, until you reach your destination. Constellations containing a particularly bright star are marked with a special symbol in the constellation charts.
BRIGHT CONSTELLATIONS
In finding your way around the sky, it's apparent that a few constellations are bright and easy to find. For example, Orion is prominent in the sky from most locations in the first few months of the year. More or less opposite Orion in the sky is Scorpius, which is prominent in the northern summer (southern winter) sky. Other well-known landmarks include the Big Dipper in Ursa Major, the W shape of Cassiopeia, Leo with its sickle, the Great Square of Pegasus, and Crux, the Southern Cross.
