Now is the time to go on that camping trip you have been putting off. When night comes, depending on your comfort level, either grab a cot or roll out a sleeping bag and look upward. Consider that the earliest recordings of the stars arose in the 3rd millennium B.C. By taking a night to focus on only the stars you are, in a sense, connecting with ancestors dating further back than you probably ever imagined.
If you have binoculars or a telescope this would be a great opportunity to use them, if not concentrate on the constellations and you won't be disappointed. Begin with either purchasing or downloading a sky chart. Match up one of the constellations on your chart to the stars in the sky and read the stars from that point.
Stories of the constellations make finding them in the night sky automatic. Once you have the constellations down, you can become more familiar with the independent stars that make up the constellations. Start with Andromeda. Find it on your Sky Chart and then pick it out of the stars in the night sky. The story goes that Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia who were the king and queen of Ethiopia. Andromeda's mother boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than that of the sea nymphs, they retaliated by asking Neptune to send the monster Cetus to cause destruction on Ethiopia. Cepheus consulted an oracle and found that the only way to appease the monster was to sacrifice her daughter to it. Andromeda was chained to a rock by the sea so she could be sacrificed, but before it happened, Perseus arrived and turned Cetus into stone with the head of Medusa, whom he had just killed.
Out of this story you have identified four more constellations, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Cetus, and Perseus. There are other constellations, all associated with a story. The Zodiac is the band of constellations the Sun, Moon, and planets transit through and is best known as your "sign:" Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Once you have these basic constellations down you will be able to begin identifying the individual stars that make them up. Invite your kids to learn with you. The stars can connect us to our past; teach us history stories, mythology and even different philosophies.
