When people hear the term ‘astronomer’, most automatically W picture someone peering into a telescope. But you don’t need a telescope to see many of the amazing and beautiful things in the night sky. You can see many of the wonders of the universe using just your own eyes or binoculars. The telescope has allowed astronomers to see the planets of our Solar System in stunning detail and observe stars, nebulae and galaxies so far away that their dim light has taken millions or even billions of years to reach us. Telescopes make such faint objects look bigger and brighter, but they are totally useless for observing the big things beginners start out looking for, such as the shapes, or constellations, the brightest stars make in the night sky.
LEARN THE CONSTELLATIONS
You can use smartphone and tablet planetarium apps to help you identify the constellations
TOP NAKED-EYE TARGETS
The Milky Way
Observable: All year round, but best seen in summer and autumn
1 Late on a clear summer night, the sky is cut in half by a misty river of light. This is the Milky Way, a band of so many millions of stars that they appear to merge into one long, mottled trail. It looks at its best in summer and early
