There are around 5,000 stars which can be seen with the naked eye, though not all stars are visible at all times and places. With a small telescope, hundreds of thousands of stars can be seen.
Before venturing out to stargaze, align your purchased sky map for the correct day and time, or, if you're using the free sky maps from this website, be sure to enter the correct location and time before creating and printing your map.
In order to have the best views of the sky, you should try to find a nice size field, preferably with as little light around as possible to minimize the light pollution. Light pollution is any light around you which prevents your eyes from adjusting to the dark, thereby making star gazing more difficult. Your back yard may work just fine.
Now, lie on your back. It doesn’t matter which direction your head is pointed but be sure that when you hold up your sky map, the spot marked N is pointed north. Next, just like when we travel, we need to find landmarks we can recognize. Let's locate the Dippers.
