Summer nights in the northern hemisphere are very beautiful and impressive. Thousands of stars can be seen in the sky. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but you can learn to identify most summer constellations and use them as a guide by simply using the following steps.
Steps
Step 1. The image shown represents a typical summer night (in this case it is July 14 at 21:00 local time (22:00 summer time) at approximately 35 ° North (near the latitude of the cities of Memphis, Tennessee (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Tehran (Iran))
If you look straight up, heading south, you will notice that there are three stars on the left (east) side. These stars are Vega, Altair, and Deneb. They form an asterism known as the Summer Triangle
Step 2. Now that you found the Summer Triangle, you can identify the three constellations that are associated with these stars
Lyra, the harp; Aquila, the eagle; Cygnus, the swan.
Step 3. To the right (west) and a little north, you will find the Carro or Cazo, which is another asterism (to be described later)
Follow the curve of the handle south until you reach a very bright star. This star is Arthur or Arcturus, which is bright orange in color. This star marks the constellation of Boötes, the ox herder.
Step 4. Now you can locate another bright constellation
This is perhaps the most attractive constellation of the summer, it is called Scorpius, the scorpion, located to the south. The brightest star in Scorpius is Antares, a red giant.
Step 5. Now that you have located the brightest constellations, you can use them to locate the dimmest constellations
Draw an invisible line from Deneb through Vega heading west. This will take you to the constellation Hercules, the hero.
Step 6. Now move west back to the bright star Arcturus
Since you've made the arc that led you to Arcturus, you can now draw a line to Spica. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, the virgin.
Step 7. Now move south towards Scorpius, to locate the Teapot asterism, made up of the brightest members of the constellation Sagittarius, the archer
An interesting fact is that the area just above the spout of the kettle and between Scorpius marks the direction of the center of the Milky Way, our galactic home.
Step 8. Now move north
At first the Carro or Cazo was referred to as an asterism. It is actually part of a larger constellation known as Ursa Major or Carro Mayor. If you follow an invisible line from the two stars that are opposite the handle (the pointers), you will notice that they point almost directly towards Polaris or the Pole Star, which is at the end of the Ursa Minor handle, which is another asterism.
Step 9. If you follow the line through Polaris, you will come to a constellation that lies almost directly opposite Ursa Major
This constellation is called Cassiopeia, the queen, one of the largest that can be seen during the fall.
Step 10. Finally you can locate one of the 88 smaller official constellations
It is located a little east of the Summer Triangle. This constellation is called Delphinus, the dolphin. It really is shaped like a dolphin.