Find a place away from street lights and give your eyes twenty minutes to adapt to the dark. A red torch keeps your night vision while you read a star chart. The Plough, part of the Great Bear, points to Polaris, the North Star. Planets such as Jupiter and Venus shine steadily, while stars twinkle. Ordinary binoculars show the craters of the Moon, the four largest moons of Jupiter and the Pleiades star cluster. Meteor showers peak in August and December.
