Early Sky Watchers
The Chinese were not only one of the first but the culture that left us the most complete records of what they could see. In 4 Bc. A man called Shih-sen produced a list of 809 stars, grouping them into 122 asterisms (close groupings). Finding that we only use 88 today you can fully understand how complete this ideas was. But Finding these shapes are not that easy for many people. Or so they think. Scientific accuracy is not prominent here. It is about picking up a part of the sky and being able to share it with someone far away.
How to start observing the sky
* You need patience, time warm clothing, a comfortable chair and a star map. Later you may ad a binocular ad much later a telescope.
* Start reading children books about astronomy until you know the rotation of the earth and why the stars appear to move while a particular night. Once that you try to understand why the sky will change while the months of the year.
* Now take out the map and find out if there is a major constellation (group of stars) in the sky. Even elementary maps will show you at least the stars in summer, winter, autumn and fall. This is a great place to start.
* Now try to find one of the brightest stars indicated by a bigger white dot. From there you build your constellation. Once you have one, you soon find the rest.
* Many are small and you need to use a little imagination. But you can fantasize right?
* Constellation such as Orion, the southern cross, the Big Dipper, Taurus and Scorpio are some of the easier groups to spot.
Start doing a little at a time and soon you will see them leap out at you. Th Moon is an exquisite celestial body to supervene and soon you will be an expert, knowing where the moon is, what time it will rise and in which phase it is.