Astronomy Learning the Constellations

You need to learn the Constellations and the brightest stars... to be able to make the best use of your telescope.... but even if you dont get a telescope... you should know the sky... it is useful information.. and besides, its fun !

The best way to start is by finding an "anchor"... there are only a few constellations that can be immediately recognised by anyone... start with one of these and spread out.... learn the ones adjacent.. and work your way out from there.

Start with one of these...
ORION
CRUX
CASSIOPEIA
CYGNUS
PEGASUS
SCORPIO
URSA MAJOR
Of course these are not all in the sky at the same time.... pick one... whichever one is in the sky this evening at the time that suits you best.... and stick with it... do your learning and observing at the same time of day.. several times a week

The sky will change slowly... and by the end of a year... you will know them all... if you havent given up before then...

There are 88 constellations.... but here are 20 of them that you DONT need to know much about.... why ?... because there isn't much there to look at !

The following have NO bright stars and no other objects worth looking at (unless you have your own observatory with a monster telescope)

INDUS
MICROSCOPIUM
TELESCOPIUM
SCULPTOR
PICTOR
FORNAX
ANTLIA
HOROLOGIUM
CAELUM
CRATER
CIRCINUS
CHAMAELEON
MENSA
OCTANS
APUS
LYNX
EQUULEUS
SEXTANS
HYDRUS
.... and although TUCANA has glorious objects.... they cannot be seen from BARBADOS.... so we could as well forget about him too