SALT LAKE CITY — With summer coming to an end and winter soon arriving, some of the best night sky viewing will be available with a calmer atmosphere.

To enjoy the beauty of the night sky, there's absolutely no need to purchase a high-power telescope. Seriously, for a beginning, amateur astronomer, all you really need is a clear sky and your own eyesight. There are plenty of objects you can view to become familiar with the night sky. Here are five objects that you can view easily with the naked eye.

1. The moon

It's probably best to start with our nearest neighbor, the moon. Our moon is our only natural satellite and is about a quarter the size of Earth. What appear to be featureless lunar plains, or maria, are actually pools of ancient basaltic lava. Within those plains, you can view some of the effects of impact cratering from objects colliding with the surface. We are fortunate to have a more interesting side of the moon facing us, since there are no maria on the far side of the moon.

While the moon may be geologically dead, there is plenty to see and lots of geography to study. If you use Google Earth and it happens to be cloudy outside, you have the opportunity to study the moon on your home computer. There are plenty of other resources available on the Internet and in your local library, where you should be able to get a lunar map.

2. Jupiter

You might call Jupiter, one of the brightest objects in the night sky, our Solar System’s vacuum cleaner . Its immense gravity attracts many of the lose objects floating around our system.

Jupiter's existence has been known since the 7th or 8th Century B.C.E. From Earth, with just the naked eye, this planet will appear to be a bright star. The clue that gives it away is Jupiter’s motion over time. If you track Jupiter over time on a map and compare it to other celestial objects, it will appear to move backward, stop, and then move forward again. In fact, if you track any of the planets over time, you will see this retrograde motion take place. If you have a small pair of binoculars, take a look at Jupiter. With minimal magnification you should be able to see the four Galilean moons of Jupiter.

3. International Space Station

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This celestial object is man-made and can easily be seen without any binoculars or telescopes. The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research that cannot be performed in any other way. Crew members can live and work there for extended periods of time to conduct experiments. The ISS will appear to be a slow moving, bright, white dot, that crosses the sky in anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. It can be seen immediately before dawn and after dusk. This provides the necessary contrast of the sun reflecting off the ISS while the sky and ground are just dark. If you want to know where the ISS is at any given moment, you can go to http://wheretheiss.at/.

4. The Milky Way Galaxy

To see the majestic Milky Way, you will need to be in a very dark place, away from the light of big cities and towns. With a clear sky, wait for your eyes to adjust. Once you are accustomed to the dark, look up and you should see a faint, cloud-like object going from horizon to horizon. It will be hazy in appearance and that is okay. You are now peering into our galactic home - a barred spiral galaxy. At the center of our home is what is believed to be a super massive black hole, which is in the vicinity of Sagittarius A. This black hole is believed to be 4.1 to 4.5 million times larger than our Sun.

5. The Orion Nebula

Our last object is in the constellation of Orion. Where is Orion? There are plenty of websites, magazines, and books that contain star maps. What we want to find is Orion’s Belt. This appears as three stars in a straight line, generally. We want to look in a straight line down from the middle star of this area. What you will see is called Orion’s Sword. The brightest object in this area is not a star, but a nebula. A nebula is a “cloud” of interstellar gas and dust. This object, the Orion Nebula or Messier 42, is one of the brightest nebulae visible to the naked eye. This object is studied quite frequently to better understand how stars and planetary systems are formed from clouds of collapsing gas and dust.

These are just a few objects that our night sky has to offer. Many nights spent observing the night sky can take place and, still, there will be plenty more objects available for our viewing pleasure. I have studied our night skies for over 30 years and am still amazed by the beauty and mysteries of the night sky. So, take a night off from your usual routine, go outside, and experience the wonders.

I am an amateur astronomer involved in multiple projects and member of Society of Amateur Scientists, Salt Lake Astronomical Society, and JPL Solar System Ambassador Program, and Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

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