On the clearest and darkest night, you might be able to see 2500 stars in the sky. You might also see a cloudy path across the sky. That is the faint glow from the other 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. You can also see some of the planets in our solar system. With binoculars or a telescope, you may even catch a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy.

Venus is easy to see in our sky. It reflects the Sun’s light so brightly that people can mistake it for a star. Mars and Jupiter can be easy to spot—sometimes only the Moon and Venus are brighter in the night sky. Look for Mercury early in the evening or in the early morning, when the Sun is below the horizon.

Have you ever imagined that the clouds look like animals? Sometimes people connect the dots and imagine that the stars make shapes, too. Many cultures have traditional stories about the shapes they imagine in the starry sky. Some stories are about magical animals. Others are about ancient battles or gods.