How to Identify Lights in the Sky

Recognize the lights of an airplane. Many times in the night sky you will notice an object that continues to move in a straight line. You may not be able to see it completely, but you will notice that there are 2 bright white lights on each side, 1 bright light in the front and 1 red light on the back. Depending on how big the plane is, there may be several blinking lights on the bottom of the plane which is noticeable when it flies above you. A helicopter will not fly as high as a plane and will be recognized by the sound and the 1 bright light that shines down and outward. Helicopters will fly most frequently during the day.

You can easily identify the moon and the sun. At night, the moon can be seen in different places in the sky and in different phases, such as full, half or a quarter, depending on the time of month and year. The moon is much closer than any of the planets or stars and is highly recognizable in that it resembles a face. The sun is the brightest light of all and comes out only during the day. It provides energy and warmth to living beings on the earth and will harm the eyes if directly looked at.

Notice the stars and planets. These are the bright white lights that stay still in the night sky. Sometimes they will twinkle and sometimes you can see a slight touch of red or blue, which will depend on what is reflecting off from the sun's rays toward that particular planet.

Count the clusters of stars and planets in the sky. At night, you will be able to find several clusters that have more than 2 planets that appear to be close together. In high mountainous areas, you will find many clusters when there is a clear night sky.

Watch a shooting star in the sky. This is a light that can fly through the sky to only disappear out of the sky. These are actually asteroids and comets, which are pieces from planets that have broken off.