THE richness of the night sky in summer is exemplified by the splendour of thousands of brilliant stars and constellations scattered on a velvet backdrop. As darkness falls on balmy summer evenings, our perennial signpost, the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major, can be seen in the northwest sky. Its handle will point toward Arcturus, the brilliant orange star that marks the constellation Boötes the Herdsman. To the southwest of Arcturus is Spica, which is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.
The "crown jewels" of the summer sky are three brilliant stars in the eastern sky -- Vega, Deneb, and Altair. They form a prominent pattern known as the Summer Triangle. They belong to different constellations though -- Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Altair in Aquila the Eagle.
Vega, the first star to appear after sunset, will be high overhead. It is the brightest of the three -- brilliant blue-white that glistens like a diamond. Vega represents part of the Harp's handle, while four faint stars depict the instrument's main body where the strings are strung. Near Vega lies the double star, Epsilon Lyrae.
To the east of Vega lies the triangle's second star, Deneb. It marks the tail of the Swan. Deneb is a supergiant star that is about 70,000 times as powerful as the Sun. Below and to the southeast of Vega is Altair, the third star of the Summer Triangle and the one farthest south. It is the second brightest of the three, but brightest star in the constellation Aquila. Just east of Altair is the constellation Delphinus the Dolphin. It is one of the smallest constellations in the sky.
To the north of Deneb lays the constellation Cepheus the King. Shaped rather like a bishop's hat, the southern corner of Cepheus is marked by a compact triangle of stars that includes Delta Cephei. This famous star is the prototype of the Cepheid variable star used to determine distances to distant galaxies. Sitting just northeast of the King is his wife Cassiopeia the Queen of Ethiopia.
Hugging the southern horizon are the Zodiacal constellations Sagittarius the Archer and Scorpius the Scorpion. Scorpius is one of the few constellations that distinctly resemble the object after which it has been named. Its brightest star, Antares, is a fiery red supergiant star whose name means rival of Ares, the Greek God of War. Sagittarius has no obvious shape, though it is often nicknamed the Teapot; its brightest star is Sigma. Three other Zodiacal constellations visible in the summer months are Libra the Balance, Capricornus the Goat, and Aquarius the Water-Bearer. Libra can be seen in the southwestern part of the sky while the other two are closer to the southeastern horizon.
The region enclosed by lines joining Vega, Altair, Antares, and Arcturus is occupied by three large but faint and ill-formed constellations -- Hercules the Strongman, Ophiuchus the Serpent-Bearer, and Serpens the Serpent. Ophiuchus, though not officially classed as a constellation, intrudes into the Zodiac between Scorpius and Sagittarius.
Stretching from the northern horizon in Perseus, swinging through the constellation Cygnus overhead, and down to Sagittarius in the south, there will be a hazy patch containing hundreds of millions of stars, star clusters, nebulae, double stars, and variable stars. It is the Milky Way, our galactic home.
Filled with a treasure chest of sparkling jewels and the heavenly trinity, the beauty of the night sky in summer is for the eyes and mind to behold. Awed at the harmony in the seeming chaos of the heavens, a euphoric Ptolemy wrote: "When I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth."

The writer is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Fordham University, New York.