Starla K. Lamb, age 9, of Farmersville, California, for her question:

Where can we see the Milky Way?

Choose a clear, starry night when there is no moon in the sky. Find a place far from the dazzling lights of a city and where the air is not murky with smog. Perhaps tonight is a good night to behold the Milky Way. Expect to find a very pale, glimmering arch that loops over the sky. Tonight, the brightest star that twinkles in the southern part of the sky is Antares. It is a dull red giant star in the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion.

The Milky Way is at its brightest in this part of the sky, though its pale glimmering veil is torn into two ragged scarfs. From here you can trace the sides of its arch looping down over the sky. On a clear, moonless winter night you may see the Milky Way near the North Star. From here you can trace each side of its arch down to the horizon. The Milky Way may look pale and ghostly. But actually it is made from billions of starry suns, so far away that their dazzling light grows dim and blurry.