How to navigate through stars?
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Use the North Star like you would a compass.\n\nThe North Star is a title of the star best suited for navigation northwards. A candidate must be visible from Earth and circumpolar to the north celestial pole. The current one is Polaris. It is the star at the end of the "handle" of the Little Dipper asterism in the constellation Ursa Minor.\n\nThe North Star has been historically used by explorers to determine their latitude. At any point north of the equator the angle from the horizon to the North Star (its altitude) is the same as the latitude from which that angle was taken. For example, the angle to the North Star for a person at 30° latitude will be about 30°.\n\nPolaris has a visual magnitude of 1.97 (second magnitude). In 3000 BC the faint star Thuban in the constellation Draco was the North Star. At magnitude 3.67 (fourth magnitude) it is only one-fifth as bright as Polaris. The first magnitude star Vega will be the North Star by AD 14,000.\n\nCurrently, there is no South Star as useful as Polaris; the faint star σ Octantis is closest to the south celestial pole. However, the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, points towards the south pole.
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Download and run the program Stellarium from sourceforge.\n\nIts open source, and if you give it your location and the date/time it will show you the night sky for you locally and identify all of the constellations.
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Step 1: find a place where the horizon is at the same altitude above sea level as the place you are standing. Standing on the coast or a boat, looking out to sea is best.\nStep 2: Look South from the northern hemisphere and north from the southern hemisphere\nStep 3: Take the reading at 12 noon (no Day Light Saving allowed.)
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If you want to know the names of celestial objects, you need to be familiar with landmarks in the celestial sphere, such as Polaris, the Big Dipper, Orion, etc. These are easy to find constellations and stars that provide guides to harder to find objects. Get a star gazing guide, or the excellent Starry Night Pro software: http://www.starrynight.com/ .\nIf you mean how to tell satellites from planets and stars, note that objects near Earth do not scintillate (twinkle) like stars. Most satellites move very fast, and are obviously moving too fast for the Earth's rotation to be the only cause. Planets are extremely bright compared to stars and do not scintillate.\nDon't expect to see nebulas and other faraway objects without a (good, not department store style) telescope or a strong pair of binoculars. The only galaxy you can see with the naked eye is our own, the Milky Way, and at that only in non-light polluted areas. I have never seen the Milky Way from NYC, but from the equator, it's a beautiful sight (it's a milky white band across the sky).
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These days, ships navigate using a GPS unit.  They triangulate a position between a ship and at least 2 satellites.  GPS readings  are accurate to within yards of a location.  In the past, a Sextant and charts were used.  You sighted thru the Sextant at either the sun during day time or at particular stars during the night and compared what you saw to indicators on your charts and achieved a relative location ... not an exact science.   You can find detailed descriptions of navigation aids on line or in the library.
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Use the "Fn" key and the key that looks like a sun.  One is up and the other is down.
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Download Stellarium from Sourceforge. You can have the night sky as it looks from your home on your PC then.
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Learn as much as you can, get the best optics you can afford (telescope, or just a plain old pair of binoculars will do)..... and practise observing every chance you get.\n\nThe Moon, Jupiter + Orion are good objects to practise on (when visible).\n\nSTARRY NIGHT is a great piece of software to learn about the Sky http://www.starrynight.com and figure out where everything's supposed to be before you go out observing.\n\nA copy of "Kingfisher Pocket Guides: Astronomy" (ISBN 0-7534-0743-4) is great to help you learn about what's in the sky in more detail - It may be small, but there's more information in there than you'd believe possible for a book that size.\nWhile "Collins Gem: STARS" (ISBN 0-00-717858-1) is great for teaching you about the Stars & Constellations in more detail (despite also being small).\n\nAlso, read ASTRONOMY NOW, ASTRONOMY + SKY&TELESCOPE magazines every month to find out about upcoming events & new discoveries.\n\nAbove all, learn to walk before you can run (in other words learn the basics before you try any of the more advanced stuff so you can tell the difference between a new discovery and something that's already been discovered ages ago).
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Except for stars nearest the Pole Star, all stars move in one single direction all the time --- east to west. This isn't because the stars are moving but instead because Earth is rotating.\n\nIf you're seeing stars moving 'rapidly' and 'sporadically' you're either not observing stars, or you should tell me where you're gettin' that good stuff :)
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Well, in a very general sense, it's best to view stars and *some* planets between 10pm and midnight.  You'd have to look up the positions of each planet (or the major ones, anyway) to figure out when all of them are in sight.
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There are lots of meteor shower Web sites out there, but the very best Web site for getting your directions straight and seeing some awesome satellites (including the International Space Station quite often) is called Heavens Above.  Just plug in any location for any time and it will give you superb constellation, planet and satellite path maps.  Note: If you print out the maps, be sure to hold them above you because the printout is aligned so that you hold it above you as you're looking up at the stars at the same time.  Superb data presented in a simple and fun format.
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Go to the site below. After putting in your location by following the instructions, you can get a list of all bright satellites, including Hubble and the ISS passes at your place.
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look at the star on the left
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check this site...\nhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/stars/index.shtml
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Same direction as the Sun and the Moon, to the west.\n\n---Addition----\nChristina has a good point. If you were close to one of the poles, the stars would be just turning around and you could not tell if it is west or east direction.
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The stars emit particles that reach us.
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check www.space.com or go http://nightskymag.com/