This evening we'll turn our backs on the sunset and find some stars that will rise all night. And if you're willing to stay up past midnight or get up before dawn, you can find two of the easiest-to-spot objects in the entire sky, Saturn and Jupiter.

The east is bereft of really bright stars, but there are a few fairly bright ones that stand out against the background of even dimmer points of light.

Low in the east is Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation Aries, the Ram. Hamal is a dying star, swollen to about 15 times the size of our Sun. As dying stars go, it is fairly normal -- a lot like what our Sun will be in a few billion years.

Use Hamal to find Sheratan, another star on the Ram's forehead.

Now hold your arm out, make a fist and count four fist-widths to the right and you'll see another of the eastern sky's few reasonably bright stars, Deneb Kaitos. This star forms part of the tail of the Whale or Sea Monster that is the constellation Cetus.

One thing you can count on with stars that begin low in the east: like the Sun or the Moon, they will rise higher into the sky during the night, owing to Earth's daily rotation about its axis. For that reason, you'll need to find these stars near 9 p.m. if you plan to use the accompanying map. Or, later in the night, you can use the map -- but count on everything being higher.

Higher in the evening sky is a recognizable star pattern called the Great Square of Pegasus. These four stars form a nearly perfect square. Though each star is only moderately bright, they're relatively easy to locate because there are no stars nearby that are as luminous. The square marks the body of the Flying Horse, Pegasus, one of the 88 official constellations.

It's interesting to note, however, that one of the stars in the Great Square -- Alpheratz -- actually sits outside the Pegasus constellation proper. Alpheratz, at the lower left of the square right now, is part of the Andromeda constellation. There's a reason: Apheratz connects Andromeda, the Lady, with Pegasus, which is said to have carried Perseus to Andromeda's rescue.

Later in the night, a much brighter objecst will grace the eastern sky. Around 11 p.m. local time, Saturn rises, shining at magnitude zero on a scale used by astronomers to measure the apparent brightness of objects. The lower the number, the brighter the object. The brightest stars are zero or first magnitude (the stars we discussed in the eastern evening sky are all around second magnitude).

Saturn is well up into the sky by midnight. Around 2 a.m., Jupiter also rises in the east and then follows Saturn the rest of the morning. Jupiter is a brilliant object, shining at magnitude -1.94. Negative numbers are reserved for the brightest objects; the full Moon is -12.7; the Sun is -26.7.

Just before dawn, Jupiter is well up in the east and unmistakable. (And on Oct. 3, you'll see a sliver of Moon below Jupiter. The Moon is waning toward its New phase Oct. 6.) Look off to the right of Jupiter, and you can see Sirius, the sky's brightest star. At magnitude -1.47, Sirus is nearly as vivid as Jupiter.

Saturn has made its way directly overhead just before the Sun comes up and is the brightest "star" you'll see if you crane your neck and look straight up.

Our Fall Sky Tour continues tomorrow, with a look at some Easy Targets in the Southern Sky.