By finding one bright star that stands out and learning its name, even the most amateur stargazer can often hop to other celestial objects with ease and quickly develop a mental map of the night sky. So in this final installment of Easy Targets during our two-week Fall Sky Tour, we'll do a little star hopping in the southern sky.

Dominating the south in the evening is Altair, high up and shining brighter than any other object in that region of the sky.

Altair is in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, and marks the bird's head. It can sometimes appear yellowish, shining at magnitude 0.75 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

Above Altair, almost directly overhead (a point called the zenith) and slightly to the right, is Vega, even brighter and unmistakable. If you stretch your arm out and make a fist, the two stars are about three fist-widths apart. Vega is in the constellation Lyra.

Now drop your gaze to the horizon, where the south's other bright stars reside. Some of these are impossible to find from far northern latitudes and challenging from mid-latitudes (you'll need an unobstructed view of the horizon). They are relatively easy to see from the southern United States and Europe, because they sit higher in the sky.

If Antares is above the horizon where you live, it will jump out at you from the southwest. Look for it in the fading glow of twilight as it follows the Sun down. This reddish star shines at magnitude 1.03.

Antares anchors the body of Scorpius, the Scorpion. Its red color tied the star to Mars in the minds of the ancients. Antares means rival of the God of War -- Mars.

If you can find Antares, then you'll be able to see three nearby stars that are dimmer but still shine at roughly second magnitude. The nearest is Shaula, one of two stars representing the stinger at the end of the Scorpion's tail (swooping back above the horizon for many viewers). Antares and Shaula are just shy of two fist-widths apart. The other stinger star, less bright, is right next to Shaula and to the lower right. It's called Lesath.

Roughly one fist-width separates Shaula from Kaus Australis, the next brightest star up and to the left. Kaus Australis is the brightest star in Sagittarius, and it's one of three stars marking the Archer's bow.

Above and to the left of Kaus Australis are several moderately bright stars. One, called Nunki, should stand out as being a bit more brilliant than its neighbors. Nunki is the same distance from Kaus Australis as Kaus Australis is from Shaula.

Nunki is the second brightest star in Sagittarius. It's also one of five stars that make a miniature dipper (even smaller than the well-known Little Dipper). This tiny ladle is upside-down with its handle pointing to the right.

If you've found most or all of these stars, you might be ready for the greater challenges we'll pose next week, when columnist Joe Rao presents some less celebrated nighttime targets during four installments of Sky Surprises, the second half of our Fall Sky Tour. Meanwhile, return tomorrow for Joe's 10 Steps to Rewarding Stargazing.