There are several advantages that living in Hawai'i brings to sky-watching. First, we don't have the extreme weather to contend with living in the sub-tropical region. Those in the temperate zones are now celebrating the warmer conditions to view the sky, putting away their heavy jackets and thermoses of hot chocolate for the summer. Unless you are at the summits of Haleakala or Mauna Kea, you rarely have the need for winter gear here.

Also, we don't have to wait for the sky to get dark too much later in the evening. The difference in daylight hours in Hawai'i can be as much as plus or minus two hours between winter and summer months as opposed to the Mainland, which can range from four to six hours, depending on location.

Another benefit of our position on the planet is our view of the sky. From the equator it is possible to see all the stars from the north celestial pole to the south celestial pole.

The farther away from the equator you travel, you start to lose some of the sky in the opposite direction. In other words, we do not see approximately 20 percent of the southern sky (Hawai'i is around 20 degrees north of the equator), and if you lived in Seattle you would not see about 47 percent of the southern sky.

Being in the middle of an ocean has other benefits. Air currents are generally smoother over water, causing less turbulence for the little photons of light reaching our eyes from space. Those same breezes keep the atmosphere above us relatively clear of aerosol pollutants, too.

We do not have as many problems of surrounding light pollution because the Islands are relatively isolated from other nearby sources of light.

Light pollution is one of the worst preventable causes of losing the night sky, as population centers grow and lights are added indiscriminately without any thought to the environment. While lighting is necessary for safety and comfort reasons, lights should be shielded at the very least to illuminate areas efficiently instead of scattering the light in all directions, including up to the sky.

With all this in mind, take the time to appreciate the sky this season.

The summertime sky is rich in star clusters and nebulae as the center of the Milky Way comes into view. Satellite-watching also is great this time of year since the best times to see satellites are the hours just after sunset and before sunrise. Satellites become visible as sunlight bounces off the reflective surfaces of either the solar panels or the metallic shell of the object.

Spotting satellites requires some patience and a little bit of luck, but it's well worth it. As with meteors, the chances are better in darker locations. But a satellite definitely does not move as fast as a meteor.

A satellite will appear as a star-like point of light moving slowly across the sky, sometimes brightening or fading as it travels. As opposed to planes, satellites have no blinking lights or other lights of different colors and generally look much smaller and farther away.

Identifying a satellite is challenging, but not impossible. It's easier to know what you are looking for before you look for it rather than trying to find out what the satellite was after you saw it. Hundreds of satellites surround our planet, including the International Space Station, and you cannot see all of them all the time.

One of the best satellite-searching Web sites is www.heavens-above.com. By plugging in your location, you can search for the dates and times of the brighter objects like the Space Station, and download sky maps for the passes. Make sure you look for passes that are magnitude +1, 0 or in the negative numbers. (The "smaller" the number, the brighter the object.)

Iridium flares also are popular. Iridiums are communication satellites with mirror-like panels that flash swiftly and brightly in the sky. They also are fairly reliable.

While I would recommend checking the Web site just before going out to spot the Space Station (because of changes in its orbit), iridiums are usually right where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be. Impress your friends by pointing to the sky and "predicting" the pass of a satellite in orbit.