This really reminds me of my childhood. I was so into astronomy as a kid that I would read every book I could get my hands on, and memorize the facts in them. I even went so far as to teach my friends about astronomy during recess time.
I was an odd kid -- while everyone else was playing soccer or whatever, I was learning about astronomy...
I used to live on an acreage, and so at night, it would literally be pitch dark outside. I would go stargazing quite a bit with my parents, and especially my dad. For my 8th birthday, he bought me a telescope. It was the most exciting thing ever to me, and probably one of my best memories of him was when we would take it outside.
As far as constellations go: During the winter time, Orion would always be unmistakably visible in the south. Every time I look up and see it, it makes me smile. Cassiopeia is another easy one to find, as well as the Little and Big Dippers. I always try and visualize the larger constellation Ursa Major, which includes the Big Dipper, but I often fail.
This isn't an astrology thread... just sayin.
That said, by accident of birth, I'm a scorpio.
Talk about stars! Not star signs!
One of my biggest pet peeves is people that confuse
astrology and
astronomy, lol. When I told people that I wanted to study astronomy as a kid, they were like "uh, like a fortune teller?".