Where did this summer go? Kids are back in school, and the daylight hours are dwindling.

Even though summer is just about caput, one of the greatest summer stellar displays in the evening sky is now in prime time. I'm talking about the wonderful and useful Summer Triangle. All three stars are the brightest in their respective constellations. That makes the Summer Triangle a great tool in helping you get familiar with all three constellations and several more in that immediate neighborhood in the sky.

At the start of evening stargazing at the end of twilight, it's right overhead, and you can't miss it, even in drowning light pollution. All you have to do is look directly overhead for the three brightest stars you can see.

Now, to save your back, you might want to really check out the details of the Summer Triangle laying on a reclining lawn chair. Or, if you're young enough and up to it, spread out a blanket and lay right on the ground. Point your legs roughly toward the southeast horizon, and you're good to go. You can actually point your legs in any direction you want, but my directions won't make as much sense.

You can't help but notice the brightest star in the Summer Triangle is Vega on the upper right. Most people I know pronounce it the same way as the arguably ill-fated Chevrolet Vega of the 1970s. However, some astronomical folks insist you should pronounce it "Veega." In my book, go with the pronunciation of Vega just like the old car.

Vega is the brightest star of the small constellation Lyra the Lyre, which is an old-fashioned harp. About all there is to Lyra is the bright star Vega and four dimmer stars below it that form a tiny parallelogram. That's supposed to outline a harp ... go figure.

The second brightest star on the lower right of the Summer Triangle is Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.

Altair is the left side of a fairly large vertically orientated diamond that outlines the wingspan of an eagle. Altair marks the heart of the eagle. To the left of Altair is where his heart is supposed to be, but there aren't any stars that really show that.

Just off to the left of Altair about where the head should be is actually another separate constellation and one of my favorites in the entire night sky. It's Delphinus the Dolphin, and it's a tiny, faint, but cute little constellation. In the countryside, it's easy to see, but in city lights, it's a bit of an eye test.

It's worth looking for because I know you'll love it. There are four dim stars that form a horizontal diamond that outlines the body of the dolphin with an equally faint star off the lower right that marks the tail. Without too much imagination, it really looks like a little dolphin jumping about in the great sea of stars!

The third brightest star on the lower left of the Summer Triangle is Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus also is referred to as the Northern Cross because it really, really looks like a Christian cross.

Again, laying on your back looking up with your legs pointing to the southeast, the cross will more or less seem to be orientated sideways with the top of the cross pointing to the left. Deneb makes up the top of the cross, and just to the right of Deneb, you should easily see three stars that mark the crosspiece of the cross. A little farther down to the right of the crosspiece, you'll see a moderately bright star called Albireo that sits at the foot of the sideways cross.

Seeing Cygnus the Swan is easy. Make Deneb the tail of the swan and Albireo the head of the swan. The crosspiece of the cross makes up the wingspan of a swan appearing to be flying toward the south, which is appropriate for this time of year. To make it look even more like a swan, look for dimmer stars off and to the left of both sides of the crosspiece that form the tips of Cygnus' curved wingspan.

Another thing I love about the three stars of the Summer Triangle is all three are astronomically unique.

Altair is the closest star to the Earth at a little more than 17 light-years away. In case you're new to "Skywatch," a light-year is the distance light travels in one year, equally almost 6 trillion miles! You're not taking even a long weekend trip to Altair anytime soon.

Now, there's no way to see it with a backyard telescope, but Altair actually has an oval-ish shape to it. That's because it's a rapidly spinning star astronomers estimate whirls on its axis at the dizzying rate of once every nine hours causing it to bulge out so much at its equator its diameter at its equator is almost twice the diameter of that at its poles. It's a star that looks likes it needs to go on a diet!

Vega, a star twice the diameter of our 1 million mile-wide sun, is the second closest Summer Triangle star, at just more than 25 light-years away. The light we see from Vega tonight left that star in 1985 when Ronald Reagan was still our president. Keep in mind whenever you gaze upon the stars you're not seeing them as they are presently but as they were in the past, depending on how many light-years away they are.

Deneb takes that fact to even more of an extreme. It's more than 1,500 light-years away. The light we see from Deneb tonight departed that star in the year 500!

The fact that Deneb is as bright as it is in our sky and yet so far away speaks volumes of its gargantuan size. Astronomers estimate it is at least 100 times the diameter of our sun and kicks out 60,000 times more light!

If Deneb was as close to the Earth as Altair, it would easily be the brightest star in the nighttime sky by a long shot.

So that's it, the overhead Summer Triangle. As we move into autumn, it will still be with us in the evening heavens, but it will start out after evening twilight farther and farther in the western half of the sky. By about Christmas, we'll lose it in the evening until it shows up again late in the spring to the east.

So now's your time to fill up on celestial summer tradition as summer fades away.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his website www.lynchandthestars.com.