The Planets
All photography courtesy of NASA
Are you a "star watcher" while out camping?
If so, besides finding constellations you can also learn to pick out the planets that are also overhead.
They have a totally different movement across the sky and appear in different places at different times of the year.
Many of these can be seen on a dark night by eye, some will need the aid of a set of binoculars or a telescope.
They vary in both size and distance from us so their brightness is also different.
Finding them
They, like the earth, revolve around the sun on their own time schedule. To know where they are at any time you will need the aid of some common astronomical information that is readily available.
Some newspapers have a section they publish once a week or so describing the night sky, any meteor showers, which planets are visible and their locations. They are usually written in plain language so everyone can understand the information, not just scientists.
If you cannot find anything on astronomy in your newspapers then you can go to www.nineplanets.org or www.space.com and find plenty of information. They will give you the positions of particular planets in the sky and if it can be seen with the eye or if binoculars are needed.
In either the newspapers or on the web pages you will also be alerted to other astronomical events that will occur.
These could be any comets that will be visible, eclipses that will 
happen and any other phenomena. They will tell you where they can be seen in the sky.
The Planets
As we count from the sun out, there are nine known planets that comprise our solar system. These are, in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
They rate a planet according to its size and also being "non-luminous". Our sun is luminous and so it would be a star to any observer on another planet.
Comets and asteroids also circle our sun but because of their much smaller size and composition they are classified differently.
Recently there was great discussion as to whether Pluto was a planet at all. It is known to be a very small body and has yet to be seen clearly or investigated by any spacecraft. It is so far out that it cannot yet be seen in any detail from any ground based or space based telescopes. The current consensus is to list it as a "Dwarf Planet".
As the discussion goes on whether Pluto is a genuine planet or not will not affect our viewing at all. It is simply too faint to see it without a good telescope and a star chart to help you find it anyway.
How
Science has not yet come to any comprehensive solution as to how they all formed. The "big bang theory" is the most popular scientific explanation of the beginning of the universe.
How it all came together into organized galaxies and planetary systems is still left to multiple theories.
We no longer live in the only known solar system. Many other planetary systems have recently been noted through observation. They have yet to discover another "Earth like" planet, but they have barely started this work.
Uranus from the Hubble Telescope
What's In A Name
All but Earth and Uranus are named after old Roman gods. Uranus is named after an ancient Greek god. When they named most of the planets, earth was not considered to be a planet. After all, it was the center of the universe for centuries and everything revolved around it!
Moons
A moon is simply a smaller body that revolves around a planet. They come in all sizes and some will have physical effects on that planet.
Ours affect the oceans and give us the tides. Some that orbit around Saturn cause the gaps that we can see in the rings.
Mercury and Venus are the only planets in our solar system without any other body revolving around them. Earth, as we know, has only one. However, most other planets have multiple moons. At last count Jupiter has 63!
Planet Watching
While we can pick most of the planets out with the eye, they only look like bright stars. Using guides from the newspapers or internet will make it much easier to find them.
To observe any details of a planet we do need a good telescope. There is no need for a super powerful telescope (translates to very expensive) to see them well. One with about "sixty power per inch" will work just fine. That would make a 4 inch lens 240 power.
It is always best to have the telescope, or even binoculars, acclimated to the outside temperature before viewing. The image quality will be best if set outside for about a half hour or longer. You will never see a great observatory in a heated condition for about the same reason.
Mercury: This is one of the most difficult planets to see with the eye. This is because it is usually only visible very low on the horizon in the West right after sunset or on the East horizon at sunrise. Binoculars will help with this planet.
Venus: This is always the easiest to find with the eye because it is so bright. Viewing with a telescope will tend to show a bland view as there is usually a thick cloud cover that makes it looks rather blank.
Mars: The "Red Planet". Its appearance to viewers always changes due to its position relative to earth. At its closest approach to earth you can make out its poles and dark spots.
Jupiter: This is the largest planet in our solar system and always puts on quite a show. A lot of colorful images can be seen that is made up in its cloud cover.
Saturn: This one is a tie with Jupiter for spectacular sites. This is because of the great ring system that can be seen with a reasonable telescope. Besides the rings, Saturn is known to have an additional 18 moons.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto: These are very hard to see with an inexpensive telescope. Pluto requires a more powerful one. All three require a sky chart to separate them from the clutter of stars. When seen, all that is visible is a bland disc. No real detail can be seen from earth with an ordinary telescope. However the Hubble has captured a great photo of Uranus.
From left to right these are the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.