To use this map, cut it out and attach it to a stiff backing. Hold it over your head and line up the compass points on the map to the compass points on the horizon where you're observing from. When you hold this map over your head, east and west will be in their proper positions. Also use a small flashlight and attach a red piece of cloth or red construction paper over the lens of the flashlight.

It's time to get out and enjoy the absolute beauty of the autumn night sky. We're entering the prime time of stargazing season. The nights are longer, the mosquitoes are just about toast and with less moisture in the air, the skies are clearer.

Even if you're not a big-time stargazing fan, you owe yourself the treat of lying back on a reclining lawn chair and taking in the celestial happenings. The dark skies of the countryside are best, but it's even a great show right from your backyard.

We're into the new autumn season, but summer's hanging on in the western sky. You can still easily see the famous Summer Triangle high above the western horizon with the three bright stars from three separate constellations.

The brightest shiner is Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp. In second place for brilliance is Altair in Aquila the Eagle. The third brightest nuclear fusion furnace is Deneb in another bird constellation, Cygnus the Swan.

Cygnus is also known by a lot of stargazers as the Northern Cross. Because at first glance, that's what it really looks like. Deneb is at the top of the cross and below you can see three dimmer stars that make up the crosspiece of the cross. Roll your eyes a little ways below the crosspiece and look for an equally bright star at the foot of the cross.

Albireo is the name of that star and it's definitely one you want to look at with binoculars or a small telescope. We're talking some serious eye candy here.

When you zoom in on Albireo you'll think you're seeing double. You are! Albireo is a gorgeous double star. One star is gold and the other is blue and you can really see these colors. The two stars look like they are right next to each other but they're actually light-years apart. They just happen to be in the same line of sight.

The Big Dipper is upright and riding low in the northwestern sky. In fact, it's getting so low that it's hard to see if you have a high tree line. The Big Dipper is the most famous star pattern there is, but it's technically not a constellation. The Big Dipper is actually the rear end and the tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear. It's also the brightest part of the Big Bear.

One of the pieces of star lore I love involves the Big Bear and the nearby constellation Bootes, the hunting farmer.

Bootes, by this time of the year, is only partially visible above the northwest horizon but this farmer Bootes has been hunting down the Big Bear all summer long.

He's finally laid some pretty good shots into the beast and that's why it's falling so low in our sky. In fact the Big Bear is bleeding and as the blood falls on the trees and bushes and it causes them to turn red. Forget about the leaves losing their chlorophyll. This is how we actually get our fall colors ... wink-wink, nod-nod.

Over in the eastern skies is the grand constellation Pegasus, the winged horse. Look for a giant diamond of stars on the rise in the east.

Just to upper left of Pegasus is the Andromeda Galaxy, the next-door neighbor to our Milky Way, nearly 2.5 million light year away, with just one light year weighing in at nearly six trillion miles!

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