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. East and west on this map are not backwards. This is not a misprint. I guarantee that 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. You won't lose your night vision when you look at this map in red light.

The stargazing doldrums of late spring and early summer are over. We're entering prime time for summer stargazing.

If you can, treat yourself by getting away from urban centers like Butler and spend a night in the countryside. Lie back on the ground on a blanket or sit in a reclining lawn chair and gaze up at the heavens.

In the northern sky, the Big Dipper is hanging high by its handle. The pot and handle is actually the rear end of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Bear.

See if you can spot a dimmer, skinny triangle of stars to the lower right of the pot. That's the bear's head.

To the lower right of the head and rear end, hunt for two curved lines of stars that make up his legs. You need a fairly dark site to see them.

Not far from the Big Dipper is the fainter, upside down, Little Dipper. It has the lynchpin of the stars, Polaris, at the end of its handle.

Polaris certainly is not the brightest star in the sky, but it is an important shiner. I call it the lynchpin because, as the world turns on its axis every 24 hours, all of the stars in the sky make a counterclockwise circle around it. It appears that way because Polaris shines directly above the Earth's North Pole.

Scattered around Polaris are a group of stars that are always above the horizon in the northern sky. These are called circumpolar constellations and, in addition to the Big and Little Bears, there are Cassiopeia and Cepheus, the king and queen, respectively.

I know you've seen Cassiopeia. It's that bright "W" sitting in the low northeastern sky. The "W" outlines the throne and red carpet of her majesty.

Just above Cassiopeia, look for the faint house with a steep roof lying on its side. That's Cepheus. If you can make that sideways house look like a king, more stargazing power to you.

In the eastern sky is the famous Summer Triangle made up of three bright stars: Vega, Deneb and Altair. They are the brightest stars in that part of the sky.

Vega is the brightest star in Lyra the Harp, Deneb is the brightest in Cygnus the Swan — otherwise known as the Northern Cross — and Altair is the brightest shiner in Aquila the evil Eagle.

In the low southern skies are two of my favorite constellations, Scorpius the Scorpion and Sagittarius the Archer.

Scorpius is one of those semirare constellations that actually looks like what it's supposed to be and, as an added attraction this summer, the bright planet Jupiter is perched just above Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius.

Sagittarius is a constellation that doesn't look like what it's supposed to be. If you can see a figure of man with the legs and rear end of horses shooting an arrow then you've got a much better imagination than I do. Sagittarius actually looks much more like a teapot and, in fact, that is what most amateur astronomers refer to it as.

The teapot is in the direction of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.

August is also the month for the Perseid meteor shower, the best meteor shower of the year.

Toward the end of next week we may see more than 50 meteors per hour. The Perseids peak the morning of Aug. 13. I'll have much more on the Perseids in the coming weeks.

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.