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.

Murphy's law of winter stargazing clearly states that the beauty of the heavens is inversely proportionate to how many layers you put on to go outside.

January skies are very pleasing to the eyes but tough on the skin. Not only should you dress for it, but you should also be prepared with things like a big thermos of something warm.

One of my secret weapons against the cold is the instant heat hand and feet warmers that work up to seven hours. You can buy these at most sporting goods stores. I never go without them when I teach at one of my stargazing parties.

Once armed with your winter survival gear, get out and enjoy the best stargazing of the year.

You'll notice that the eastern half of the sky has many more bright stars than the west. Over the last couple of months, the last of the summer constellations have slowly sunk lower and lower in the west, and now they are gone, not to be seen again in the evenings until June. Of course they didn't move, we did. As the Earth continues its annual circuit around the sun, the nighttime side has now turned away from the stars of summer.

The dominant constellation of autumn, Pegasus the giant winged horse, is still hanging in there in the west. Look for the distinct great square, actually a rectangle, that makes up the torso of the mighty flying horse.

With a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, scan about halfway between the Pegasus and the bright "W" that makes up the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen, and see if you can spot the Andromeda Galaxy. It's our Milky Way Galaxy's next-door neighbor.

All you'll really see is a faint little smudge, but that little smudge is a whole other galaxy that is more than two million light-years away and 1.5 times the size of our own galaxy. If you're new to astronomy, one light-year equals almost 6 trillion miles!

The eastern sky is lit up like a Christmas tree. There are many bright stars and constellations, and this year, there's also the planet Mars, which is the brightest starlike object in the entire evening sky this month. You can easily see its reddish hue with the naked eye.

This past Christmas, Mars was just over 54 million miles away, its closest point to Earth in nearly two years.

This month, the red planet begins its slow retreat from Earth but will continue to be the brightest shiner out there. Through a telescope, Mars is tricky, and detail can be elusive. Assuming your telescope gives you an inverted image, like most do, you might see a white tinge on the lower right side of the disk if viewing conditions are just right, which is the planet's north polar cap.

You might also see some darker splotches on the face of Mars that are part of its extensive system of valleys and canyons. If you don't see much on Mars during one night, try it on other nights. Seeing conditions can vary, no matter how clear the sky is.

Mars is in a part of the sky that I call Orion and his gang, since the mighty hunter that looks like a sideways bow tie seems to be at the center of all this brightness. The three bright stars that make up Orion's belt are in a perfect row and jump right out at you.

There's also the bright stars Rigel, at Orion's knee, and Betelgeuse, at his armpit. By the way, keep your eye on this star because sometime in the next million years Betelgeuse could explode in a tremendous supernova explosion.

Elsewhere in Orion's gang there's Auriga, the retired chariot driver with the bright star Capella. There's also Taurus the bull with the little arrow pointing to the right, which outlines the face of the bull with the reddish star Aldebaran as the angry red eye of the beast.

Just above Taurus is the Pleiades, a beautiful bright star cluster that resembles a tiny Big Dipper. The Pleiades is made up of more than 100 young stars, which are probably less than 100 million years old.

If you stay out after 8:30 p.m., you'll see a really bright star on the rise in the southeast. That's Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky at any time throughout the year. If you draw a line through Orion's belt and extend it to the lower left, it will point right at Sirius, a little more than 8 light-years 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 Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.