No, I haven't lost my mind again.

The summer nighttime sky is available to you right now in the heavens over Western Pennsylvania.

You can see all your favorite summer constellations adorning the heavens. If it's dark enough where you are, you can even see the summer Milky Way Band spread across the eastern half of the sky. Yes, the stars of summer are available ... in the early morning!

What stars we see, as well as when and where we find them in the skies, has everything to do with where the Earth is around the sun and where you are on the Earth, which is rotating on its axis.

Both Earth's orbit around the sun and its daily rotation on its axis determine what direction in space you're facing at any particular time. All the stars and constellations are so far away that from our perspective on Earth we're inside of a giant celestial bowl. That's more or less what more folks up until the 17th century believed.

Obviously, we now know that isn't the case, but observationally that's how it seems. The constant change of the night skies on a daily and seasonal basis is one of the joys of stargazing and amateur astronomy to me and many other stargazing fanatics. The stars are always on the move and everything goes in familiar cycles. Sure it's hard to catch up on to this when you're just getting into backyard astronomy, but really, what fun would it be if we saw the same constellations in the same places night after night?

So set that alarm, grab that cup of strong coffee, throw on a coat and enjoy a little summer stargazing, without mosquitoes.

The night sky we see with our waking eyes between 5 and 6 a.m. this time of year is the same night sky you see at 10 p.m. in late June. That's because right now the Earth is facing the same direction in space in the pre-twilight morning hours as it does in early summer just after evening twilight. In fact, any time you want about a four-month preview of what your night sky will look like in the evening, just go out in the morning about an hour before twilight and you'll see the same constellations in the same place.

Scorpius, Sagittarius, Bootes and the "Summer triangle" are all available for our morning viewing, and there's even four planets in the cool predawn sky.

Saturn is the easiest to spot, over the western sky just below and to the left of the constellation Leo the Lion that looks like a giant backward question mark leaning to the right. Just look for the brightest starlike object you can see very low in the western sky and that's it, the planet Saturn. It's a somewhat muted Saturn year though, because from our view on Earth, the thin ring system of Saturn is more or less on edge. It's still worth a look though a telescope though because it's also surrounded by a beautiful swarm of its many moons that shine like tiny little stars.

There aare also three planets in the early morning twilight that are in a really close three-way kiss, very low east-southeast sky about a half-hour before sunrise. They are Jupiter, Mars and Mercury.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system at more than 88,000 miles in diameter, and Mercury is the smallest at less than 5,000 miles in girth. Mars, the famous red planet is constantly in the news with all the rovers and probes that have landed on it or are circling it. Mars also will make its closet approach to Earth early next year.

However, it will be a real trick to see those three planets in the east because they'll be so close to the horizon and morning twilight will have already begun. You'll need to have a very flat and low east-southeast horizon to see the triplet of planets. A view from a hilltop will probably be your best bet. Next weekend will be your best opportunity to see them because the waning crescent moon can act as a pointer for you.

On Feb. 21, look for a very thin crescent moon just above the southeast horizon about a half-hour before sunrise. Once you spot the moon, look just 13 degrees to the lower left of it for three starlike objects. From right to left they are Mercury, Jupiter and Mars.

On Sunday morning, the crescent moon will be a lot closer to the planet trio but will be super thin and possibly too dim to see. Consider yourself persistent and lucky if you actually see the very low planet parade.

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.