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.

All winter long we've been dazzled by the bright luminaries that make up the cast of what I call "Orion and his gang."

When you gaze upward into the late winter or early spring skies, you can't help but see those three distinct stars that make up the belt of the mighty hunter, the constellation Orion.

It's one of about 66 constellations we can see in our skies over the course of the year, but as far as I'm concerned, Orion is the constellation king.

It's one of the select few constellations that actually resembles what it's supposed to be, and no matter how much light pollution you have to put up with, he's easily visible. Without too much imagination, you can see the torso of a muscular man with the bright star Rigel marking his left knee and Betelgeuse, a bright and noticeably orange-ish star, at his right armpit.

At nightfall, that comes later and later as April progresses, Orion the hunter appears in the Butler night sky leaning to the right.

Surrounding Orion is his gang of bright constellations that almost jump out at you. They include Taurus the bull that resembles a small downward pointing arrow. There's also Auriga the chariot driver turned goat farmer, Gemini the Twins, and Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's large and small hunting dogs.

You'll notice as spring continues, Orion and his posse will start each evening closer and closer to the western horizon. By late May, most of its starry participants will already be below the horizon at the end of evening twilight. They will return to our evening skies around late October and early November to brighten up the eastern heavens.

All of this has to do with our Earth's orbit around the sun and what direction of space our home planet is pointing at after sundown.In the high northern sky, the Big Dipper is putting on quite a show, hanging upside down in the early evening.One of the old yarns of the past is that we have more rain in the springtime because the Big Dipper is upside down dumping on us Earthlings. In my other life as a meteorologist on WCCO Radio 830, I really don't use this as one of my forecasting tools, but you can see how folks living a long time ago might have come to that conclusion.As bright and distinct as the Big Dipper is, it's not a constellation all by itself, but makes up the rear end and tail of the constellation Ursa Major, otherwise known as the Big Bear.Over in the eastern sky, the main attraction is the ancient constellation Leo the Lion, another one of those rare constellations that looks like what it's supposed to be. The constellation actually comes in two parts.The upper right side of it is an easy-to-see backward question mark leaning to the left that outlines the chest and head of the king of the celestial beasts. The moderately bright star that makes up the period of the question mark is the star Regulus, marking the heart of the Lion. To the lower left of the starry query symbol is a fairly boring but bright triangle that makes up the rear and tail of Leo.Leo the Lion has a celestial visitor this year, the planet Saturn. It's shining just below the hind quarters of the heavenly feline, and it's the brightest starlike object closest to Leo.With even a small telescope, you can see the rings of Saturn, which unfortunately this year are nearly on edge from our view on Earth.Saturn also is at its closest approach to the Earth this year, just under 800 million miles away. I'll have a lot more on Saturn in next week's Skywatch column.Over in the low southeast sky is one of those constellations that doesn't look like what it's supposed to be.It's Corvis the Crow, and all there is to it are four stars that make a lopsided trapezoid. Good luck seeing that as a crow. There's also a giant kite rising not far away in the low eastern sky. That is the constellation Bootes the Farmer, with the bright star Arcturus at the tail of the big kite.Upcoming 'Celestial Huggings'On Sunday Evening, the new crescent moon will be just to the lower right of the bright star cluster, the Pleiades in the low western sky.On Monday, the crescent moon will be a little fatter and will be perched just to the upper left of the Pleiades, otherwise known as the "Seven Little Sisters." It should be quite a sight!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.