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.

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 and with less moisture in the air the skies are generally more transparent. Even if you’re not a big time stargazing fan, you owe yourself the treat of lying back on a reclining lawn chair, with enough on to keep you warm and take in the celestial happenings. The dark skies of the countryside are best, but it’s a great show right from your backyard.

Tonight and for the next several nights, however, your stargazing adventures will be mooned. The harvest moon of 2012 will obliterate all but the brightest stars as it hogs up the night skies through Thursday, when it rises late enough not to get in the way of most evening star watchers.

As much as I like exploring the intricacies of the heavens I truly love the beauty of any full moon, especially the harvest moon. It’s called a harvest moon because it’s the nearest full moon to the autumnal equinox, otherwise known as the first day of autumn. That occurred on Sept. 22nd. Because of the timing of the moon’s cycle this year, the harvest moon is a little later than average.

Believe it or not there are still a lot of the stars of summer hanging on in the Butler 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.

Roll your eyes a little way 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 that I love involves the Big Bear and the nearby constellation Bootes, the hunting farmer.

By this time of the year Bootes 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.

The Big Bear is bleeding and as the blood falls on the trees and bushes 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 the upper left of Pegasus is the Andromeda Galaxy, the next door neighbor to our Milky Way, nearly 2.5 million light-years away, with just one light-year spanning nearly six trillion miles.