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's horizon to the actual direction you're facing. East and West on this map are not backward. 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.

I love this time of the year. There's plenty of summer left but you can kick off your stargazing adventures much earlier in the evening.

The skies are filled with celestial gems this August including a couple of bright planets.

The best celestial show in August is the annual Perseid meteor shower that began in July and peaks the night of Aug. 12 to 13. Unfortunately the moon will be nearly full that night and all that lunar light will visually wash out all but the brightest meteors. I'll have more on the Perseids in next week's column.

Shining planets

Jupiter and Saturn are putting on a great show throughout August. Jupiter is the brightest starlike object in the Butler evening sky, popping out in the lower half of the southwestern sky during twilight.

Saturn, almost as bright as Jupiter, begins August in the low southeast just to the lower left of Jupiter.

On Aug. 9, there will be a lovely close conjunction between Jupiter and the waxing gibbous “oval-ish” moon. The moon will be perched just to the upper left of Jupiter. On Aug. 11, the fatter waxing gibbous moon will be parked just to the right of Saturn.

Jupiter and Saturn are great to look at through even a small telescope. Jupiter is great with its cloud bands and its four brightest moons constantly dancing in orbit around it from night to night.

They resemble tiny stars on either side of the big planet. Some nights you can't see all of them because one or more may be behind Jupiter or camouflaged in front of the planet.

Saturn is even more gorgeous with its ring system that spans a diameter of more than 150,000 miles. Set even a small telescope on Saturn and you should be able to clearly see the ring system and even some of its moons.

Unfortunately, Saturn isn't rising all that high in the sky this summer, and because of that there's a lot more of Earth's blurring atmosphere between you and Saturn. It's still worth your telescope time, though.

For both planets make sure you take long continuous looks through your scope to get used to the light levels, and so you can catch windows of more transparent air.

Bright stars

The brightest actual star in the summer evening sky is Arcturus, shining proudly high in the west. Arcturus is also the brightest star in the constellation Bootes the Hunting Farmer, which looks more like a giant kite, with the orange reddish star Arcturus at the tail.

The second brightest star in the evening heavens is Vega, the brightest star in a small, faint constellation called Lyra the Lyre, or Harp.Vega is a brilliant bluish-white star perched high in the eastern August sky. Vega and a small faint parallelogram below it are supposed to outline a celestial harp. I don't think you'll hear any music, though.Birds and DippersAlso in the east you'll notice two other bright stars that form a triangle with Vega. This is known as the “Summer Triangle.”The star to the lower left of Vega in the eastern sky is Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus the Swan, otherwise known as the “Northern Cross.” The star to the lower right of Vega is Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.The Big Dipper is hanging by its handle in the northwestern sky. The seven bright stars of the dipper outline the rear end and the tail of the constellation Big Bear or Ursa Major.The dimmer Little Dipper that doubles as Ursa Minor or Little Bear, is standing up on its handle with its only bright star Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, at the end of the handle.ConstellationsKeeping company with Jupiter and Saturn in the low southern sky are the classic summer constellations Scorpius the Scorpion and Sagittarius the Archer.This summer Scorpius, which really looks like a scorpion, is shining just below Jupiter. Antares, a red giant star just to the lower right of Jupiter, is the brightest star in Scorpius and marks the heart of the beast.To the lower right of Saturn is a distinct pattern of stars that looks just like a teapot. That's the brightest part of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer, a half-man, half-horse shooting an arrow. Go figure.Look just above the teapot and you're gazing right in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy.If you're starwatching in the dark countryside and there's little or no moonlight you can see a ghostly band of light extending above the teapot spout, all the way toward the northeastern horizon. That's the Milky Way band, the combined light of billions and billions of stars in the thickest part or plane of our home galaxy.Celestial hugging this weekLater on this week the waxing gibbous moon will be passing by the very bright planet Jupiter and the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion.Don't miss it.Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact Mike Lynch at mikewlynch@comcast.net.