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 from which you're observing. 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.

We have the best of all worlds looking out from our Earth this month.

March stargazing is fantastic because we still have Orion and all the great constellations of winter, the best of the year in my opinion, and can wear a lighter coat.

The grand winter constellation Orion the Hunter and his gang of other bright stars and planets continue to light up the southern heavens. Jupiter and Saturn are right in the midst of such stately constellations as Taurus the Bull; Auriga the Chariot Driver turned goat farmer; the big and little dogs Canis Major and Minor; Gemini the Twins; and of course, Orion the Hunter with his three perfectly aligned belt stars.

Hanging out among the legendary winter constellations is the planet Mars, positioned between Orion and Gemini.

Mars is not the planet it used to be in the winter skies. Since Christmas, the distance between Earth and Mars has increased from 55 million miles to more than 109 million miles. It's not nearly as bright in our skies as it was while we were opening presents, but you can still clearly see its reddish hue. I wouldn't spend a lot of time looking at it through a telescope. You're just not going to see much detail on the diminutive 4,000-mile-wide planet as far away as it is.

In the north sky, the Big Dipper is standing up on its handle. The fainter Little Dipper is off to the left hanging by its handle. The brightest star, Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, shines at the end of the Little Dipper's handle. Polaris is the "Lynch Pin" of the sky. All of the stars in our sky appear to circle around the North Star every 24 hours since it shines directly above the Earth's North Pole.

Over in the northwest sky, look for the bright sideways "W" that is supposed to be the outline of Queen Cassiopeia tied up in her throne. The story goes that Hera, queen of the Greek gods, was angry with Cassiopeia for boasting that she was more beautiful than the queen herself. Hera tied her up in a throne and cast her up into the heavens, where to this day she continues her endless circle around Polaris.

In the east, look for a distinctive backward question mark that outlines the chest and head of Leo the Lion, one of the springtime constellations. Regulus is the moderately bright star at the bottom of the question mark that sits at Leo's heart.

As March continues, Leo will get higher and higher in the sky in the early evening as the stars of Orion and his gang sink lower and lower in the west. This is because Earth, in its orbit around the sun, is starting to turn toward spring constellations like Leo and away from the wonderful stars of winter. Enjoy them now while they're still at the celestial center stage.

As you can see on the sky map, Leo the Lion has a visitor this year, the ever so lovely planet Saturn. This beautiful planet and its ring system outshine Regulus in Leo three times over. A little more than 770 million miles away, this is its closest approach to Earth this year.

Unlike Mars, Saturn is a must-see object with a telescope. You should be able to easily see its 150,000-mile-wide ring system made up of billions and billions of ice covered particles, which range from the size of dust grains to the size of an average American house. Unfortunately, during this year and next, the angle of Saturn's rings with respect to the planet is very small from our vantage point on Earth. But it's still well worth your telescope viewing time. Not only are there rings, but also look for little starlike objects sprinkled around Saturn with your telescope. These are some of Saturn's sixty plus moons that circle around the prettiest planet in the solar system.

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.