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.

Where has the summer of 2007 gone? We're hearing the swan song of summer loud and clear; the sun's riding a little lower in the sky, schools are opening, and I even spotted a few Christmas decorations going up in a department store. If you're like me you hang on to summer as long as you can, and one way to do that is September stargazing. There are still plenty of summer constellations playing on stage in the celestial theater.

As soon as it gets dark, around 8:30 to 9 p.m., the first star that pops out in the southwestern sky is no star at all. That's the planet Jupiter, which has had a celestial affair in our southern sky all summer long.

Through even a small telescope you can see the disk of the largest planet in our solar system and up to four of its moons, which look like little stars on either side of the planet. As those moons orbit Jupiter in periods of 2 to 17 days, they're always changing positions relative to Jupiter.

Some nights you can't see any of the four moons because one or more of them could be either in front of or behind the giant planet. This month Jupiter is in the foreground of my favorite constellation Scorpius the Scorpion, with its brightest star Antares hanging just below Jupiter. Antares is a huge red giant star 600 light years away. You can easily see its reddish hue with your naked eye.

Just to the left of Scorpius in the low southern sky is one of my favorite constellations, known by many as the Teapot. Now for you purists the teapot is formally known as Sagittarius, a centaur shooting an arrow into the heavens. If you see Sagittarius as a half-man half-horse with a bow and arrow, more power to you. I'll stick with the Teapot.

The Teapot is also in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, about 70,000 light-years away. If the sky is dark enough where you are, you'll see a milky white band of light from the Teapot in the southwest sky that runs all the way across to the northeast horizon.

You're looking at the combined lights of billions of distant stars that make up the main plane of our galactic home.

Nearly overhead is another signpost of summer, the Summer Triangle. Just look for the three brightest stars you can see around the zenith and that's it. All three stars are the brightest stars in each of their respective constellations. Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra the Harp. Altair is the brightest in Aquila the Eagle and Deneb is the brightest star in Cygnus the Swan, also known as the "Northern Cross."

There's nothing really all that "summer" about the Big and Little Dippers, since they're visible every night of the year, but summer is a great time to spot them. That's especially true for the Big Dipper since it's proudly hanging by its handle high in the northwest. The fainter Little Dipper is standing on its handle to the right of the Big Dipper, with Polaris, the North Star, at the end of its handle.

In the northeast sky, look for the sideways "W" that outlines the throne of Cassiopeia the Queen. Just to the upper left of the queen in the northern sky look for the faint upside-down house with the steep roof which is supposed to be Cepheus the King.

You can't deny the change in seasons forever. Autumn is coming. One of the prime autumn constellations, Pegasus the winged horse, is on the rise in the eastern sky after sunset. Look for a big diamond of stars that outlines the torso of Pegasus. This is called the Square of Pegasus, but because of the way it's positioned in the sky this time of year, it's also known as the Autumn Diamond.

Below and to the left of the Autumn Diamond, scan with a decent pair of binoculars for a faint patch of light. If you see it, you are looking at our galaxy's next-door neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, more than 2 million light-years away. Keep in mind that just one light-year equals almost 6 trillion miles.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and author of the book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.