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 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.

As the Earth continues on its never-ending journey, orbiting around the sun year after year, our evening view into the heavens is always changing.

In April the nighttime side of the Earth is turning away from the bright winter constellations and toward the less awesome spring star patterns.

The bright winter constellations are still hanging in there in the evening western sky, but not for long.

Next month most of them will already be below the western horizon as evening begins and we won’t see them in the evening again until late next fall.

To be truly honest with you, many amateur astronomers, including myself, agree that until the summer constellations like Cygnus and Scorpio make their appearance we are officially in the spring doldrums of stargazing.

Despite that, it’s still worth your time to make the stars your old friends. For one thing, it’s a heck of a lot more comfortable out there and the mosquitoes haven’t even begun their summer campaign.

Without a doubt, the best thing to gaze at through your telescope this month is the planet Jupiter. It’s by far the brightest starlike object in the post-twilight evening sky. You can’t miss it in the low eastern sky.

The Earth and Jupiter are at their minimum distance from each other in 2017.

Astronomers call this opposition. The largest planet in our solar system is less that 415 million miles away which, believe or not, is close for the Jovian planet.

Even with a smaller telescope you can see up to four of Jupiter’s brighter moons depending on where they are in their individual orbits around the big guy of the solar system.

You might also see a few cloud bands on Jupiter. I’ll have much more on Jupiter later this month in Starwatch

In the early evening in April, the Big Dipper is as high in the northern sky as it can be and it’s upside down.

Have you heard the old lore that claims we get more rain in spring because the Big Dipper is unloading on us? It’s easy to see how that rumor got started in the days of old because, at least in the upper Midwest, we get most of our rainfall in the late spring and early summer.

The Big Dipper isn’t considered an actual constellation, though, but rather the rear end and tail of Ursa Major, the Big Bear. Using the adjacent star map see if you spot the entire beast. It’s easier than you think.

Use the “pointer stars” on the pot section of the Big Dipper opposite the handle to find Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is about three fist-widths at arm’s length down from the pointer stars.

The North Star is the star at the end of the handle of the much dimmer Little Dipper.

Polaris is also a very important star in our sky because it shines directly above the Earth’s North Pole, making all of the stars in our sky appear to revolve around the stationary North Star once every 24 hours as the Earth rotates on its axis.

Over in the eastern sky there’s a sideways celestial kite on the rise. It’s the constellation Bootes, which according to the Greeks is supposed to be a farmer hunting down the neighboring constellation Ursa Major.

Seeing Bootes as a farmer takes one heck of a sense of imagination. I prefer the sideways kite. There’s a bright orange-tinged star at the tail of the kite. That’s Arcturus, the brightest star in that part of the sky and the second brightest nighttime star.

A fun little trick you can use to make sure you’re seeing Arcturus is to extend the arc made by the Big Dipper’s handle beyond the end of the handle and you’ll run right into Arcturus. Arc to Arcturus.

Mark your calendars and make your plans for the big solar eclipse this summer on Aug. 21. It’ll be a deep partial eclipse in Butler with about 80 percent of the sun’s disk being covered by the moon.

You need to wear specialized eclipse glasses to watch any partial eclipse. It’s not safe staring at the sun without them. You could do great harm to your eyes.

It will be a total eclipse in a narrow strip that crosses the contiguous 48 states from Oregon to South Carolina. I’ve seen a total solar eclipse back in 1979 and believe me, if you have the chance to travel and see it, do so. I guarantee it will be worth it.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist in Minneapolis/St. Paul and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations.”