Summer Stargazing: A Practical Guide for Recreational Astronomers - Hardcover

Dickinson, Terence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1552090140 ISBN 13: 9781552090145

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2005

Synopsis

An abundantly illustrated guide to the year's best stargazing season.

"Summer brings with it fine stargazing weather; it also happens to be the time of the year when our galaxy, the Milky Way, arches high across the sky."
-- Terence Dickinson

The cool, clear nights from May to October offer astronomers the best opportunities for stargazing. Few sights in nature can compare with the splendor of a dazzling star-filled sky.

Summer Stargazing captures the grandeur of the universe with down-to-earth simplicity. All that is needed is a reasonably dark night sky, a pair of binoculars or a simple telescope, and this book.

The book features everything else the amateur astronomer needs, including easy-to-use color star charts that cover the entire North American sky for one year and photographic-quality charts for this main stargazing season.

With Summer Stargazing, astronomers can delve into the majesty of the starry night to explore:

• Planets of the Solar System
• Galaxies
• Remote star-forming nebulas
• Glittering star dusters and more.

Helpful advice is given for safely viewing special phenomena such as eclipses and auroras.

Summer Stargazing is both a stargazing guide and a pictorial celebration of the summer night sky.

About this title

About the Author

Terence Dickinson is a best-selling writer of thirteen astronomy books including NightWatch, The Backyard Astronomer's Guide and The Universe and Beyond, and has more than one million copies of his books in print. He is the recipient of many national and international science awards, including the New York Academy of Science Book of the Year Award.

Reviews

Gr. 6^-10. Dickinson, editor of SkyNews magazine and author of Exploring the Night Sky (1987), offers an informative, useful, and beautiful guide to observing the summer night sky above North America. Illustrated with charts, many full-color photographs, including excellent ones by the author, this large-format book features succinct, readable discussions of topics such as binoculars, telescopes, observation sites, moon watching, stargazing, comets, auroras, eclipses, meteor showers, and identifying constellations. Beyond the information provided, the book's most useful feature is its presentation of sky charts. In a series of spreads, seven segments of the night sky are shown with duplicate photos on facing pages. The left-hand page shows a star-studded section of the night sky. On the right page, the same section of sky (somewhat lighter to facilitate labeling) appears with the constellations delineated by connect-the-dot lines and the major stars and star groups labeled. Featuring charts for early summer as well as late summer and succinct discussions of sky sights and phenomena, this is precise, readable, and handsomely produced. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552090140
• ISBN 13: 9781552090145
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64