Patterns in the Sky: An Introduction to Stargazing (Night Sky Astronomy for Everybody)

Night Sky: Astronomy for Everyone is an outdoor-oriented, hands-on series of books designed for novice skywatchers who may own binoculars or a small telescope but have limited experience in actual observing. Covering a wide range of celestial phenomena, the books strongly emphasize entry-level stargazing but also include challenges for the keen-eyed observer.

Ken Hewitt-White is well versed in astronomical science, but he is first and foremost a stargazer. Like many budding observers, he started modestly with a 60-mm refracting telescope. That was 40 years ago. These days his workhorse telescope is a big Dobsonian reflector with a 17{1/2}-inch mirror, which he uses to probe the night sky from the mountains of southwestern British Columbia in Canada. Ken has always been eager to share his astronomical expertise with others. He spent 18 years honing his presentation skills as a producer and lecturer at the H.R. MacMillan Planetarium in Vancouver. Ken has co-written over three dozen television documentaries on space science and is a popular columnist for several astronomical magazines including Sky & Telescope and Night Sky. When he's not writing articles or teaching courses in astronomy he's outside scanning the heavens, often with his bare eyes and binoculars.