40 Nights to Knowing the Sky: A Night-by-Night Sky-Watching Primer

Fred Schaaf

Macmillan, Aug 15, 1998 - Juvenile Nonfiction - 252 pages

The first practical, interactive guide for learning astronomy. Fred Schaaf has spent years perfecting the teaching of skywatching and astronomy to newcomers. Here, he distills his experience into a revolutionary new approach to learning about the night sky. No other book on the market offers anything like the simple, interactive, step-by-step program Schaaf has created for new skywatchers of all ages. The key to Schaaf's ingenious program is a system of practical objectives and activities that get readers actively involved in skywatching. Starting with simple instructions on learning one's way around the night sky and progressing to more challenging concepts, each night's activity takes the reader to a deeper level of knowledge and understanding. All it takes is forty clear nights, and anyone can learn to enjoy the beauty of the heavens.

Contents

• A First Look at the Sky: 5
• Moving Lights and Mankinds Glows: 9
• Altitude and Azimuth: 14
• Bright Stars and Planets and the Turning Earth: 17
• The Moon and Its Race Against the Turning Earth: 21
• The Where When and Phase of the Moon: 24
• The Motions of Artificial Satellites: 29
• The Suns Apparent Journey Around the Zodiac: 33
• The Planets Journeys Around the Zodiac: 38
• The Apparitions of the Superior Planets: 43
• The Apparitions of the Inferior Planets: 48
• Circumpolar and Seasonal Stars: 52
• The Celestial Sphere: 56
• The Brightest Stars and Magnitude: 67
• The Brightest Constellations Winter and Spring: 71
• The Brightest Constellations Summer and Autumn: 77
• Darkness of the Sky: 83
• The Zodiac Constellations: 88
• A Variety of NakedEye Planets: 92
• The Other Constellations: 97
• The Milky Way: 101
• Special Stars: 109
• The Brightest DeepSky Objects: 113
• Meteors: 118
• Meteor Showers: 122
• Conjunctions and Occultations: 128
• Eclipses and Safe Solar Observation: 132
• Eclipses of the Sun: 137
• Eclipses of the Moon: 141
• The Moons Changing Appearance and Seeing: 149
• The Moons Many Features: 153
• The Globes Moons and Rings of Jupiter and Saturn: 158
• The Phases of Venus and Mercury: 165
• Far Mars and Near Mars: 168
• A Variety of Double and Variable Stars: 175
• Star Clusters and Nebulae: 182
• Galaxies: 192
• Uranus Neptune and Possibly Pluto: 198
• Comets and Asteroids: 201
• A First Look at the SkyAgain: 209
• 1 Some Basic Data on the Brightest Stars: 211
• 2 The Constellations: 212
• 3 Solar Eclipses 19982005: 215
• 4 Total and Partial Lunar Eclipses 19982005: 216
• 5 Observational Data for the Planets: 217
• 6 Planetary Orbital Data and Synodic Periods: 218
• 7 Physical Data for the Planets: 219
• 8 Important Positions of the Inferior Planets 19982005: 220
• 9 Oppositions and Conjunctions of the Superior Planets 19982005: 221
• 10 Positions of Mars Jupiter and Saturn 19982003: 222
• 11 The Messier Objects: 224
• 12 Some Basics of Binoculars and Telescopes: 228
• Glossary: 233
• Sources of Information: 241
• Index: 245

About the author

Fred Schaaf has written numerous books for amateur astronomers, including "The Starry Room" and the" Seeing the Sky" series. He wrote a weekly newspaper column on astronomy for five years, and is currently a contributor to such magazines as" Sky & Telescope, Discover, "and "Mother Earth News."

Bibliographic information

• Title: 40 Nights to Knowing the Sky: A Night-by-Night Sky-Watching Primer; An Owl book
• Author: Fred Schaaf
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Macmillan, 1998
• ISBN: 0805046682, 9780805046687
• Length: 252 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / General; Nature / Sky Observation; Science / Space Science / Astronomy