DURING THE DAY NATURE IS MOVING ALMOST ALL THE TIME Trees rustle their leaves as the wind blows birds fly past squirrels race up and down trees and deer wander through parks and urban woodlands Everything it seems is in motion But when the sun sets and twilight darkens into night nature grows quiet Animals find shelter birds settle in trees and the wind often drops away After nightfall nature reveals a different side of itself If the night is clear and free of clouds the sky overhead shows a much bigger natural scene than anything we find on planet Earth Things change in the sky too But they change slowly because what you see stars planets the moon all lies far away from Earth When you first go outside on a clear night the lights in the sky will look few and dim But if you stay outside your eyes will adjust to the darkness and you will soon see more And taking a trip far away from city lights will show you a sky so full of stars that you'll remember it all your life Just as birds animals and trees change as seasons pass so will the night sky above When you become familiar with the sky and its patterns you'll see tonight's stars slowly give way to new ones as weeks go by and seasons shift The book in your hands gives an excellent starting guide to the night sky Read it indoors see how it is organized and enjoy the beautiful pictures and sky folklore from ancient times up to now Then on the next clear night take your guide outdoors with a flashlight and start your own exploration of the universe Robert Burnham University of Arizona LET S GO STARGAZING 7
HOW TO USE This Book CRATER Outdoor fun doesn't have to stop after the sun goes down Look up into the night sky and you'll see more wonders than you can count from the glow of sunset to the blazing lights of a meteor shower to the constellations that glimmer like jewels across the darkness You can see many of these night sky specialties simply by looking sharply Others are clearer with binoculars or a telescope Some you'll see only through special websites noted in this book which show you images from high powered telescopes Explore them all First take a few minutes to examine how each entry in this book will guide you on your adventures after dark NIGHT SKY ENTRY THE MOON EACH ENTRY HAS AN OPEN ING PHOTOGRAPH THAT SHOWS A FAMILIAR VIEW OF A NIGHT SKY OBJECT BENEATH THE HEAD LINE YOU LL FIND VITAL INFORMATION FOR PLANETS STARS AND OTHER OBJECTS LIKE OUR MOON OR EVENTS LIKE ECLIPSES FOR INSTANCE VITAL INFORMATION FOR THE MOON INCLUDES ITS DISTANCE FROM EARTH ITS LENGTH OF ORBIT AROUND EARTH THE LENGTH OF A DAY IN EARTH DAYS AND ITS DIAMETER FEATURES CALLED BE A SKYWATCHER SEE SAMPLE SPREAD ON PAGE 9 GIVE YOU POINTERS FOR IDENTIFYING A STAR PLANET OR CONSTELLA TION AND HELP YOU PLAN FOR MAJOR SKY EVENTS SUCH AS A METEOR SHOWER Earth's moon is the only natural sky object that humans have visited Even without binoculars you can see the Sea of Tranquility Where Apollo astronauts Neil Arrestrong and Buza drin took the first steps in 1969 The moon has many seas though they are not full of water They are large areas where molten rock has ooked out and hardened into a smooth surface The largest seas have names and can be located using a chart Comets and meteors bombard the moon so a lot of its surface is craggy Some of the larger dents and bills have also been named and mapped As the moon orbits Earth the same side any faces our planet at night The far side may not be visible to us but it's not dark some people think The sunshines there as well THE MAIN ENTRY TEXT GIVES YOU A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AN OBJECT INCLUDING WHEN IT WAS OFFICIALLY DISCOVERED HOW IT WAS NAMED AND WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE JOKES AND RIDDLES ABOUT THE NIGHT SKY WILL KEEP YOU SMILING FIND OUT SURPRISING INFORMA TION ABOUT STARS PLANETS AND SKY EVENTS FROM EXPERTS WHO KEEP THEIR EYES ON THE NIGHT SKY AND HAPPENINGS ALL YEAR LONG OUR SOLAR SYSTEM EVERY ENTRY HAS A SPOT THIS FEATURE THAT SHOWS YOU HOW TO RECOGNIZE A NIGHT SKY OBJECT SOMETIMES A PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS A CLOSE UP OF A PLANET OR A STAR AS YOU D SEE IT THROUGH A HIGH POWERED TELESCOPE SOMETIMES ARTWORK SHOWS YOU A SEQUENCE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW AN OBJECT SUCH AS A PLANET INTERACTS WITH ANOTHER OBJECT SKY CHARTS Just as there are four seasons of the year there are four seasons of the sky Earth's position changes as it circles the sun and this changes our view of the night sky On pages 66 85 you'll find charts for these sky seasons and you'll find out when constellations and other star groupings such as Leo the Lion and the Big Dipper are easiest to see 8 NIGHT SKY FIELD GUIDE
CONSTELLATIONS Nearly half of this guide shows you how to find star patterns called constellations You may already be familiar with many of them In this part of the book you'll learn more about the constellations you know and you'll discover new ones EACH CONSTELLATION FEATURES A DRAWING OF HOW IT WAS FIRST IMAGINED BY SKYWATCHERS MANY OF THE STAR PATTERNS WERE SEEN AS MYTHICAL CREATURES FROM ANCIENT GREEK OR ROMAN MYTHS EVERY CONSTELLATION HAS ITS OWN SKY CHART WITH A CAPTION THAT TELLS YOU WHERE AND WHEN TO LOOK FOR IT AMONG OTHER STARS IN THE SKY YOU LL ALSO DISCOVER THE MAIN STARS THAT MAKE UP ITS SHAPE FUN AND EASY EXPERIMENTS BRING INFORMATION TO LIFE BY GIVING YOU A CHANCE TO BE HANDS ON AND SHOWING YOU HOW PLANETS MOVE HOW STARS EXPLODE AND MORE THE DID YOU KNOW FEATURE GIVES YOU A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT A CONSTELLATION OR OTHER SKY OBJECT SPECTACULAR SKY Spectacular Sky VENUS Throughout this guide you'll find seven spreads called Spectacular Sky that will give you insights into the planet Venus the yearly Perseid meteor showers the Andromeda galaxy and more A large back ground photograph will illustrate the topic and smaller photographs with fact boxes will tell you more about these amazing objects and events in the sky HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 9
