NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe [Hardcover-spiral]

Terence Dickinson (Author), Adolf Schaller (Illustrator), Timothy Ferris (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2006 | Grade Level: 5 and up

Thoroughly revised, updated and expanded.

The first three editions of NightWatch sold more than 600,000 copies, making it the top-selling stargazing guide in the world for the last 20 years. The key feature of this classic title is the section of star charts that are cherished by backyard astronomers everywhere. Each new edition has outsold the previous one because of thorough revisions and additional new material.

NightWatch has been acclaimed as the best general interest introduction to astronomy. The fourth edition has improvements over the 3rd edition in every chapter, including:

• The famous charts, ideal for stargazers using a small telescope or binoculars
• A complete update of the equipment section, including computerized telescopes
• An enlarged photography section, including how-to instructions for using the new generation of digital cameras for astronomical photography, both with and without a telescope
• The tables of future solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions and planet locations, updated through 2018.

This edition includes for the first time star charts for use in the southern hemisphere. There are also dozens of new photographs throughout the book that show the latest thrilling discoveries made by current space observatories and probes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Nightwatch was] a clear, concise manual for backyard stargazing that also managed to convey the excitement of astronomy. This fantastically revised edition continues that tradition, but now includes sky maps for observers in the southern hemisphere and a guide to celestial phenomena up to 2018. The best introduction around. (Ivan Semeniuk New Scientist 20070120)

Aspiring stargazers will find everything that they need to unlock the secrets of the night sky in this newly updated edition. Public and school libraries will certainly want to update their collections with this book. (Amy Luedtke VOYA 200706)

A "must" for any night-time observer. (Diane C. Donovan The Midwest Book Review 20070301)

A great overall book for the stargazing hobbyist. (Mike Lynch St Paul Pioneer Press 20061217)

General interest introduction to astronomy now in its fourth edition... bends the mind with information. (Barbara Julian Victoria Times-Colonist 20070114)

Renowned author and astronomer Terence Dickinson took Grade 5 and 6 students from the [North Bay] area through the universe to make snowballs from water and ice particles that make up Saturn's rings, and visit the red liquid methane lakes of its moon, Titan.... "I'm hoping that they'll walk away with excitement about the universe," he said." It's a subject that young people are not discarding. They're living with it. They're interested in it. And they know a lot." (Maria Calabrese The North Bay Nugget 20080911)

This is probably the best handbook for the beginning astronomer. (Drew Monkman The Examiner (Peterborough) 20071211)

New, better-quality photos; amped-up sections on astrophotography and using amateur telescopic equipment; and a new chapter on the skies visible from the Southern hemisphere. (Lynn Andriani PublishersWeekly.com 20060905)

This classic title has revisions in every chapter. (Mercury 200611)

This fourth edition of the essential guide for amateur stargazers is newly updated, lavishly illustrated...and packed with facts...and a cosmic closet-full of other astronomical delights. For anyone who ever looked up and wondered what's out there, Nightwatch puts the heavens at your fingertips. (Neil Pond American Profile 20061126)

It may be hard to justify upgrading from later printings of the third edition, but NightWatch remains one of the best sourcebooks to introduce beginning astronomers to the night sky -- and to keep them interested. (Stuart J. Goldman Sky and Telescope 20070101)

NightWatch remains the best single source on sky watching and astronomy equipment for the backyard enthusiast. (Randy Groundwater Windsor Star 20061210)

[Globe and Mail 2006 Holiday Gift Book selection] Remains perhaps the best book available for amateur astronomers, and makes fascinating browsing even if you never put eye to telescope. (Globe and Mail 20061209)

[Review-of-previous-edition:] A great all-round astronomy guide. (Glenn Chaple Astronomy 20021201)

[Review-of-previous-edition:] Easily the best in its field. ... Highly recommended for all libraries. (Choice 19990401)

[Review-of-previous-edition:] Highly recommended as the best of its kind. (Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canad)

[Review-of-previous-edition:] This is a book you can confidently recommend to anyone who is just starting out in astronomy. (Astronomical League)

[Review-of-previous-edition:] Absolutely the best book for beginners. (Library Journal 20030501)

A paramount book of sky objects... easy and understandable. This practical guide is a must for the science classroom teacher, the beginning or amateur astronomer, and young and old students of the night. The author gives a sensible, realistic perspective on night sky viewing. I believe this is the best book in its field available to amateurs. (Teri Cosentino The Science Teacher 200801)

With this book, viewing the night skies can become fun again, and a family affair.... A must-have book, to stimulate interest in the heavens above, and away from video games and less productive activities. (Shelf Life, Tenth Anniversary Edition 2008)

If Canadians look at the sky more than anyone else in the world, it's thanks to one of our own....NightWatch, now in its fourth edition, has become a staple in many Canadian cottages and amateur astronomers' bookshelves along with his popular The Backyard Astronomer's Guide. The book has also quietly gone on to be the bestselling stargazer's guide in the world, having been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek and other languages, and selling a stead 25,000 copies or more a year around the world. (Ian Elliot The Whig-Standard 20080607)

This book is widely regarded as the essential guidebook for beginning stargazers. If you buy this book for no other reason that to help you find the North Star, so that you can take images of Star Trails, then it'll be worth your money. (Garry Black Garry Black Photography (GarryBlack.com) 2006)

Another must-have.... (Becky Ramotowski, SkyWatch My San Antonio Times (mysa.com) 20081208)

This is a fantastic introductory book chock full of information and charts. Well written and engaging, it is sure to provide all the information to get Dad started looking at the night sky. (John Kulczyzki suite101.com 20100510)

About the Author

Terence Dickinson is the best-selling author of 13 other astronomy books, including Backyard Astronomer's Guide and The Universe and Beyond. He has received many national and international science awards, including the New York Academy of Science Book of the Year Award.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover-spiral: 192 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books; Enlarged 4th edition (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155407147X
• ISBN-13: 978-1554071470
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 11.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Star-Gazing
  • #2 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Astronomy & Space > Astronomy
  • #2 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Astronomy

More About the Author

Terence Dickinson is a prolific science writer specializing in astronomy. More than one million copies of his 15 books are in print in five languages. His best-known book, NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe, is widely regarded as the essential guidebook for beginning stargazers. More info: fireflybooks.com/AstronomyTerence

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 130 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DON'T BUY THIS BOOK November 23, 2006

By Frank A. Whorton

Format:Hardcover-spiral|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is book is so good, you'll regret reading it. Let me tell you why. This is the book that got me started on astronomy. Two telescopes, sleepless nights spent under the stars, and 4 years later; I am $5000 poorer but much more enriched...all because I read this book. Perfect for any beginner, but even this "old head" had to buy the new edition (this is the 4th) since my old one is being passed on to my Dad's house (with our old 6 inch Discovery telescopes reflector) in South Dakota. Great beginner star charts..when I am not chasing the faint fuzzies, I use these charts as a default. Seriously..one of the best Astronomy books out there!

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but not perfect March 17, 2009

By harbinjer

Format:Hardcover-spiral

Overall an excellent book. It has a great overview of astronomy, and some good guides in what to look for in a telescope and what to look at in a telescope once you have it. Then there are whole sky star maps, and maps broken down to smaller areas. It's got plenty of targets for binoculars and small scopes. So if you're just getting started and have binoculars, but no scope yet, this is a great book. Let me emphasize (as the book does) that a department store telescope is likely worse than a $20 binocular, because it will lead to more frustration than it is worth.

I do wish that the charts maybe had finder views of a few objects as well, perhaps in the bottom margin. A second important thing would be to warn users about what they CAN'T see from an urban or suburban location. You might think that magnitude 7-8 objects would be just visible, but many aren't. Many things that are easy from a dark sky site are very hard or impossible from a city. It doesn't emphasize this enough for beginners who don't have the experience to know this.
Other things to buy might be a plansiphere. Also a more detailed atlas like the Bright Star Atlas, The Cambridge Star Atlas, or for even more detail, the Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. Keep in mind that the more detail you see, the more confusing it can be. And that's another strong point of this book. The charts in here are very easy to understand and non-threatening, perfect for beginners. And lastly, if you do get a telescope, Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them is a great book too. It has very detailed directions for finding everything in there. So if you can't find some of the objects in here, Turn left at Orion will probably help.

I also want to mention that the spiral binding works great for the star maps to keep the book easily open and flat.

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Updated version of a classic text! December 29, 2007

By [e-mail] VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover-spiral

The overwhelming number of reviews for this book on Amazon is a testimonial to its stature as a classic introductory stargazing book. The fact that the reviews are uniformly positive testifies to its exceptional quality. Now in its fourth edition, Nightwatch has been introducing amateur astronomers to the night sky for over two decades. Terence Dickinson is a prolific astronomy author and this is one of his most important and enduring works.
This is essentially the same as the older editions, some of which I also own. Four new things have been added to the new edition. Tables and data have been update through 2018, there are now southern hemisphere charts (for a Northern hemisphere book, who cares?), there is an updated section on digital astrophotography and some updated information on buying a telescope. I have read many introductory stargazing books and I always find the information about buying a telescope the least interesting. More often than not, the telescope is purchased first and the book is purchased later. An extended section on purchasing a telescope after the fact, after the proverbial horse has left the barn, seems wasteful. Dickerson's section is interesting however. I have not read all his works, but I have read several and Dickerson has uniformly dismissed "go-to" telescopes in favor of "learning the sky." This may be worthwhile for the serious amateur astronomer, but the serious amateur already knows the sky. The true novice may be aided by a telescope that aids him in finding celestial objects so that his cold and dark nights don't end prematurely in frustration. The frustrated novice may never become the "serious" amateur astronomer who benefits from knowing the sky.
To my knowledge, this is the first book in which Dickerson embraces GPS-guided "go-to" telescopes which require no knowledge of the sky. In an age of light pollution when the opportunity to view the sky are diminishing for most of us urban dwellers, Dickerson acknowledges the utility of GPS telescopes which have become self-guiding and essentially "idiot-proof." If you can get it into the darkness and onto a tripod, it can find for you a celestial object. This is truly an amazing advance in amateur astronomy and Dickerson finally acknowledges and embraces this development.
As a book, this is a thorough introductory text on stargazing. It is concise and the prose is well-written. Anyone wanting to pursue astronomy as a serious hobby will undoubtedly want more, but this is an excellent starting point. And for nearly a quarter century, this is where many budding amateur astronomers have started. This text is recommended without reservations. If you want to learn the sky, start here.