The Star Guide: Learn How To Read The Night Sky Star By Star [Hardcover]

Robin Kerrod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1993

More than 150 full-color photographs and illustrations capture the spectacular wonder and drama of space • More than 60 easy-to-read color star charts guide you star by star and month by month through the winter, spring, summer, and fall skies • Reference pages and feature boxes provide further background information • A practical, high-quality planisphere (star-finder), pictured above, lets you identify the stars overhead at any given time on any day of the year Informative, clear, easy-to-use and lavishly illustrated, The Star Guide puts the Universe at your fingertips and lets you learn about the heavens through actual observation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A bit oversize for field use, this introduction to stargazing nonetheless offers an informative beginning for learning navigation of the night sky before heading outside. (It comes with a removable hand-size sky map called a planisphere.) Kerrod's presentation is structured around monthly star maps (for midlatitude observers) in two-page spreads, with a follow-up feature on that month's outstanding constellation. So that rather than emphasizing rote memorization of all 88 recognized constellations, the book enables identification of just the most striking constellations, such as Orion or the Northern Cross, making the task of celestial familiarization much easier. The text then instructs viewers in using a constellation's brightest individual stars to orient themselves to neighboring asterisms, progressively cultivating a mental image of the entire celestial vault and its changing appearance over the course of a year. Photos featuring Hubble Space Telescope spectaculars, supplemented by tips for viewing the sun, moon, and planets, round out this attractive book on basic astronomy. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

The Star Guide The Star Guide is for everyone who has marveled at the beauty of the night sky and wanted to know more about the stars. User-friendly and thoroughly up to date, The Star Guide demystifies astronomy and gives you all the information you need to appreciate the wonders of the Universe — from the explosive birth of a star to an eclipse to a cloudy nebula. It reflects the latest findings by the world's astronomers, as well as by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Magellan probe to Venus. Totally visual and completely accessible, the guide features easy-to-follow star charts and a high-quality planisphere to help you locate the major constellations. Moreover, The Star Guide relies on the user's observations made with binoculars and the naked eye. Novice astronomers are taken through the orbits of the planets of the solar system as well as to stars beyond. Written with clarity and infectious enthusiasm by best-selling science writer Robin Kerrod, and illustrated with more than 150 full-color photos and drawings, The Star Guide offers an uncomplicated and unconventional means of space exploration. A specially devised visual cross-referencing system provides easy access to information and to explanations of terms and concepts. Feature boxes explain scientific theory and both recent and ancient astronomical history. Discussion and analysis of the astronomer's tools are also included in this comprehensive sourcebook. You'll find advice on how to use binoculars, telescopes, computers, and cameras in your astronomical observations. With its spectacular color art, planisphere, and vividly descriptive style, The Star Guide is an informative, entertaining, and fascinating journey through the cosmos.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671874675
• ISBN-13: 978-0671874674
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I quickly put this on the shelf., February 21, 2001

By 

Steven R LaBrenz (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star Guide: Learn How To Read The Night Sky Star By Star (Hardcover)

This was my very first book on astronomy and it was quickly replaced by another book. There are better beginners guides to buy.

While the maps are of good quality, blue background and divided by the month, I quickly learned that the maps contain errors in placement of some celestial objects. Organization of the description of the constellations in the monthly section is poor because you have to jump around to different pages to locate a description of nearly half of the constellations for that month. While there are in-depth analysis of the most commonly known constellations, the infomation on the lesser known constellations would be better organized as a separate section with a small skymap for each.

The sections on the Moon, Planets and Sun are good, but most amature astronomers veiw this information as a side interest. These sections should be condensed and more space given to the constellations. Better treatment of our solar system would be on how to view these objects.

The planisphere that comes with the book is mediocre. A spiral bound form of the book with dew-resistant pages would be better.

My recommendation would be to get Nightwatch, the Audubon pocket guide, and David Levy's Guide to the Stars.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for beginners that's a reference for the experienced., October 20, 1998

By 

Kevin Cornwell ([e-mail]) (Yreka, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star Guide: Learn How To Read The Night Sky Star By Star (Hardcover)

A large format book with full color throughout, this work takes beginning star-gazers by the hand and quickly shows them what, when, where, and how. Its detail is presented logically and intuitively such that it makes a very nice reference for the experienced amateur astronomer as well.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written with great photographs and charts., October 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Star Guide: Learn How To Read The Night Sky Star By Star (Hardcover)

This book is a great introductory book on astronomy. Not only is it replete with information on and pictures of the moon, planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies, it is a very practical, visually-oriented guide for the amateur astronomer.