Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope [Hardcover]

Patrick Moore (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521790522 | ISBN-13: 978-0521790529 | Publication Date: December 4, 2000 | Edition: 2

On a clear night, the vastness and beauty of the star-filled sky is awe inspiring. In Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope Patrick Moore, Britain's best known astronomer, tells you all you need to know about the universe visible to the naked eye. With the aid of charts and illustrations, he explains how to "read" the stars, to know which constellations lie overhead, their trajectory throughout the seasons, and the legends ascribed to them. In a month-by-month guide he describes using detailed star maps of the night skies of both the northern and southern hemispheres. He also takes a look at the planets, the Sun and the Moon and their eclipses, comets, meteors, as well as aurorae and other celestial phenomena--all in accessible scientific detail. This captivating book shows how, even with just the naked eye, astronomy can be a fascinating and rewarding hobby--for life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is an excellent primer for any newcomer to astronomy and an enjoyable and readable book ... Every astronomer should have a copy. I shall stock it in my bookshop and heartily recommend it.' Paul England, Astronomy Now

'This book is well suited for novices to get acquainted with the stellar constellations, and for everyone interested in observing the sky with just the naked eye.' Orion (Société Astronomique de Suisse)

'... the illustrations and details of what to look for at different times of year are very helpful for beginners ... this book excels at providing easy directions for exploring the night sky. Recommended for general readers.' M. K. Hemenway, Choice

Book Description

On a clear night, the vastness and beauty of the star-filled sky is awe-inspiring. In Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope Patrick Moore, Britain's best known astronomer reveals everything you need to know about the universe visible to the naked eye. Using detailed star charts, he describes month by month, the night skies of the northern and southern hemispheres, and looks at the Sun and the Moon, planets, comets and other celestial phenomena. This illustrated guide reveals just how much of our fascinating universe can be seen by the human eye.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (December 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521790522
• ISBN-13: 978-0521790529
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,351,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the night sky, April 22, 2002

By 

Matthew P. Whitehead (Falls Church, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the fact that the author goes through each month of the year and does an excellent job of describing the constellations, and provides maps to help find the stars he mentions. He even covers both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. While I obviously live in the Northern Hemisphere, and so the Northern Hemisphere's sky maps are the most helpful in my own stargazing, I thought it was fun to read about how the sky in other parts of the world compares with my own backyard sky. He also gives helpful advice for finding each of the planets visible with the naked eye. He also describes comets, meteors, and other astronomical phenomona visible with the naked eye. I highly recommend this book for those who want to enjoy astronomy without necessarily spending a lot of money on equipment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to the night sky, March 24, 2010

By 

Jacob Hugart (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope (Paperback)

I own the first edition of this book, which is excellent. For the northern and southern hemispheres, Patrick Moore gives sky maps for the different seasons, so it is fairly easy to get to an appropriate place. What I like most, though, is that he shows useful outlines of constellations, instead of classic ones: What the book illustrates is much more likely to match what you see in the night sky of a city than what you would find in other sources. In addition, his instructions on finding specific stars are very easy to follow.

I'd strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to be more familiar with the stars they see at night, as well as anyone with a high interest in astronomy in general.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before you buy a telescope..., July 7, 2006

By 

POM (Deerfield, IL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Stargazing: Astronomy without a Telescope (Hardcover)

...learn the constellations. You will find this advice on many astronomy forums and I generally concur with it. I would just enhance it a little: knowing the costellations (and your way around the night sky) will help you enjoy your telescope.
This book will help you with the learning. The charts are not crowded (with the non-constellation stars) and easy to read; there is a separate chart or set of charts for each month and a corresponding description of what you can expect to see. Since I live in a light-polluted suburb I found that having a pair of binoculars helped me find all the stars in the constellations (and so did clear sky :-)