From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–A visually stunning and informative introduction to astronomy and stargazing. Opening materials include definitions, polar and equatorial sky maps, and instructions on using the book. The bulk of this spiral-bound volume is arranged chronologically, featuring the part of the sky best observed each month of the year. Each entry focuses on a specific constellation and its component stars and includes a photo of that area of the sky. Six of the pictures have a plastic overlay that shows the outline of the constellation. Interspersed between months are spreads on topics such as the evolution and types of stars, the sun, planets and other solar system objects, nebulae, and galaxies. There is minimal text, with most information conveyed through detailed captions or the images themselves. Added features include numerous sidebars with factual data, such as dates of future eclipses, brief biographies of famous astronomers, and statistics on heavenly bodies. The information is concise, yet the author does not shy away from complex topics such as parallax and red shifts. Profusely and beautifully illustrated, the book features numerous pictures of celestial objects and clear, easy-to-understand diagrams. Jack Challoner's
The Atlas of Space (Copper Beech, 2001) is similar and more detailed, but lacks the visual impact and abundance of star maps of Scagell's title.
–Jeffrey A. French, Euclid Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
Featuring up-to-the-minute discoveries and state-of-the-art space photography, this atlas illustrates all that science has revealed about constellations, the evolution of stars and galaxies, and the planets in the solar system. Acetate overlays highlight special points of interest to show even more about what we see in the night sky.