Based on field notes made by the author during his own career as an amateur astronomer, this unique guide covers both the traditional and novel approaches to studying the night sky. In addition to the more standard techniques, it discusses the latest modern resources available to today's astronomer, such as personal computers, the Internet, and computerized telescopes. It includes practical advice on aspects such as site selection and weather; provides the reader with detailed instructions for observing the Sun, Moon, planets, and all types of deep-sky objects; and it introduces newer specialities such as satellite observing and the use of astronomical databases. The book concludes with detailed information about 200 stars, clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, suitable for viewing with modest-sized telescopes under suburban conditions. Written to complement How to Use a Computerized Telescope, this book will also appeal to astronomers with more traditional equipment.

A handy and comprehensive reference to the 300 most interesting celestial objects. This book provides a tour through the galaxy, from its solar core to its outer limits, with all the highlights and the very latest data about the universe. Convenient data sidebars with each entry provide facts and figures on every object- including mass, magnitude, density, radius, rotation period, and surface and core temperatures. An annotated cross-section of the object enhances this information, and a full-page photograph brings the object to life. Additional spreads bring together and explain related objects or phenomena. For example, the corresponding pages for the sun include solar power, sunspots and solar flares. Others examples include: *Mercury: Mercury's surface *The asteroid belt: Eros 433 *Jupiter's moons: 10, Europa, Callista *Outer belts and comets: Halley's comet; Deep Impact *Space telescopes: International Space Station. 300 Astronomical Objects is a handy reference for the amateur astronomer. AUTHOR: Jamie Wilkins has a degree in astrophysics from Cambridge University. Robert Dunn has a degree in natural sciences, specializing in physics, from Cambridge University, where he is a researcher at the Institute of Astronomy. 300 + colour illustrations

1,001 Celestial Wonders is a guide to the night sky's brightest and most fascinating objects. Each target is accessible to amateur astronomers using medium-sized telescopes from a dark site. In fact, many are so bright they remain visible under moderate light pollution, as from the outskirts of a city or the suburbs of a town. The book provides a chronological target list, making it easy to use. No matter what night you choose, this book will show you many of the most memorable objects to observe, whether you are using a small telescope or even binoculars, or an instrument of larger aperture. This is far more than just a list of interesting objects. It is structured so that objects of various observing difficulty are included, which will help readers become better observers, both encouraging beginners and challenging long-time amateur astronomers. This book is designed to be easy-to-use at the telescope, and observers will appreciate each object's standardized layout and the book's chronological organization. Finally, many amateur astronomers function best when presented with a list! Even the Meade Autostar® controller features a 'best tonight' list (although the list is far less comprehensive and detailed than the catalog provided in this book), a feature that has proved extremely popular. 1,001 Celestial Wonders offers a life-list of objects any observer would be proud to complete.

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A step-by-step guide to predicting and calculating the positions of stars, planets, the sun, the moon, and satellites using a personal computer and high school mathematics—for amateur astronomers Our knowledge of the universe is expanding rapidly, as space probes launched decades ago begin to send information back to earth. There has never been a better time to learn about how planets, stars, and satellites move through the heavens. This book is for amateur astronomers who want to move beyond pictures of constellations in star guides and solve the mysteries of a starry night. It is a book for readers who have wondered where Saturn will appear in the night sky, when the sun will rise and set—or how long the space station will be over their location. In Celestial Calculations, J. L. Lawrence shows readers how to find the answers to these and other astronomy questions with only a personal computer and high school math. Using an easy-to-follow step-by-step approach, Lawrence explains what calculations are required, why they are needed, and how they all fit together. Lawrence begins with basic principles: unit of measure conversions, time conversions, and coordinate systems. He combines these concepts into a computer program that can calculate the location of a star and uses the same methods for predicting the locations of the sun, moon, and planets. He then shows how to use these methods for locating the many satellites we have sent into orbit. Finally, he describes a variety of resources and tools available to the amateur astronomer, including star charts and astronomical tables. Diagrams illustrate the major concepts, and computer programs that implement the algorithms are included. Photographs of actual celestial objects accompany the text, and interesting astronomical facts are interspersed throughout. Source code (in Python 3, JAVA, and Visual Basic) and executables for all the programs and examples presented in the book are available for download at https://CelestialCalculations.github.io.

This book offers a reappraisal of basic aspects of Aristotelian cosmology. Aristotle believed that all celestial objects consist of the same substance that pervades the heavens, a stuff unlike those found near the center of the cosmos that compose us and everything in our immediate surroundings. Kouremenos argues that, contrary to the received view, Aristotle originally introduced this heavenly stuff as the matter of the stars alone, the remotest celestial objects from the Earth, and as filler of the outermost part of the heavens, forming a diurnally rotating spherical shell whose fixed parts are the stars, the crust of the cosmos which has the Earth at its center. The author also argues that, contrary to another common view, at no point in the development of his cosmological thought did Aristotle believe the heavens to be structured according to the theory of homocentric spheres developed by his older contemporary Eudoxus of Cnidus, in which the other celestial objects, the five planets known in antiquity, the Sun and the Moon, were hypothesized to move uniformly in circles, as if they were fixed stars.

Anyone with an interest in astronomy needs a map to help them find their way around the night sky. The Night Sky Month by Month contains charts for observing the night sky in both the northern and southern hemispheres throughout the year. Readers can find their latitude, relate the chart to their local horizon, and see which way the stars and planets are moving in this fascinating guide to the mysterious night sky.