What figures do the constellations of the night sky represent? What are the properties of the stars that they comprise? And which constellations are 'new', and which have become extinct? This unique reference book gathers together more information on the constellations than any other single work to date. The constellations can be readily compared, and a general view of them developed, using the tables that make up the first part of the book. These tables provide a wealth of information, covering all the essential properties of the constellations. In the second part of the book, each constellation is taken in turn, with a star chart and map illustrating the associated celestial figure and supported by a comprehensive list of essential properties. This highly illustrated volume provides the most complete reference to date, covering all factual aspects of the constellations for astronomers, both amateur and professional, educators and science writers.The author: Michael Bakich is currently the Planetarium Director for Kansas City Museum. He is an experienced writer and regularly writes columns for newspapers and the astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope.

Easy-to-use guide to the constellations of the night sky and their myths and legends.

A Walk through the Southern Sky is a beautifully illustrated guide to the stars and constellations of the southern hemisphere. By following the simplified and easy-to-use starmaps, readers will be able to identify constellations with no equipment but normal sight and a clear night sky. This book provides clear instructions on how to determine star sizes and the distances between stars, allowing readers to move easily between constellations. The budding astronomer is introduced to the mystery and wonder of the southern sky as the myths and legends of its stars and constellations are wondrously retold. The third edition of this magical book features a new moon map, an updated list of planet positions, additional illustrations and more realistic star maps. It is an invaluable and beautiful guide for beginner stargazers, both young and old.

Comprehensive reference text on planetary astronomy written for the general reader.

If you go outside on a clear night, you can't help yourself. Your head tilts back, your eyes rise up, and you find yourself gazing at the stars . . . WOW! From the beginning of time, people have admired the night sky's beauty. The night sky is our oldest picture book, and Wishing on a Star retells some of these stories from around the world in simple language that kids can understand. Wishing on a Star also includes lots of fun activities that celebrate the stars. Learn how to make a twinkling thaumatrope, fly a starry kite, and act in your own constellation play. Star maps and stargazing tips show how to find the constellations, and cool science facts teach more about the stars.

Constellations are not new to astronomy. Even before the era of printing, patterns of stars have been recognized by humans and their histories have been passed on from generation to generation, culture to culture. This book is the ultimate constellation reference book. Finally, a book exists that brings together a variety of information about constellations, including: the size, visibility, and relative brightness of all eighty-eight constellations; former locations of extinct constellations; the number of visible stars in each constellation; and more. Using tables, this information is presented in the first part of the book so that constellations can be readily compared and a general view of them developed. In the second part of the book, each constellation is taken in turn, with a star chart and map illustrating the associated celestial figure, supported by a comprehensive list of essential properties. This highly illustrated volume provides the most complete reference to date covering all aspects of the constellations and will be helpful for astronomers, both amateur and professional, educators and science writers.

This handbook is a guide to exploring the classical night sky and its wonderful telescopic sights. All 88 officially recognized constellations are presented in natural groups which are related by their origin and location in the sky. Each group is explained by a fascinating story which tells what each constellation represents, how it appears in the sky, and why the other constellations of the group are close by, or related in some other manner. Some of these stories are classical myths which show how and why ancient cultures saw the constellations as related groups. Others are about more modern astronomers who sought recognition by filling in the gaps between the ancient constellations with inventions of their own. Both types of stories are crafted to make the constellation groups memorable, so that amateur astronomers can not only locate and recognize the constellations more easily, but also be able to pinpoint the celestial objects they contain more quickly. Specific instructions are given for finding each constellation, how to spell and pronounce the constellation and star names, plus the origins of the star names. Finder charts show each constellation group and a large area of sky around the group. These charts also indicate pointer stars which aid in finding the constellations. More detailed charts show how each constellation figure is visualized through simple line drawings. For each constellation, there is a table of about 10 to 30 telescopic objects selected to include a wide range of difficulty. Some can be glimpsed with the unaided eye, others require a 12 or 14 inch telescope. All the most prominent telescopic objects are included, plus a varied selection of interesting, but much more difficult objects. The tables include each object’s celestial coordinates, type, size, brightness, other information specific to each type of object, and a recommendation of the appropriate telescope size needed for good viewing. There are also photographs of constellations and telescopic objects, detailed locator charts for the hard-to-find objects, and plots of binary star orbital motions. The same charts used to show the constellation figures are repeated, with the addition of symbols indicating the locations of all the selected telescopic objects. An index and seven appendices help the user find specific objects or classes of objects.