A Skywatcher's Year

By Jeff Kanipe

Book Overview

Have you ever wondered what that bright point of light twinkling near the horizon is, or just when you can expect to see the best shooting stars of the year? A Skywatcher's Year has answers to these and other questions about what is visible in the night sky throughout the year. Through 52 articles arranged week by week, A Skywatcher's Year guides you to celestial events and phenomena that occur or are visible with the naked eye and binoculars for each week of the year. It acquaints you not only with up-to-date astronomical information on stars, nebulae, meteors, the Milky Way, and galaxies, but also conveys the beauty and wonder of the night sky. Covering both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, A Skywatcher's Year helps readers find prominent stars and constellations, bright star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, and explains how and when to observe prominent annual meteor showers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521634059
• ISBN13: 9780521634052
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

excellent sky tour

This is an excellent guide to watching the night sky during the year. It is personable and highly enjoyable -- anyone interested in backyard astronomy will find it easy to read and use. Highly recommended.

Become a better astronomer in only 52 weeks

The Sky watcher's Year is broken into 52 essays on what to observe through the year. Each week covers a different observation topic, such as finding true north, the summer triangle, or deep-sky treasures. The author provides facts, and lore on each of the topics, and ideas for observing the phenomena. There are also additional sections on observing the Sun, Eclipses, and the Moon. Many of the essays cover topics that are easily visible with the naked eye, binoculars or a small telescope. The book is organized by week so you can thumb to the week, read the essay, go outside, look up at the night sky and say aha, so that's what he means. I recommend this book for those who want to expand their knowledge of astronomy. This book would be a good companion to those who enjoyed 40 Nights to Knowing the Sky: a night-by-night sky watching primer by Schaaf.