A Skywatcher's Year

✍ Scribed by Jeff Kanipe

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 205
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

If you have ever watched shooting stars graze the sky or wondered about a particularly bright point of light near the horizon, then this is the book for you. A Skywatcher's Year is the authoritative guide to visible bodies in the night sky throughout the year. Through fifty-two essays, Jeff Kanipe guides you to celestial events and phenomena that occur or are visible with the naked eye and binoculars for each week of the year. He 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. Kanipe also examines the most frequently-observed celestial body, the Moon, and the intriguing lore surrounding it. A rich and jargon-free look at the sky through the four seasons, this engaging book will give new dimensions to backyard star-gazing.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Foreword......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Author’s Note......Page 15
Familiarizing yourself with the night sky......Page 17
Directions in the sky......Page 19
A matter of degrees......Page 20
Star magnitudes......Page 21
Stellar nomenclature......Page 22
PART I The Sky by Seasons......Page 25
The seasonal lag......Page 27
New year, new millennium, same stars......Page 30
The year’s first meteor shower......Page 31
The flashing Dog Star......Page 33
The Milky Way in winter......Page 35
The winter clock......Page 36
Who was Auriga the Charioteer?......Page 39
The second-brightest star in the night sky......Page 42
The Magellanic Clouds......Page 44
A starry hothouse......Page 46
Three star clusters......Page 48
Gemini the Twins......Page 50
The light that hides......Page 52
Spring arrives......Page 55
Finding true north......Page 58
Finding true south......Page 61
The Beehive Cluster......Page 63
A kingly star......Page 65
The surprising Lyrid meteors......Page 66
The Big Dipper’s many identities......Page 67
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower......Page 69
Boötes the Herdsman......Page 70
A star that bears watching......Page 72
Quest for the Southern Cross......Page 73
A cosmic window......Page 76
A summer place......Page 78
The Sun stands still......Page 81
Clouds in space......Page 83
The glorious Milky Way......Page 84
Galactic central......Page 86
Deep-sky treasures......Page 88
Dog Days......Page 91
The Summer Triangle......Page 93
A false comet......Page 95
The Perseids: celestial fireworks......Page 97
The Native American Scorpion......Page 100
Summer holds on as autumn draws near......Page 101
The smile in the sky and the watery realm......Page 103
Time is distance among the stars......Page 105
Fomalhaut: solitary star in the south......Page 107
The Sun goes south......Page 109
Star time......Page 110
The Double Cluster......Page 112
The rescue of Andromeda......Page 114
Shooting stars from Orion......Page 117
Five southern birds......Page 118
A stepping stone to the universe......Page 120
The Leonid meteor shower......Page 122
The Pleiades rise at sunset......Page 124
A star that ‘winks’......Page 125
Betelgeuse, Betelgeux, Betelgeuze......Page 127
The flashy Geminid meteor shower......Page 128
Winter’s eve......Page 130
PART II The Sun, Moon, and Planets......Page 133
The skywatcher’s Sun......Page 135
Sunspots and faculae......Page 136
The sunspot cycle......Page 138
Preparing for observing the Sun......Page 139
Observing the Sun......Page 141
Aurorae: the northern and southern lights......Page 142
Eclipse: greatest shadow show in the solar system......Page 144
Total solar eclipses......Page 145
A note on observing a solar eclipse......Page 147
Total lunar eclipses......Page 148
The skywatcher’s Moon......Page 150
Observing the Moon......Page 151
Predicting moonrise......Page 154
The tides......Page 156
The Harvest Moon......Page 158
Blue Moons......Page 160
Finding and observing the planets......Page 164
Appendices......Page 169
Appendix I Total and annular solar eclipses: 2001 to 2024......Page 171
Appendix II Total lunar eclipses: 2001 to 2025......Page 177
Appendix III General planet locations: 1999 to 2010......Page 180
Saturn......Page 194
Appendix V The 20 brightest stars in the night sky......Page 196
Celestial Tables, Catalogs, and Star Maps......Page 199
Solar system......Page 200
Universe......Page 201
Index......Page 203