| Celestial Delights, by Francis Reddy and Greg Walz-Chojnacki, is a month-by-month guide to the astronomical sights and events of the first decade of the 21st Century that is decidedly “user friendly" for the novice backyard observer. While the information on when specific celestial events will happen is now out of date, the information on how and what to observe remains as relevant as ever.
It covers common beginning astronomer’s concerns like the best times to view different planets, moon phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, meteor showers, and the like. The 83 charts and figures, 38 photos (15 in color), and 24 tables make this a good introduction to basic astronomy. Sky & Telescope commented, “Celestial Delights makes an almost complete short course in descriptive popular astronomy. . . . The feature that makes this book stand out is a text crammed with easy-to-use diagrams – probably the best we've seen. The style is so breezy we wish we'd written it ourselves. Indeed, after reading this book, if you don't understand how the heavens work and how to find objects in the ever-changing night sky, you never will. Why didn't someone think of writing one of these before?"
This paperback has 268 7" x 10" pages. It includes chapters entitled: The Meaning of the Sky; Moon Dance; Morning Stars, Evening Stars: Venus and Mercury; Eclipses of the Sun and Moon; Mars: The Red Wanderer; Distant Giants: Jupiter and Saturn; An Introduction to the Starry Sky; Meteors and Meteor Showers; Unpredictable Sky Events; Recommended World Wide Web Sites; and a Glossary and Bibliography. The no longer valid chapters on Celestial Events, 2003-2010; Phases of the Moon, 2003-2010; and Greatest Elongations and Oppositions, 2003-2010, are only of historical interest and can be skipped when enjoying the book.
You can learn to identify what’s happening in the night sky with this book, which is an excellent introduction to astronomy and observing for urban and suburban sky-gazers – dark country skies and expensive telescopes are not required. It explains numerous naked-eye events with lucid writing and easy-to-grasp diagrams that earned it rave reviews. An astronomy guide for the layperson, Celestial Delights will deepen your appreciation of what you see when you gaze at the skies, and will inspire you to do it more often.
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