Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners

by Terence Dickinson, John Bianchi (Illustrator)

200,000 sold to date Exploring the Night Sky is aimed at novice star gazers anxious to expand their astronomical repertoire beyond the Big and Little Dippers. Dickinson has designed a superb introduction to astronomy that is clear, concise, beautifully illustrated and very "user friendly" no matter what the child's age. The book is divided into three sections. The first is a 10-step voyage from the Earth's vicinity to the distant reaches of the universe. Organized by increasing distance from the Earth, it touches on the Moon, Mars, Pluto, comets, the three stars of Alpha Centauri, the center of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Andromeda Galaxy, and vantage points at 10,000,000 light-years from Earth and 300,000,000 light-years from Earth. The second section, "Alien Vistas," is a sequence of 10 close-up looks at some of the most interesting objects mentioned in the first section, including all the planets of the solar system, stars, black holes and quasars, and makes speculations about extraterrestrial life. The final section is a guide to viewing the night sky, which enables readers to go outside on any clear night of the year and identify celestial objects. There is a glossary with explanations of unfamiliar terms and for pronunciations. Exploring the Night Sky is a clearly written, well-illustrated introduction to astronomy for anyone interested in the universe around us.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Space, Childrens, Reference

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1987

About the author

Terence Dickinson is a prolific science writer specializing in astronomy. More than one million copies of his 14 books are in print in five languages. His best-known book, NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe, is widely regarded as the essential guidebook for beginning stargazers. NightWatch, first published in 1983, now has over 600,000 copies in print, making it the top-selling stargazing guide in the world during the past 20 years. Each new edition has outsold the previous one because of extensive revisions and the addition of new material.

Reviews

[Thomas Meikle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brushed me up on my astronomy (for kids cause I don’t know SHIT)

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my friends (Kaedyn & Kyle) know, grandma takes the grandkids out for their birthday. Makenzie wanted to go to the Planitarium, and see a star show. They talked me in to going with them. It was great, and after we spent almopst an hour at the gift shop.
I bought this book for myself. I learned so much about space and the stars, and solar systems. It is like they go on nad on and have no end!
This is a small book, only 72 pages, but it has good pictures, and helps me understand what is out there in space.
If you want to borrow it, just let me know.
LOVE Grandpa

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an almost surreal experience reading this book, considering how much has changed about our understanding of space and other worlds since this work's original publication in 1987. In spite of the many revelations that have occurred since then, this remains a solid guide for both rookie astronomers, and those interested in seeing just how tiny the Earth is, in comparison to the rest of the universe. Certainly, for a certain age group, this makes for fascinating reading...but it definitely needs updating.

[Rishindra Chinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in third grade. I remember reading a few books about astronomy similar to this one around the same time but this was easily the best of them. It was very interesting and it had some amazing illustrations.

[Elena Stargazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first rodeo with those Parkway read it before it was very good begin with. And it still is good I would recommend it for anyone from ages six to 100 if people live up to 100. The art work is good and the facts interesting. I can only give 5 stars but what the heck ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Paige Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book for young adults is dated 2002 in my copy, reprinted in 2007. It is a nice introduction to the the solar system and constellations. It is a bit dated (Pluto is still a planet and it discusses where planets will be in the 2003-2007 range). I liked the illustrations and the facts were presented in easily digestible chunks. I wish it had been updated, but much has changed since it was published. Now where the planets might be on any given night is easily found on the internet or apps such as Sky Map. Still, I liked the background information and the great illustrations.

It was well worth the reading. It is a solid 4.5 stars (because its age is starting to show), but I rounded it up to 5 stars because the illustrations are so good.

[Namiko]

Since I'm not good at numbers (I cannot do math) it is very hard to understand how big, long it is, but the illustrations help me a lot. Astronomy is interesting but I found it difficult to understand. I cannot be Benjamin Banneker but I can be a stargazer. This book encouraged me that I can see some major stars and constellations even though in cities. I just learned to use my hand "ruler" to measure sky distances and so what I need now is "a dim flashlight and reclining lawn chair."

[Laramie Howard]

This book is amazing and interesting. I like how it has a lot of information about our solar system and the universe and is broken up into three parts so that you don't feel overwhelmed by the number of chapters in the book.