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The Stars: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Cosmos
Expand your horizons and take in the awesome sights of the Universe.
Using stunning space photography and easy-to-understand infographics, The Stars takes you to scores of galaxy clusters fantastically far away.
Since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, there are now hundreds of billions of stars, 200 billion alone in our home galaxy – the Milky Way. The Stars details 88 constellations to be found in the night sky, including Ursa Major, which contains the seven stars that make up the Plough, as well as Hercules, Lyra, Orion, and far away Andromeda. It explains how they came into being, where they are situated, and their key features.
Feast your eyes on glowing galaxies, and rare sights such as dust clouds in the Carina and Ring Nebulae, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Stars also provides an endless parade of mind-blowing facts such as when Betelgeuse explodes, it will release more energy in an instant that the Sun produces in its entire lifetime!
Using stunning space photography and easy-to-understand infographics, The Stars takes you to scores of galaxy clusters fantastically far away.
Since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, there are now hundreds of billions of stars, 200 billion alone in our home galaxy – the Milky Way. The Stars details 88 constellations to be found in the night sky, including Ursa Major, which contains the seven stars that make up the Plough, as well as Hercules, Lyra, Orion, and far away Andromeda. It explains how they came into being, where they are situated, and their key features.
Feast your eyes on glowing galaxies, and rare sights such as dust clouds in the Carina and Ring Nebulae, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Stars also provides an endless parade of mind-blowing facts such as when Betelgeuse explodes, it will release more energy in an instant that the Sun produces in its entire lifetime!
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 11, 2016
32 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 22, 2020
You'd have to look long and hard to find a worse pop-astronomy book than this. Even the cover is ugly! OK, let me start a list:
1) Color reproductions are of indifferent quality, and most are dull, poorly-chosen or both.
2) 136 of the books 256 pages are spent on *constellations*, which are simply asterisms, chance arrangements of the stars as seen from our view point. This is ridiculous. Who cares? This is the 21sr century. Yet here's a full-page spread on "Holerolgium", the pendulum clock (!!), a "faint and unremarkable Southern sky constellation." Yeah, we really needed that one. And the dozens more, equally useless lumber. Mensa, the Table Mountain! Octans, the Octant! You couldn't make this stuff up.
3) The Solar System section, all of 10 pages (!!). is an embarrassment. Mediocre, poorly chosen, poorly-reproduced photos, outdated info. A full-page optical-telescope Moon photo, that could have been found in any schoolbook of the past 50 years! The moon jeep! Did I mention 10 pages, for some of the most interesting developments in the past 30 years of astronomy?
4) Cat was in my lap. Book is too heavy to balance both of them. I don't get that much lap time...
There are bits that rise to OK, but I'm sticking with 1-star, "I hate it". If you want to turn off your kid from astronomy, this is the book for you.
1) Color reproductions are of indifferent quality, and most are dull, poorly-chosen or both.
2) 136 of the books 256 pages are spent on *constellations*, which are simply asterisms, chance arrangements of the stars as seen from our view point. This is ridiculous. Who cares? This is the 21sr century. Yet here's a full-page spread on "Holerolgium", the pendulum clock (!!), a "faint and unremarkable Southern sky constellation." Yeah, we really needed that one. And the dozens more, equally useless lumber. Mensa, the Table Mountain! Octans, the Octant! You couldn't make this stuff up.
3) The Solar System section, all of 10 pages (!!). is an embarrassment. Mediocre, poorly chosen, poorly-reproduced photos, outdated info. A full-page optical-telescope Moon photo, that could have been found in any schoolbook of the past 50 years! The moon jeep! Did I mention 10 pages, for some of the most interesting developments in the past 30 years of astronomy?
4) Cat was in my lap. Book is too heavy to balance both of them. I don't get that much lap time...
There are bits that rise to OK, but I'm sticking with 1-star, "I hate it". If you want to turn off your kid from astronomy, this is the book for you.
December 10, 2023
All DK books suffer from trying to stuff too many tid-bits into a book with TONS of eye-catching graphics. You really can't "read" the book. It is more a small encyclopedia of introductory facts to whet your astronomical appetite.
Over half of this book dissects each constellation. The drawing of the Greek creature starts with a mythological paragraph. Real cosmology/astronomy does not care about these myths. But I did like seeing the different telescopic items highlighted within the maps. But you MUST have the magnitude with this explanation, which is missing most of the time. These tend to be VERY dim objects.
The first half of this book is fairly informative with cool graphics. But for as much as I study astronomy, there was nothing here I haven't seen, nor would I replace any of my posters/sources I use for teaching with anything I saw in this book.
For looking at sections of the night sky, and identifying what is up there, I suggest:
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson
Get the spiral-bound version to lay on a table outside as you do your viewing.
Another by Terence Dickinson will teach your about our Universe
The Universe and Beyond
And a third by Dickinson will help you with equipment, etc:
The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
For seeing what you will REALLY see in your telescope, the best is:
Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Themb y Guy Consolmagno
For monthly viewing, there is a great downloadable map showing your sky at ~8 pm. There are three versions: 40 deg N Latitude. Equator. 40 deg S Latitude. I download this every month, and hand out copies whenever I have guests viewing through my telescope.
https://www.skymaps.com/
And ridiculously good free-ware is "Stellarium":
http://stellarium.org/
I've learned to skip all of the DK series of book. They are designed to catch the eyes of teen readers, but then confuse them with TOO many items stuffed into each graphic/page. This just intimidates readers.
Over half of this book dissects each constellation. The drawing of the Greek creature starts with a mythological paragraph. Real cosmology/astronomy does not care about these myths. But I did like seeing the different telescopic items highlighted within the maps. But you MUST have the magnitude with this explanation, which is missing most of the time. These tend to be VERY dim objects.
The first half of this book is fairly informative with cool graphics. But for as much as I study astronomy, there was nothing here I haven't seen, nor would I replace any of my posters/sources I use for teaching with anything I saw in this book.
For looking at sections of the night sky, and identifying what is up there, I suggest:
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson
Get the spiral-bound version to lay on a table outside as you do your viewing.
Another by Terence Dickinson will teach your about our Universe
The Universe and Beyond
And a third by Dickinson will help you with equipment, etc:
The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
For seeing what you will REALLY see in your telescope, the best is:
Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Themb y Guy Consolmagno
For monthly viewing, there is a great downloadable map showing your sky at ~8 pm. There are three versions: 40 deg N Latitude. Equator. 40 deg S Latitude. I download this every month, and hand out copies whenever I have guests viewing through my telescope.
https://www.skymaps.com/
And ridiculously good free-ware is "Stellarium":
http://stellarium.org/
I've learned to skip all of the DK series of book. They are designed to catch the eyes of teen readers, but then confuse them with TOO many items stuffed into each graphic/page. This just intimidates readers.
June 9, 2025
Roy Gallant's 'Our Universe', published by National Geographic in multiple editions starting in the 1970s, was a transformative book for me as a kid. It sparked my love for science and my imagination.
This book (as well as the DK 'Universe' book to some extent) are the spiritual successors to Our Universe, sparking the same joy, but aided by 40 years' worth of photos taken by Hubble and other telescopes and observatories. This is probably the best book I will read all year. It makes me happy to be alive. To know that no matter how awful our world is and how awful we've made it, the universe is vast and surely contains someone who's done a better job.
This book (as well as the DK 'Universe' book to some extent) are the spiritual successors to Our Universe, sparking the same joy, but aided by 40 years' worth of photos taken by Hubble and other telescopes and observatories. This is probably the best book I will read all year. It makes me happy to be alive. To know that no matter how awful our world is and how awful we've made it, the universe is vast and surely contains someone who's done a better job.
June 15, 2018
I find God in the high quality illustrations in the book..
December 3, 2016
Note: book received via Amazon Vine.
Leave it to DK to come out with a book on stars that is both a massive coffee table volume and the most fun thing to look at in your house. The graphics are beautiful in this full color volume with sewn binding. It might not be a lap volume, but it demands to be perused either academically or casually. The first section is particularly science-y as it discusses star formation and other things we've learned or discovered about stars and the universe. The middle section, which is the largest part of the book, covers all of the constellations by hitting the highlights of each and mapping them out for easy browsing. The final section wraps everything up by talking about that which is closest to us - the solar system. Of course DK has included an index and a bunch of handy back matter in the form of a glossary and star charts among other useful things. This is one book that any lover of the cosmos should consider acquiring.
Leave it to DK to come out with a book on stars that is both a massive coffee table volume and the most fun thing to look at in your house. The graphics are beautiful in this full color volume with sewn binding. It might not be a lap volume, but it demands to be perused either academically or casually. The first section is particularly science-y as it discusses star formation and other things we've learned or discovered about stars and the universe. The middle section, which is the largest part of the book, covers all of the constellations by hitting the highlights of each and mapping them out for easy browsing. The final section wraps everything up by talking about that which is closest to us - the solar system. Of course DK has included an index and a bunch of handy back matter in the form of a glossary and star charts among other useful things. This is one book that any lover of the cosmos should consider acquiring.
October 22, 2017
If you are someone that does not know a lot about Astronomy then this book would be a great start. But if you are knowledgeable in basic astronomy concepts then this is not for you. Most of the information presented is mundane to someone who is knowledgeable. More then half the book is about the constellations which personally I do not like. To me it is a good book to have laying around as it has amazing pictures. But it is a little pricey. Overall 2 stars.
November 30, 2016
This is a pleasant and colorful way to present the stars and planets.
May 26, 2022
I am reading it for the second time and it is really mind blowing.
Really good material.
I am not even sure if it is advisable to think about the universe too much.
Really good material.
I am not even sure if it is advisable to think about the universe too much.
September 7, 2017
A gorgeously illustrated book, with basic astronomical information, fundamentals on astrophysical processes, stellar structure, and galaxies. It's excellent and I highly recommend it. I have not checked the stellar charts and data in detail, but I found a mistake on the section on Galaxies, page 50: the figure corresponding to an Elliptical E2 galaxy (M32 as an example) shows a star instead. For this reason, I give it 4 stars out of 5. This should not, however, be taken as devaluing this wonderful coffee table book, but as signaling that the present edition should be reviewed.
June 17, 2017
An excellent entry level book on the subject of Astronomy. It has DK's usual high standards of graphics an photographs to assist the reader. It includes extensive star maps of all the constellations sections on the Planets (Covered in more detail in a sister publication) a history of cosmology, the development of the telescope and there's a useful reference section in the back. Recommended for the budding astronomer - or a Science Fiction writer who wants to get their astronomy right!
July 9, 2024
I forgot to write a review about this book….
Well, it's a great book but I would not recommend it for people who already know and are interested in astronomy because everything is explained simply and everything is basic for me…
The book focuses on stars and galaxies more than the solar system.
4/5 🌟🌟
Well, it's a great book but I would not recommend it for people who already know and are interested in astronomy because everything is explained simply and everything is basic for me…
The book focuses on stars and galaxies more than the solar system.
4/5 🌟🌟
June 2, 2019
I was looking for colored photographs, so this one didn't last long. I should have looked harder when I checked it out of the library. Too much reading for what I wanted.
October 31, 2019
728 - 2019
January 25, 2022
I just wish I had gotten to read it earlier.
Now I am daydreaming about images getting updated thanks to the Webb telescope.
Now I am daydreaming about images getting updated thanks to the Webb telescope.
August 28, 2025
I haven't given this a proper read, just a look through, but from the pages I have read, I'm impressed how informative it gets, even for the lesser-known constellations.
March 15, 2018
This gorgeous coffee table reference book is just packed with information and stunning photography on every single page. The information on types and characteristics of stars, constellations, and our own solar system is very comprehensive. The only downside for me is that I read it as a library book, and unless you are a seasoned astronomer, there is only so much you can digest from a first-time read. This is best as a reference book that stays accessible.
August 22, 2017
Great visual guide to the Cosmos. Presents the universe in an accurate, yet simplified manner.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews