Weird Astronomy: Tales of Unusual, Bizarre, and Other Hard to Explain Observations

by David A.J. Seargent

Weird Astronomy appeals to all who are interested in unusual celestial phenomena, whether they be amateur or professional astronomers or science buffs who just enjoy reading of odd coincidences, unexplained observations, and reports from space probes that "don’t quite fit." This book relates a variety of "unusual" astronomical observations – unusual in the sense of refusing to fit easily into accepted thinking, or unusual in the observation having been made under difficult or extreme circumstances. Although some of the topics covered are instances of "bad astronomy," most are not. Some of the observations recorded here have actually turned out to be important scientific breakthroughs. Included are some amusing anecdotes (such as the incident involving "potassium flares" in ordinary stars and the story of Abba 1, the solar system’s own flare star!), but the book’s purpose is not to ridicule those who report anomalous observations, nor is it to challenge scientific orthodoxy. It is more to demonstrate how what's "weird" often turns out to be far more significant than observations of what we expect to see.

Genres: Astronomy, Nonfiction, Science

317 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2010

Reviews

[Landy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads First Reads for this free book. This is a great book. Full of interesting and unusual events. A must read for any astronomy hobbyists.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly was a collection of articles that grouped the observations by solar bodies. All too few of these are understood even hundreds of years later.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! I am a winner of First-Reads and I will get this book soon. Thank you! I can hardly wait!

* * *

This is a fascinating book. If I were still a huge astronomy buff that I was as a teen I would have read every word. If I had a great telescope and astro-friends/club I would have read every word. If I weren't OLD and the dreams of getting out into space not squelched, I would have read every word. As it was, I read every word until about halfway through. I found the discussion very interesting. And I still skimmed and read captions under the wonderful pictures through the end.

I highly recommend this book to anyone crazy for space. As soon as my friends get a chance to look at it I will try to find one of the space fans to gift it to.

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

WOW!!! this book was really amazing!!! i mean im not that into space as many people but this book was really interesting and it got me to think.I think one thing that i can say i really liked was when they talked about "the little world that wasn't there"!!I had no idea of how many theories regarding space there were!!! i was amazed by how many pictures and data that has come from space that id never even knew existed!!!

[tdr232000 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting facta but just drags along.