vii, 280 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
ISBNs
9780471696575, 0471696579
OCLC
ocm74649151
Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-272) and index.
Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Basic information for astronomical observers -- [pt. 1]. Field of view : 180� (the whole sky) to 100� (naked-eye scan) -- Sight 1 : The starry sky -- Sight 2 : Total eclipse of the Sun -- Sight 3 : Meteor shower or storm -- Sight 4 : Fireball meteor -- Sight 5 : The Northern Lights, or Aurora -- Sight 6 : Bright satellite or spacecraft -- Sight 7 : The Milky Way -- [pt. 2]. Field of view : 100� to 50� (the widest fixed naked-eye field) -- Sight 8 : The Big Dipper and the North Star -- sight 9 : The Orion group of constellations -- Sight 10 : The Summer Triangle region -- [pt. 3]. Field of view : 50� to 15� (moderately wide naked-eye field) -- Sight 11 : Venus and Mercury at greatest elongation -- Sight 12 : Venus, Jupiter, and Mars at brightest -- Sight 13 : Bright comet with long tail -- Sight 14 : Sirius, the brightest star -- Sight 15 : Other bright stars -- Sight 16 : Orion -- Sight 17 : Other prominent constellations --
[pt. 4]. Field of view : 15�to 1� (narrow naked-eye field, binoculars field, and wide-telescopic field) -- Sight 18 : Total eclipse of the Moon -- Sight 19 : Total eclipse of the Sun close-up -- Sight 20 : The Moon at full and other phases -- Sight 21 : Very thin crescent Moon -- Sight 22 : Lunar conjunctions and occultations -- Sight 23 : Planetary conjunctions -- Sight 24 : Bright comet close-up -- Sight 25 : The Hyades star cluster and Aldebaran -- Sight 26 : The Pleiades -- Sight 27 : Other very bright large open-star clusters -- Sight 28 : Orion's Belt and Sword -- Sight 29 : Algol, Mira, and other dramatic variable stars -- Sight 30 : Novae, supernovae, and supernova remnants -- Sight 31 : Starriest fields -- Sight 32 : The Sagittarius Milky Way region -- Sight 33 : The Great Andromeda galaxy -- Sight 34 : The realm of the galaxies --
[pt. 5]. Field of view : 1� to 0.1� or less (medium to narrow telescopic field) -- Sight 35 : Overall telescopic views of the Moon -- Sight 36 : Close-up views of lunar craters and other features of the Moon -- Sight 37 : Sunspots and other solar features -- Sight 38 : Partial eclipses of the Sun -- Sight 39 : Transits of Mercury and Venus -- Sight 40 : Venus near inferior conjunction -- Sight 41 : Jupiter and its moons -- Sight 42 : Saturn and its rings and moons -- Sight 43 : Mars at closest in a telescope -- Sight 44 : Uranus, Neptune,and other dim but important worlds -- Sight 45 : A colorful or otherwise striking double star -- Sight 46 : The Great Orion nebula -- Sight 47 : A rich open cluster -- Sight 48 : A bright globular cluster -- Sight 49 : A bright planetary nebula -- Sight 50 : A bright and structured galaxy -- Appendix A : Total solar eclipses, 2008-2024 -- Appendix B : Major meteor showers -- Appendix C : Total and partial lunar eclipses, 2007-2017 -- Appendix D : The brightest stars -- Appendix E : Transits of Venus and Mercury -- Glossary -- Sources -- Photo credits -- Index