NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
208
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
208(Spiral Bound - Fifth Edition, Completely Revised and Expanded for Use Through 2035)
-
PICK UP IN STORECheck Availability at Nearby Stores
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
As NightWatch, Terence Dickinson's classic stargazing guide, neared its 40th anniversary, Dickinson worked with a small group of trusted colleagues to give this groundbreaking reference an overhaul that will take it deep into the 21st century. Longtime astronomy writer and sky observer Ken Hewitt-White led the editorial team. A central aspect to this new edition is the subtle improvements to the unique seasonal star charts that present a 360-degree simulation of the night sky on one page and identify the stars and constellations on the facing page. Yet it is Dickinson's clear, jargon-free language that will continue to inspire hundreds of thousands of people around the world to take up recreational astronomy.
Much has happened in this popular hobby since the revised Fourth Edition of NightWatch was published in 2006. In response, the text has been substantially revised and updated throughout all 13 chapters. Moreover, the book has been completely redesigned and most of its many photographs have been replaced. A noted feature is the variety of superb astrophotos of star clusters, nebulas, galaxies and other celestial phenomena taken by accomplished amateur astronomers. Lavishly illustrated sections on the Moon and planets will inspire novice observers of the solar system. To accommodate the extensive revisions, NightWatch has grown from 192 pages to 208 pages. With the release of the Fifth Edition, we are also launching a new website, NightWatchBook.com, that will offer links to additional resources and will be regularly updated with information on new celestial events and equipment.
Since the First Edition of NightWatch was released in 1983, the most significant transformations in amateur astronomy have been in optics and technology. For all the latest on gadgets and gear, renowned astrophotographer Alan Dyer, Dickinson's coauthor of The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, has contributed an entirely new chapter on basic digital astrophotography. Dyer has also modernized a key portion of an enlarged chapter on stargazing equipment, creating a welcoming place in NightWatch for today's computerized telescopes.
Stargazing enthusiasts of all levels of experience will discover much of value in an enduring reference conceived by one of the most respected names in amateur astronomy. This must-have Fifth Edition includes:
- a comprehensive, all-season guide to the night sky
- constellation charts covering both northern- and southern-hemisphere skies, making NightWatch a truly global resource
- tips on choosing binoculars and telescopes and taking astrophotos
- highlights of major features on the Moon to guide the budding lunar explorer
- lists of solar and lunar eclipses, planet locations and the best lunar and planetary conjunctions to 2035
- a range of resources for further study.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780228104391 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Firefly Books, Limited |
| Publication date: | 09/07/2023 |
| Edition description: | Fifth Edition, Completely Revised and Expanded for Use Through 2035 |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Sales rank: | 75,885 |
| Product dimensions: | 11.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Terence Dickinson, one of Canada's best-loved amateur-astronomy writers, gained renown for unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. His down-to-earth style made him the award-winning best-selling author of 14 astronomy books, including NightWatch, The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, The Universe and Beyond and Hubble's Universe. The cofounder and former editor of SkyNews, Canada's national astronomy magazine, Dickinson was a recipient of the Order of Canada and two honorary doctorates. He died of complications from Parkinson's on February 1, 2023.
Ken Hewitt-White has enjoyed a strong working relationship and friendship with Terence Dickinson for decades, founded on their mutual passion for the night sky. Currently a contributing editor at Sky and Telescope magazine, Hewitt-White was a longtime contributor to SkyNews magazine and the former director of Vancouver's H. R. MacMillan Planetarium. A lecturer and writer, he has authored two books, taught dozens of astronomy courses and written countless articles. Hewitt-White lives with his wife Lynda in southern British Columbia, where they go stargazing in the mountains every summer.
Read an Excerpt
Sky Measures
Just as road maps have distance indicators between cities, our celestial guide maps denote distances between key stars and star groups -- not the distance from Earth to the stars but, rather, the apparent distance from one star to another. This measure is calibrated in degrees (360 degrees in a circle). Using this calibration on the sky is beautifully simple: just hold up your hand. At arm's length the width of the end of the little finger is almost exactly 1 degree -- wide enough to cover the Sun or the Moon, both about half a degree across. The two pointer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper used to find Polaris are 5 degrees apart, the width of three fingers held boy-scout fashion at arm's length.
For larger sky angles, one fist width is 10 degrees, while 15 degrees is the span between the first and little fingers spread out. An entire hand span, from thumb to little finger, is about 25 degrees, the length of the Big Dipper. Larger dimensions can be measured as multiples of these. For general reference, the distance from the horizon to overhead is 90 degrees. Remember, these hand-reference measurements work only at arm's length.
The system is reasonably accurate for men, women and children, since people with smaller hands tend to have shorter arms. Only the hand-span measure seems to vary from person to person, because some people can extend their thumb and little finger more widely than others can. A quick check against the Big Dipper will indicate whether you have a span closer to 20 degrees than 25. Anyone can become proficient at gauging the distances in degrees from one star or star group to another in just minutes.
It doesn't matter in which season you begin; the Big Dipper diagram on page 34 can be used to locate several prominent stars almost instantly once you have a sense of the dimensions involved. This is the crucial first step toward becoming a backyard astronomer. Orion's seven brightest stars -- three in the belt and four in a surrounding quadrilateral -- are equally efficient as celestial guideposts. Orion's only drawback, compared with the Big Dipper, is that it is prominent in the evening sky only from late November to early April.
Backyard astronomy does not have to be a maze of formulas, calculators, grid lines, nomenclature, mythology and jargon. It can be easy and fun to find your way around the night sky. Most people want to be able to start finding celestial objects from their first night out. That's my goal here in layout out the most straightforward way to do it. In the next chapter, more detailed charts build on the same principles of using distinctive stellar guideposts to lead the observer around the sky. This is a gradual, painless way to come to know the starry sky.
Table of Contents
About the author / Foreword / PrefaceChapter 1: DISCOVERING THE COSMOS
Naturalists of the Night; The Starry Realm
Chapter 2: THE UNIVERSE IN ELEVEN STEPS
The Milky Way Galaxy; Hubble Deep Field
Chapter 3: BACKYARD ASTRONOMY
Sky Motions; Sky Measures; Big Dipper Signpost; Star Brightness; Constellations & Star Names; Star & Constellation Pronunciation Guide
Chapter 4: STARS FOR ALL SEASONS
The All-Sky Charts; The Spring Sky; The Summer Sky; Urban Myths of Stargazing; The Light-Pollution Factor; The Autumn Sky; The Winter Sky; The Ecliptic & the Zodiac
Chapter 5: STARGAZING EQUIPMENT
Selecting Binoculars; Telescopes; Frequently Asked Questions About Telescopes; Finderscopes; Telescope Types; Size Versus Seeing; Telescope Accessories; Eyepieces; Focal Ratio; Computer-Age Scopes; Telescope Comparisons; Factors to Consider When Selecting a First Telescope
Chapter 6: PROBING THE DEPTHS
Double Stars; Using Your Night Eyes; Variable Stars; Star Clusters; Distances to stars & Galaxies; Nebulas; Averted Vision; Globular Clusters; Galaxies; Telescope Experience; Designation of Sky Objects; Keeping Records; Using the Deep-Sky Charts; Atlas of 20 Star Charts
Chapter 7: THE PLANETS
Astronomy From the City; Mercury; Venus; Mars; The Asteroid Belt; Jupiter; Saturn; The Outer Planets; Visibility of the Planets
Chapter 8: MOON AND SUN
Moon Maps; Observing the Sun; The Moon Illusion
Chapter 9: SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES
Observing Eclipses; The Eclipse Cult; Eclipse Tables
Chapter 10: COMETS, METEORS AND AURORAS
Famous & Infamous Comets; Meteors; Auroras
Chapter 11: PHOTOGRAPHING THE NIGHT SKY
Films & Techniques; The Barn-Door Tracker; CCD Cameras: Astro-Imaging Revolution
Chapter 12: RESOURCES
Index
What People are Saying About This
Dickinson is...both a skilled observer and a lucid writer. He knows what's out there and how best to see it, and he shares his expertise in the spare, friendly voice of someone who has enducated not only himself but many others. His deep aesthetic appreciation of astronomy is reflected in the book's splendid charts and illustrations.
—(from the foreword by Timothy Ferris)
Interviews
Exclusive Author Essay
I remember reading my first astronomy book in my school library at age eight. I had been fascinated by the stars ever since I had seen a bright meteor as a preschooler. But now I could read well enough to begin to discover the wonders of the universe for myself.
I recall eagerly turning the book's pages and coming upon a section that told me that stars are really suns, just like our sun, but at colossal distances. I found this fact so mind-blowing that I ran around the neighborhood telling everyone this amazing thing I had just learned. My enthusiasm was met with polite disinterest by adults and impolite ridicule by my school chums, who wondered why I was telling them something so boring. But for me it set alight a fire in the mind.
I pestered my parents for years until they bought me a small telescope for Christmas. I almost wore it out observing the heavens, summer and winter, from our suburban backyard. Later, I bought a better scope, then built an even bigger one. I was thoroughly hooked. There was no doubt in my mind that astronomy was my calling, and I was ready to answer the call!
The call came in 1966, 15 years after I read that first astronomy book in the school library. I was hired as staff astronomer and lecturer at Toronto's new state-of-the-art McLaughlin Planetarium. It was the perfect job for an astronomy addict. Every day under the planetarium's great projection star dome I extolled the wonder and beauty of the stars and constellations to audiences of up to 350 visitors. In the planetarium classroom I taught courses on astronomy and backyard stargazing to both adults and children. For me it was a dream come true.
But one thing puzzled me. When I looked around for a stargazing guidebook that I could recommend to beginners, everything I found was either too superficial or else overly technical. I wondered why the authors weren't using plain language and uncluttered illustrations to focus on what those people in my classes, and others like them, really wanted to know. Subjects such as the easiest way to find celestial objects, and how to select and use binoculars and small telescopes to observe them, seemed to be begging for improved treatment. This bothered me to the point that I decided to do something about it.
In the late 1970s, after working for more than a decade at two planetariums and as editor of Astronomy magazine, I decided to devote myself full time to astronomy writing -- including the development of the definitive beginner's stargazing guidebook. By a stroke of good timing, a publisher who had seen my work in a nature magazine approached me about writing such a book. Thus, NightWatch was born in 1983.
As I had hoped, NightWatch immediately filled a gap in the literature. It has become my flagship book, and one of the bestselling stargazing guides in the world. For the Third Edition, I updated every page and included more than 100 new photos and illustrations. My other major stargazer's "bible" is The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, a more in-depth treatment than NightWatch that I coauthored with Alan Dyer of the Calgary Planetarium. Another book I am particularly proud of is The Universe and Beyond, which is more an illustrated tour of the universe rather than a stargazing guide, making it a good companion to NightWatch.
Over the years I have been a professional astronomy communicator, interest in the subject has exploded. A once-obscure hobby interest two generations ago, astronomy today appeals to a broad cross section of the population. It has been an honor to be a part of that revolution. (Terence Dickinson)
Introduction
Preface
In the decades since the first edition of NightWatch appeared in 1983, more than a half a million copies have found their way into the hands of astronomy enthusiasts. For me, the most gratifying aspect of this successful publishing story is the feed-back I've received from so many backyard astronomers who say that the book was their primary guide during the crucial initial stages of their celestial explorations.
As in the previous revised editions, the overriding goal in this new expanded version has been to provide a complete first book of amateur astronomy. I wanted to retain the features that readers say they like, so I have not tampered with the basic structure and presentation. But extensive fine-tuning and up-dating have touched many pages. The most visible of the changes is the addition of a new chapter on the southern-hemisphere skies with a new set of charts styled after the northern-hemisphere ones in Chapter 4. This addition to the book is the direct result of requests from readers of previous editions.
As always with revised editions of my books, I have replaced many photos with either more relevant or simply superior images. Other changes include a major rewrite of the section describing astrophotography, because of the digital-imaging revolution, and a thorough update of amateur-telescope equipment and accessories to reflect many new goodies that have become available since the previous edition in 1998. Where necessary, lists and tables are updated throughout. As before, prices throughout the book are in U.S. dollars.
Although more people are now dabbling in recreational astronomy and the range and quality of equipment topursue the hobby have never been better, a persistent foe of amateur astronomers is light pollution -- the glare spilled from street lamps, outdoor-sign illumination, parking-lot lights, building security lights and outdoor fixtures around private residences and public buildings. Any one of these sources can ruin your backyard view of the night sky. Even if your observing site is protected from direct interference, outdoor lighting in general produces giant glowing domes over our cities and towns that have beaten back the stars.
Because the glow is visibly growing every year, those who seek the natural beauty of a dark night sky must flee ever farther into the country. For many aficionados, an evening of stargazing has become an expedition. But all is not gloom and doom. The dark cloud cast by light pollution has turned out to have an intriguing silver lining. Far from diminishing interest in astronomy, urban sky glow seems to have fueled it. When our grandparents were young, a view of the night sky strewn with stars and wrapped in the silky ribbon of the Milky Way could be seen from the front porch. Today, for most people, it is a relatively rare and exotic sight, something to be talked about and cherished as a memory.
Many family vacations now include plans for dark-site star-gazing. Each year, thousands of astronomy enthusiasts gather at conventions and summer "star parties" far from city lights to share their interest. In previous editions of NightWatch, I predicted that as urban glow inexorably marches deeper into the countryside, the 21st century will see the emergence of dark-skypreserves -- areas intentionally set aside in state, provincial and national parks where there are no obtrusive lights and never will be. Well, it's already happening. At least half a dozen of these shrines to the glory of the starry night have been established (see "Astronomy Conventions and Star Parties" in Chapter 13), and many more will surely follow in the decades ahead.
Terence Dickinson
Yarker, Ontario
May 2006
