A walk through the southern sky: a guide to stars and constellations and their legends

Product Description


What star is that? Where is the Southern Cross? Who was Orion? Answering these questions and many more, this book will become an essential traveling companion for amateur astronomers heading abroad. Its unique simplified maps make it easy to find the constellations in the southern hemisphere skies, and the stars within them. Clear instructions guide the user on how to gauge sizes and distances, and move easily between constellations. This new edition has been updated with additional mythology information, and a list of the planet positions up to 2016. Of value to all ages, this book introduces the patterns of the starry skies in a memorable way. No equipment is needed to use this practical guide: apart from normal sight and clear skies. Beautifully illustrated, this is an ideal introduction to unfamiliar stars that will have astronomers of all levels gazing at the skies with ease.


Review


"This accessible book provides you with simple, straightforward maps of the southern sky constellations and the mythology of some of the more notable ones. It's a must if you're planning a trip to go observing Down Under." --BBC Sky at Night


Book Description


Magically illustrated, this is an ideal introduction to the southern starlit skies. Its unique simplified maps make it easy to find by eye the constellations and the stars within them. This new edition has been updated with additional mythology information, and a list of the planet positions up to 2016.


About the Author


Milton Heifetz is an amateur astronomer, professor of neurosurgery, and inventor of 'The Precession of the Equinoxes' planisphere, now at the Harvard University Museum of Historical Scientific Instruments. It is now used to determine positions of the stars in ancient history and years in the future.

Wil Tirion is a Free Lance Uranographer and Graphic Designer. He is co-author of The Monthly Sky Guide, now in its seventh edition (Cambridge University Press, 2006).