The Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky
by Dr. Jason Lisle
Book Description:
Explore the night sky, identify stars, constellations, and even planets. Stargaze with a telescope, binoculars, or even your naked eye. Allow Dr. Jason Lisle, a research scientist with a masters and PhD in astrophysics, to guide you in examining the beauty of God’s Creation.
Lisle designed Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky for everyone from young students to amateur astronomers. In it you will:
- Learn the best ways and optimal times to observe planets and stars
- Discover how to choose the best telescope for you
- Find 150 stunning, full-color star-charts and other easy to use illustrations for success
“How do phases of the moon work? When will the next solar eclipse take place? What is that bright star setting in the west? How do I find Saturn? What sorts of objects can be seen with binoculars?” These questions and many more are easily answered with the helpful tips and basic understanding of astronomy presented in this book.
Create or expand the hobby of stargazing; an outdoor, educational hobby to enjoy with friends or family. Regardless of your circumstances and the economy, you will always be able to marvel at the beauty of our night sky.
My Thoughts:
The Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky is an in-depth look into astronomy. It digs into not only celestial bodies and where they are located in the sky, but also into how the human eye works, what telescopes are best and why, how to track celestial bodies, and much, much more. I was seriously blown away by the depth of the information covered in this book. It will be a great resource for the casual observer to those serious about astronomy. It’s in-depth enough that you could create a homeschool curriculum around this book.
While there are many aspects of this book that are rather technical, it does give you a great deal of practical information. The charts and diagrams are numerous and helpful. The beautiful full-color images make you want to get out there and start gazing at the stars.
The book is broken down into 12 chapters:
- Motions in the Sky – Basic
- Motions in the Sky – Advanced
- Understanding the Eye
- Astronomy with the Unaided Eye
- Celestial Events
- Telescope Basics
- Telescope Observing Sessions
- The Moon and the Sun
- The Planets
- Star Classification and Telescope Viewing
- Deep Sky Objects
- Astrophotography
The book concludes with a brief message from Dr. Lisle where he explains that, unlike many of his other books, this is not an apologetics book. He is extremely passionate about astronomy, and this passion shines through in this book. It’s not always an easy read as there is a good bit of technical information included in each chapter, but it’s worth it to get a better understanding of the universe around us. As I previously stated, this really would make a wonderful core book for an astronomy class. If you want to add in some apologetics, you can add in Dr. Lisle’s other astronomy book, Taking Back Astronomy.
I admit that due to my photography hobby the chapter on astrophotography was one of my favorite chapters. It was fun to see a chapter like that included to round out the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book even when some of the information was more in-depth than I personally needed for my interest level.
About the Author:
Dr. Jason Lisle is a research scientist, speaker, and planetarium director for Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum. He holds bachelor of science degrees in physics and astronomy from Ohio Wesleyan University, as well as a master’s and PhD in Astro-physics from the University of Colorado in Boulder. As a creation scientist Dr. Lisle effectively communicates a broad range of topics from in-depth presentations of distant starlight, Einstein’s relativity, and problems with the big bang to topics from astronomy and general science to apologetics and dinosaurs. Dr. Lisle has authored a number of books which include: Taking Back Astronomy, The Ultimate Proof of Creation, Old-Earth Creationism on Trial, and his brand new title releasing in April 2012 The Stargazer’s Guide to the Night Sky.
Book Details:
- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group (March 23, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0890516413
- ISBN-13: 978-0890516416
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
I received a copy of this book from New Leaf Publishing/Master Books to help facilitate the writing of a frank and honest review. All opinions are my own.
