A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets by Jay M. Pasachoff is part of The Peterson Field Guide Series. This book is packed with interesting information about the great show that takes place every day when the sun sets. Pasachoff explains such things as why planets appear to shine steadily while stars twinkle. Did you know that stars are hot balls of gas? As Pasachoff explains, “All stars are balls of gas, so hot that they are glowing. Stars have different temperatures, ranging from about 2,100 °C (about 3,800 °F) up to about 50,000 °C (about 90,000 °F).” (page 145)

If you are interested in photographing the sky there is an informative section on this as well. Excellent colour photographs and illustrations are throughout the book. Some of the chapters include: “The Constellations”, “Stars, Nebulae, and Galaxies”, “Finding the Planets”, “Comets”, “Asteroids” and “Meteors and Meteor Showers.” This book is up to date through 2010.

A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets will be a popular book for anyone who enjoys watching the night sky.

Starry Night Beginner (computer program)
Starry Night Backyard (Special Edition) (computer program)
SPACE.com Canada, Inc.
www.starrynight.com

Starry Night Beginner is an informative computer program that allows you to explore the night sky and locate and learn about planets, comets, asteroids, stars and other objects in the sky. After establishing your home location, time and date you can see where stars, constellations, artificial satellites and other objects are. This makes identifying these once you are outside much easier.  By using the control panel you can change the location from which you’re viewing the sky to anywhere on Earth. You can also change the time and date (anywhere between 200 BC and 3000 AD for Starry Night Beginner and 4713 BC – 9999 AD for Starry Night Backyard) so you can see how the sky will look from a particular location at a specific time. This will allow you to see (and print off a star chart for observing purposes) what the sky will look like from your cottage on a certain night.

These are only a few of the many interesting options you have with Starry Night Beginner. A 72-page User’s Guide is included. 

Starry Night Backyard (Special Edition) has the same features as Starry Night Beginner with several exciting additions. For example, while you can change your location to anywhere on Earth with Starry Night Beginner, with Starry Night Backyard  “you can travel around the Earth, the solar system, and even out to the stars!” Starry Night Backyard enables you to add your own new comets, asteroids, satellites and moons and it also shows planet orbits.

This special edition of Starry Night Backyard contains an 80-page User’s Guide as well as the very informative and interesting 240-page book Starry Night Companion: Your Guide to Understanding the Night Sky Using Starry Night by John Mosley.

Both Starry Night Beginner and Starry Night Backyard (Special Edition) contain lots of fascinating information, are user-friendly and easy to install. They also allow you to download the latest version from their website. If you enjoy stargazing, you’ll want to visit www.starrynight.com

My knowledge of astronomy is minimal – to say the least. Yet I enjoy looking out at the night sky. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners does a good job explaining the night sky to people like me who are fascinated by what they see, but not too knowledgeable about it.

Dickinson explains complicated concepts in a way that is reasonably easy to understand. 

“Today, we know the universe contains more galaxies than there are people on Earth. And each galaxy has as many stars as there are grains of sand in an overflowing wheelbarrow. Some of the stars are so enormous that it would take years for a spacecraft just to get from one side to the other. Some are no wider than a small city. Our sun is about midway between these extremes.” (page 4)

The book is divided into three sections: A Cosmic Voyage, Alien Vistas and Stargazing. A Cosmic Voyage takes you on a trip at the speed of light to various places in the universe. A light-second is 186,000 miles – the distance light travels in one second. The first stop is the moon located 1.3 light-seconds from Earth. Next stop is Mars and Venus about 4 light-minutes away. Pluto is 4 light-hours away. The voyage continues out to the Andromeda Galaxy 2.3 million light-years from our galaxy. According to Dickinson, the Andromeda Galaxy contains a minimum of 300 billion stars. Dickinson’s informative journey ends at 300,000,000 light-years from Earth for, as he points out, “We could go farther, but the scenery would be basically the same for billions of light years.” (page 25)

The second part of the book looks at planets, stars, black holes and quasars. The third part, on stargazing, covers such things as how to recognize planets, stars and constellations.

Dickinson’s informative and entertaining text is complemented by John Bianchi’s illustrations. Exploring the Night Sky will be a welcome addition to the library.

Stargazing is a beautiful CD that combines the relaxing music of Greg Kavanagh with Dan Gibson’s nature recordings. How does this CD achieve a night time atmosphere? Well, it is achieved through a combination of Kavanagh’s guitars and keyboards as well as Gibson’s nature sounds featuring animals who commonly make their music after the sun goes down.

In the song “Moonlit Waters” Kavanaugh’s guitar combined with the call of the Common Loon and the chirping of crickets results in a haunting and peaceful sound. Other animals who perform in this night time concert include: Western Chorus Frog, Wood Frog, Great Horned Owl, Gray Tree Frog, Spring Peeper, Barred Owl, Bull Frog, Green Frog, American Toad, Whip-poor-will.

Stargazing is a relaxing CD that will help you unwind after a busy day at the cottage.

Song list: 1. Stargazing 2. Guided by the Sky 3. Aurora Borealis 4. Infinite Wonder 5. Light Years Away 6. Moonlit Waters 7. Pulse of the Universe.