An introductory illustrated and comprehensive guide to observing and understanding the night sky.This book provides a survey of science's growing understanding of space and includes details of the latest space probes. The most recent photographs from the world's finest observatories and space-based cameras capture the wonder and beauty of the universe.Astronomy covers a wide variety of heavenly phenomenon: Distant stars Planets of the Solar System Comets and shooting stars Eclipses Black holes.Vivid cross-sections of the planets with a concise description and a chart of their relative distance from the sun provide at-a-glance information. A series of monthly sky charts point out constellations, star clusters, galaxies, nebula and more.The sky maps use easy-to-read symbols to identify open and globular star clusters, galaxies and planetary nebula. The constellations are labeled and diagramed. Spectacular images of space phenomenon are further explained with colorful digital graphics.Nebula, clusters, galaxies, etc. are profiled with color images and short descriptions. A pictograph tells whether binoculars or a telescope is required.Astronomy is a fascinating and easy-to-use illustrated reference for amateur astronomers of all levels.

IntroductionAstronomy has fascinated us as far back in our history as we care to explore. At first, the interest stemmed from religious beliefs. The stars, and planets were considered deities -- indeed, this is true even today. Later, as we learned to domesticate animals and grow crops, the sky served as a celestial agricultural calendar, its constant motions reminding us when to sow and reap.Today, our interest in astronomy is no less profound, and some might argue it is even more deep-rooted, perhaps because we know so much more about it. Or perhaps it's the human desire to explore, and to understand that which we currently do not. Whatever the reason, astronomy is a subject of research at universities across the globe. The more time our scientists spend peering into the depths of space, the greater the wonders -- and mysteries -- they uncover. Exploding stars called supernovae shine, just briefly, with the power of hundreds of billions of our Sun. They produce superdense neutron stars, shiny balls of matter the size of a city, and yet containing the mass of an entire planetary system, spinning hundreds of times every second. Enigmatic black holes twist time and space and suck in light. At the edge of the known Universe, quasars spew jets of charged particles millions of light-years into space. And then there is the material we cannot see but which we know must exist -- dark matter and the newly discovered, bizarre and poorly understood dark energy.Join us on a cosmic journey in which we will meet all of these marvels and many more, in stunning words and pictures.