Stargazing

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The iconic hexagon pattern of mirrors that make up the primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope can now be worn on your ears! A beautiful science gift idea for astronomers and space enthusiasts. It is rare to read something that so closely mixes science fiction with reality, but Space 2069 does just that. From the pen of former BBC science correspondent David Whitehouse, this book affords us an intelligent portrait of where we may be in the next half-century: from an Antarctica-like set-up of international Moon bases to outposts on the Red Planet. The joys of astronomy come from intellectual discovery and knowledge of the cryptic night sky. But you have to make these discoveries and gain this knowledge, often by yourself. How did it all begin? Is there other intelligent life in the Universe? Is time travel possible?” These are just a few of the big questions that Stephen Hawking discusses in his final book. Hawking does not simply give us one-word answers, but walks us through his own thinking and divergences on each subject. The language is easy to follow and each chapter’s length keeps you engaged. In places the book touches on some complicated physics, but you will never feel lost. There are many inspiring parts that will stay with you and shape the way you think about these big questions in the future.

Moon is everything Christine isn’t. She’s confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known. Even if you live in a densely populated, light-polluted area, there's more to see up there than you might imagine. The ability to look up and say, "There's Polaris" or "That's Saturn" will provide pleasure, and perhaps a sense of place in the cosmos, for the rest of your life. Thinking Telescope? Start Stargazing with Binoculars Instead A aweet middle grades graphic novel that I read because I had just taught Wang's Prince and the Dressmaker and some said they like this even better. I liked it, and it is more relatable than the very different Prince and the Pauper spinoff, but I still like the different kind of sweetness and goofiness of Prince a bit more. A wonderful book; if only the author had spent longer lighthouse-keeping so there could be sequels. Lovely content, some beautiful turns of phrase, yet always real and companionable. Figures, photographic plates and footnotes all serve to support the text throughout the book, and a very helpful glossary is provided at the end. As a concise introduction, Planets manages to cover an impressive amount and will undoubtedly leave the reader keen to learn more.The discussion of our planetary neighbours largely focuses on their size, atmosphere, orbital period and temperature. Characteristics that we find are key to the search for exoplanets and life are detailed in the chapters that follow. We learn there are more stars than can be counted, that stars are born in gas clouds, that they are different colours and that our very own Sun is a star. This is not a narrow biography of the straightforwardly heroic Gagarin, but tells the wider story behind his 106-minute flight, extending to his fellow cosmonauts as well as their American rivals. On average cosmonauts were a good 10 years younger than their astronaut equivalents, with much less flight experience.

This is also 1973, when Hill was between art-college courses. Before and between the several-week lighthouse shifts we hear the effects of events like Vietnam and Watergate on his and his friends attitude to the world and their life decisions. You can go on holiday to Amsterdam or see several plays at the Edinburgh festival for next to no money - it's a time when student life sounded cheap and easy. Until Vera Rubin, no one was really sure about dark matter. It was a theory, but without her work, few were truly convinced by it. That all changed when Vera Rubin’s work on galaxies showed dark matter was needed to explain what she was observing. Although The Mysteries of the Universe is aimed at children, it really is a treat for all ages. Visually stunning, with a fabulous selection of space photos, artworks and illustrations, it is also all-encompassing in its astronomy.

I have been missing out on Jen Wang! This book was beautiful. I freaking cried! I loved this so much! Christine went from sheltered, uptight and rigid to learning to relax and enjoy life—although she still remained the same person that she was, being obsessed with grades and keeping her parents' love by being perfect. I enjoyed how she dealt with her feelings of discomfort, by putting up her defenses, slowly letting her guard down, and erecting her defenses again only to realize that you can't build a wall around your feelings. I read this book, I suppose, because I wondered what it would be like to be a lighthouse keeper. Specifically a lighthouse keeper on an island off the west coast of Scotland in the early 1970s. I hoped for escapism. Some books really put you there; they immerse you in the sights, sounds, and details of another place, and you feel transported. Good travel writing does that. This book didn’t, not really. If you have a home telescope and you want to make the best of it, then look no further than this book – written in a comprehensive and user-friendly manner, Turn Left At Orion features step-by-step instructions that will help you explore the Universe and discover its mysteries on your own. Specifically designed for owners of Dobsonian telescopes (yet versatile enough to be used by just about everybody), this guidebook includes large-format eyepiece views, tables of in-depth astronomical information as well as a Moon section that will help you become familiar with the celestial objects.

For each individual target, the book explains clearly: (1) where to look, (2) what it looks like in the finderscope, (3) what it looks like in a small telescope, and (4) what it looks like in a dobsonian telescope. It also provides subjective rating system for each target as seen through binoculars, a small telescope, or a dobsonian. Finally, it provides suggestions on the needed sky conditions, recommended magnification power, and the best months for viewing the target. Whew. This is a definitive, comprehensive resource for nearly everything worth seeing in the sky. 2. Signposts to the Stars: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Learning the Night Sky and Exploring the Constellations Using Your Telescope. The book opens with an excellent section written for the absolute beginner. It explains all the most basic things you need to know about how to use the book, how to find things in the sky, and how to use (and maintain) your telescope. For example: Did you know that the image you see in your telescope (depending on the type of telescope) may be reversed north and south, or east and west, or both? Do you know the best way to control fog and dew on your lenses? How to clean your lens properly if needed (while minimizing the possibility of removing the thin layer of anti-reflective coating)? The authors do a great job explaining all the basics. This section is required reading for anyone getting started with a telescope for the first time. In Planets, Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder takes us on a whistle-stop tour of our Solar System, outlines what we know about how the planets form, introduces us to the search for planets around other stars and takes a brief look at the prospect of life beyond planet Earth.The weird part is his descriptions not only of the lifestyle and space these men had to adopt, living cheek by jowl in sometimes very cramped and always restrictive conditions, but also the great panoply of nutty as fruitcake characters that these men, and they were always men, were. When he comes to his brief time on the ISS, the book is somewhat underwhelming. One almost feels cheated that everythingwent so straightforwardly, with no terrible calamity, nor any need for the survival skills he honed in Sardinian caves. This sets the scene of what follows: brave people trying to accomplish great things despite the dysfunctional society they inhabit. The KGB had to be talked out of putting self-destruct devices on board human Vostoks too. Greene uses various aspects of the mission to explore wider issues in our lives, such as the role food plays, the problems of boredom and communication, the part of the human guinea pig and the effects of isolation.