Night Sky Watcher: Your guide to the stars and planets

by Raman Prinja

Get ready to explore the magical night sky. Find out everything there is to know about what you can spot in the sky, such as how explorers used constellations as a form of navigation. Also discover when is the best time to spot comets and why the Moon's appearance has changed over time. Night Sky Watcher includes everything from the Sun to the Moon, to the stars and planets. Symbols are used within the book to show what can be seen in the northern and southern hemispheres. This allows the reader to view exactly what they can see in the sky, regardless of their location. The book commes with the a zipper slipcase, this way readers can take it on all their adventures!

Genres: Space

120 pages, Paperback

Published July 5, 2016

About the author

Raman Prinja has been awarded the 2019 American Institute of Physics Science Education Award and is the winner of the 2019 Royal Society Young People's Book Prize.

He is currently a professor of astrophysics at University College, London. He has written several successful general-interest books on astronomy and is keen to bring the subject of astronomy to a wider audience. He was short-listed for the Royal Society Young People Book Prize in 2015. Raman Prinja lives in the U.K.

Reviews

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever gone outside specifically to look for constellations in the night sky? When I do that, my knowledge of what I'm looking at is pretty limited. I know the moon, the big dipper, the north star, Orion's Belt, but that's basically it. This book takes what you might know, and shows you how to use those markers to find other constellations, planets, and other sights in the night sky. Along the way, it gives you lots of interesting facts about space exploration and astronomy.

I took this out to local elementary schools leading up to the Summer Library Program 2019. I had a lot of fun trading interesting facts with those kids, and since many of our activities over the summer are space-themed (in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing), there are many natural tie-ins with library stuff.

I was particularly excited about this title because the author is not white, and this field is largely dominated by white authors.

One note for readers in 2019: The book was published in 2014, and there are a few places in the book where it tells you what month and year certain sights will be particularly visible. Almost all of these dates have passed - generally there was one date in the future in each of those lists. Soon they will be completely out of date.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Sky Watcher makes for a fascinating and fun guide for young space lovers. I found the book informative, well-designed, and useful. For someone like me who has always had a hard time with constellations this book makes a fabulous guide. The book briefly covers the following topics: Night Sky Essentials, Star-Hopping, The Planets, The Moon, and Unusual Sights. The purpose of this book is to be a guide that helps young readers actually look at the sky and find the things being talked about. It gives tips for the best ways to do this. The gorgeous photographs and brief paragraphs makes this a great book for browsers and reluctant readers. The book comes in a cover that can be zippered giving the book greater protection and portability. Recommended for kids who love to look at the stars.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night Sky Essentials: star watching, constellations. Star Hopping: Orion, Pleiades and other star patterns. The Planets. The Moon: eclipses, phases, surface. Unusual Sights: meteors, satellites, comets.

It’s a great book to help you find the different constellations. But it’s intended to be used as an outside resource not a source of general information.

Fave fact: finding the North Star.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pretty interesting, quick, simple guide to the night sky.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, easy book about the night sky. It made me want to grab a blanket and head for hills so I could find all the constellations. I'm think I might take up stargazing when it gets a bit warmer!

[Berkan K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little book with lots of information about the night sky and how to become a good stargazer.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
And honestly, my whole family loved it. We liked the plastic zippered binder it came in (complete with pen holder). We liked the layout, the beautiful pictures, the projects, and even the glossary. I left it on the kitchen table and everyone spent time reading, discussing, remarking about facts we had no idea of. My 10 year old son is currently studying the planets and moon in school, so this little book will be a fantastic guide for him to use at home! (If he can manage to wrestle it away from the rest of us.)
Great little book!

[LAWonder10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Outstanding Book is packed with amazing facts, legends, activities that do with family and friends while learning about outer space and our universe. With as few supplies as a pencil and paper, red plastic wrap, flashlight, card board, compass, arms and hands, one who gain a clearer understanding of stars, comets, meteors, eclipses, our solar system, moon exploration, and constellations. If a pair of binoculars are added, that is even better !
There are four pages of Glossary and two pages of Index at the end of this book so definitions and topics are easily accessed.
What is super neat, is this book comes encased in a zippered plastic cover. If you use it out of doors the moisture will easily wipe off. Pencil, paper & compass can be stored underneath the inside jacket cover! The outer edges of the cover are trimmed with attractive silver trimming. The illustrations and captions are colorful and Eye-catching as is the book cover .
*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review, of which I have given.