2019 Guide to the Night Sky: Bestselling month-by-month guide to exploring the skies above Britain and Ireland
“THIS IS A GREAT GUIDE TO THE NIGHT SKY AT A GREAT PRICE.” Astronomy NowA comprehensive handbook to the planets, stars and constellations visible from the northern hemisphere. 6 pages for each month covering January–December 2019.This practical guide is both an easy introduction to astronomy and a useful reference for seasoned stargazers. Now includes a section on comets and a map of the moon.Designed for Britain and Ireland but usable anywhere in the world between 40°N and 60°N, covering most of Europe, southern Canada and the northern United States.Written and illustrated by astronomical experts, Storm Dunlop and Wil Tirion, and approved by the astronomers of the Royal Observatory Greenwich.Content includes:• Advice on where to start looking.• Easy-to-use star maps for each month with descriptions of what to see.• Positions of the moon and visible planets.• Details of objects and events you might see in 2019.• Diagrams of notable events visible from Britain.Also available: A month-by-month guide to exploring the skies south of the Equator ISBN 978-0-00-829499-1 andA month-by-month guide to exploring the skies above North America ISBN 978-0-22-810105-5.
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© HarperCollins Publishers 2018
Text and illustrations © Storm Dunlop and Wil Tirion
Photographs © see acknowledgements here
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eBook Edition © Sep 2018
ISBN 9780008311643
Version: [2018-07-14]
The aim of this Guide is to help people find their way around the night sky, by showing how the stars that are visible change from month to month and by including details of various events that occur throughout the year. The objects and events described may be observed with the naked eye, or nothing more complicated than a pair of binoculars.
The conditions for observing naturally vary over the course of the year. During the summer, twilight may persist throughout the night and make it difficult to see the faintest stars. There are three recognized stages of twilight: civil twilight, when the Sun is less than 6° below the horizon; nautical twilight, when the Sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon; and astronomical twilight, when the Sun is between 12° and 18° below the horizon. Full darkness occurs only when the Sun is more than 18° below the horizon. During nautical twilight, only the very brightest stars are visible. During astronomical twilight, the faintest stars visible to the naked eye may be seen directly overhead, but are lost at lower altitudes. As the diagram shows, during June and most of July full darkness never occurs at the latitude of London, and at Edinburgh nautical twilight persists throughout the whole night, so at that latitude only the very brightest stars are visible.
Another factor that affects the visibility of objects is the amount of moonlight in the sky. At Full Moon, it may be very difficult to see some of the fainter stars and objects, and even when the Moon is at a smaller phase it may seriously interfere with visibility if it is near the stars or planets in which you are interested. A full lunar calendar is given for each month and may be used to see when nights are likely to be darkest and best for observation.
The celestial sphere
All the objects in the sky (including the Sun, Moon and stars) appear to lie at some indeterminate distance on a large sphere, centred on the Earth. This celestial sphere has various reference points and features that are related to those of the Earth. If the Earth’s rotational axis is extended, for example, it points to the North and South Celestial Poles, which are thus in line with the North and South Poles on Earth. Similarly, the celestial equator lies in the same plane as the Earth’s equator, and divides the sky into northern and southern hemispheres. Because this Guide is written for use in Britain and Ireland, the area of the sky that it describes includes the whole of the northern celestial hemisphere and those portions of the southern that become visible at different times of the year. Stars in the far south, however, remain invisible throughout the year, and are not included.
The duration of twilight throughout the year at London and Edinburgh.
It is useful to know some of the special terms for various parts of the sky. As seen by an observer, half of the celestial sphere is invisible, below the horizon. The point directly overhead is known as the
