Night Sky Month By Month

The Night Sky Month by Month
Published at DK Canada

About the book

An invaluable, user-friendly guide to discovering and navigating the night sky, The Night Sky Month by Month shows the sky as it is seen around the world in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Suitable for newcomers to stargazing and expert astronomers alike, The Night Sky Month by Month explains our place within the universe, examines sky watching equipment, introduces each month’s main attractions—bright stars, prominent constellations, and meteor showers—and charts the positions of the planets up to 2019.

My Thoughts

Looking at the stars is something I always wanted to do.  Even with my small telescope, I find hardly the time to do it but being an amateur I like to have books that could help me in my search of constellations.  Many different publications could be helpful but one that I really appreciate having is The Night Sky Month By Month from DK Canada.

This book will provide basic information on how you can observe the night sky and how to get started in a section titled Looking Up.  Because like it or not, to observe the constellations you will have to lift your eyes and look above your head.  The next section contains the monthly sky guides with information for the northern latitudes and the southern latitudes.   Each month will also provide an overview and highlights to help you find the best objects in the night sky.   The whole-sky chart can be oriented differently whether you are in the northern or southern latitude.   This book contains magnificent sky charts for you to help you find what you would like to observe.

At the end of the book, you can also find an almanac for the years 2011 to 2019 where you can discover the phases of the moon, eclipses of the sun and the moon as well as the motions of the planets.  For example, while exploring this section, I have discovered that there will be a total eclipse of the moon visible from North America, South America, and New Zealand on April 15, 2013.  

My only small disappointment would be the fact that if you bring this book with you in the field to observe the night sky, you will have to bring a flashlight as well as the pages for the monthly charts are not “glow-in-the-dark”.  Also the book is slightly oversize though not heavy as it contains only 130 pages or so.   The book itself is 10” x 12” so it could be tricky to insert in a small backpack.   However, the book is fabulous and I would recommend it for anyone starting to explore the night sky and discover the various constellations above our heads.

The Bible clearly say that

The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  Psalm 19:1-2

Personally, I like to ponder about God and his majestic work while observing the sky at night.   It reminds me that He is way bigger than myself and can do more than I can expect it.  Watching the night sky and the stars in the constellations, I think of Romans 1:20 which says

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I thank God for giving us this beautiful night sky and hope that it will stir the hearts of many other people who take the time to observe it to recognize that He is present around us.

The Night Sky Month By Month is available for purchase at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned products for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.