Description: In a clear and lucid style, the author guides readers from terrestrial and celestial coordinate systems, time measurement, and celestial navigation to the prediction of the rising and setting of the stars, Sun and Moon. The book focuses on the geometrical aspects of the night sky without using complex trigonometry (which is discussed in a handy appendix). The book progresses to a general study of the Earth and sky, including the stars and constellations (with useful star maps provided), the motions and appearance of the Moon, tides and eclipses, the orbits of the planets, and the smaller bodies of the solar system (asteroids, meteors, meteorites and comets). Finally, there is a brief overview of atmospheric phenomena (including rainbows and haloes). This text will be invaluable to students taking courses in naked-eye astronomy, amateur and professional astronomers, and general readers wanting to know how the night sky changes.\ P\ \ I\ James Kaler\ /I\ is Professor of Astronomy at the University of Illinois, and is the author of several popular-level magazine articles and books on astronomy, including \ I\ Stars and Their Spectra\ /I\ (Cambridge University Press, 1989).

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