Iowa Starwatch

From America's favorite stargazing instructor, a guide to Iowa's night sky, with detailed text, monthly star maps, constellation diagrams, and more than 80 color photographs.

Bob Mizon, one of the world’s best known campaigners against the veil of light pollution that has taken away the starry sky from most of the world’s population, takes readers to a hundred places in the UK and the USA where the wonders of the night sky might still be enjoyed in perfect or near-perfect night skies. Visiting small hotels and simple campsites, and savoring vast dark-sky reserves where the night sky is actively protected, The Million-Star Hotel celebrates the black skies of yesteryear – which may become a reality for more and more of us as modern technology reins in lighting and puts it only where needed. How can you prepare for your stay beneath the stars? What astronomy can you do during the daytime? What kind of equipment will you need? Questions such as these are answered, and if town dwellers return inspired – and, Bob hopes, also inspired to look with fresh eyes at their own local lighting – there is enough information here for them to equip themselves for some urban astronomy too.

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With the down-to-earth style and far-ranging knowledge that have made him America's favorite stargazing instructor, Mike Lynch guides amateur and expert alike through the wonders of the night sky over North and South Carolina. Whether watching the sky from a backyard lawn chair or manning a high-powered telescope, stargazers of all levels will learn how and when to identify the major constellations at the Carolinas' latitude. With chapters on the origins and movements of stars, the mythology of constellations, the phases of the moon, the planets, and even buying a telescope, this book also serves as an accessible and in-depth beginner's guide to the night sky. It includes 12 monthly star maps for Carolina skies, 21 constellation diagrams, a local resources guide, a list of the brightest stars in the region, and more than 80 beautiful color photographs of the heavens.