Field Guide to the Night Sky (National Audubon Society Field Guides) by By National Audubon Society

Field Guide to the Night Sky (National Audubon Society Field Guides) Reviews

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  goodreads Customer

  I bout a new copy because mine was old, beat up and the information was out of date. I got the new one and was shocked to discover no new information from any of our recent space probes or the Hubble Space Telescope. Worst of all , Pluto is still listed as a planet and having only one moon. This information is at least a decade out of date. In addition, none of the tables for meteor showers or planetary conjunctions has than a year of useful information (they only go to the end of 2020 at best. The star charts are still good but those don't change in a human lifetime. For the money there are much better, up to date astronomy books out there.
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  Scramjet

  I find this book packed with useful info, BUT beware that some of the info is out of date now which is why I deducted one star. Would have been 5 stars when originally published. Still worthwhile if you pick it up at a good used price and just need the info that is timeless (star positions, magnitudes, etc.).
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  Tanis Coralee Leonhardi

  Good background information and pictures/maps of stars and constellations that helps bring them alive in spirit. I like this than an app for one’s phone as it engages your memory and forces you to find the stars and constellations in the night sky without the help of technology (i.e. on your own) which I find to be satisfying. Slowly getting better at recognizing constellations, which I consider a multi year to multi decade long project.
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  herrbrahms

  As many have already said, this is the gold standard general astronomical reference. The book comes with many plates showing the night sky throughout the seasons, plates for all 88 constellations, a good map of the Moon, and some older astrophotos.
  
  To me, the real value in the book is the collection of writeups covering both the solar system and the individual constellations. The constellation entries are a treasure trove of information containing the history of how the constellations' outlines were formed, as well as technical information on the stars, nebulae, clusters and galaxies within. The book magnificently breaks up the sky into manageable chunks for study.
  
  ***However, there is a big problem with this field guide, namely that it has gone too long without a major re edit.*** Much of the information in the appendix covers planetary longitudes, eclipses, etc., and this changes from year to year. The edition being sold today covers 2008 2015. It's mid 2013 and I'm rather miffed that in 2 1/2 years the book will not be useful for these purposes. Yes, the information is on the internet, but try loading the internet from a dark sky location in the middle of nowhere.
  
  Other changeable information is out of date. In the book, Jupiter has 17 moons. I just checked the internet, and the current count is 49. That's about 20 years out of date. Also, most of the photo plates were taken 25 years ago with film, which is fine, but there are dazzling Hubble photos with free licenses that would make great replacements. Use them!
  
  So, once Knopf gets off their rear and edits this book, it will again be the premiere astronomical field reference.
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  Jeffrey

  Dated but excellent reference guide. The color plates are gorgeous, the turtleneck binding virtually indestructible. Until an updated edition comes out, I highly recommend this one.
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  C. Martin

  I recently purchased a few other books from this series as a gift for someone and saw this book which I got for my wife who wanted to learn on the topic. I had already given her the new "Patterns in Sky" which was great for understanding the history behind all of the constellations, but it didn't have actual photos or very good star charts. Even through I ended up getting the older version of the book, the photos that are referenced by the very easy to read text are great and I'm sure they're even better in the new version. The other thing she liked about the book is that it travels well because of the size and hard but flexible cover. I would highly recommend this book and any other one in this series.
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  Laureen Edelstein

  These field guides by Audubon are awesome & a great value!!! I am now collecting them all!!!
  This was a gift. I made baskets & filled them with: Audubon Calendar, Audubon field guide, Audubon bookmarks, oragami cranes, silk flowers, pine cones, Audubon Birds of America Tiny Folio, bottle of wine, bird seed. These baskets were gifted to two friends who are avid bird watchers/nature lovers. This was a huge hit!!! Everyone at the party was commenting on MY gifts when there was a huge table full of gifts!!! Quality Field Guide!!!
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  NBA Films

  These books are always wonderful to look at and read for quick reference. Better than apps!!
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  A. Horner

  I am no than a door step astronomer. I want to identify all the constellations, understand some basics about the planets and stars, and be able to see the International Space station (ISS) and other satellites. I want to grasp the fundamentals about earth's orbit and relationship with the Sun and other planets including the moon, and if, in learning all this I get a thirst for complex things, then I will move on. I have about ten books on astronomy and the stars, and own a small beginner's telescope. I also use Starry Night Backyard on the PC which is excellent. I bought the Audubon Field Guide after seeing excellent write ups on and I was not disappointed. Great detail, fantastic colour photos and a sturdy, pliable plastic cover that bends to fit your pocket or bag. I like the idea of having colour photographs of the constellations as well as the traditional charts by Wil Tirion. There are great sections on how to observe, how to use a telescope, a glossary of terminology and details of the star gazers year. All in all an excellent, all round reference manual, better than any of the others I already own and I recommend it to anyone from beginner to Patrick Moore.
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  neil

  as it is so simple ,clear and , concise as all Sir Patricks books always are. The diagrams are very easy to understand and use to find the constellations.
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  Newman61

  A classic that takes me back to my early days with astronomy and my tasco 60mm refractor. Good memories. Item exactly as described and received on time. Thanks.
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  Judy Rigby

  Christmas gift