Book

Ferris, Timothy.

Seeing in the dark : how backyard stargazers are probing deep space and guarding earth from interplanetary peril / Timothy Ferris.

New York : Simon & Schuster, ©2002.

xvii, 379 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Seeing in the Dark is a poetic love letter to the skies and a stirring report on the revolution now sweeping amateur astronomy in which backyard stargazers link globally by the Internet are exploring deep space and making discoveries worthy of the professionals. Timothy Ferris invites us all to become stargazers, recounting his lifelong experiences as an enthralled stargazer, and capturing the exquisite experience when ancient starlight strikes the eye and incites the mind.

Astronomers.

Astronomy -- Amateurs' manuals.

Handbooks and manuals.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-340) and index.

Alex Award winner, 2003.

The shore : From the observatory log: a primate at dusk -- Beginnings -- Spaceflight -- The ozone -- Standing watch: a visit with Mr. White Man -- Amateurs -- How much can you see? a visit with Stephen James O'lue water : The realm of the sun -- Rock music of the spheres: a talk with Brian May -- The morning and evening star -- Founding father: a visit with Patrick Moore -- Moon dance -- The telescope and the tomb: a visit with Percival Lowell -- Mars -- Light at the edge of darkness: a visit with James Turrell -- Stones from the sky -- Comet trails: a visit with David Levy -- Vermin of the skies -- The camera's eye: a visit with Don Parker -- Jupiter -- Storms on Saturn: a visit with Stuart Wilber -- The outer giants -- From the observatory log: chimes at midnight -- The depths : The night sky -- Digital universe: a virtual visit to a robotic telescope -- The Milky Way -- Blues line: a visit with John Henry’s ghost -- Galaxies -- Big science: a visit with Edgar O. Smith -- The dark ages -- From the observatory lodge: Minerva at dawn -- Observing techniques -- Notable periodic meteor showers -- Representative bright stars -- Messier objects by season -- Planets and their satellites -- Further reading -- Star maps.

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2002020693

0684865793

9780684865799

50413686

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117746

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520 Ferris