Scholastic Encyclopedia of Space Author:Jacqueline Mitton, Simon Mitton On a dark, cloudless night, you can see hundreds of stars in the sky and look billions of miles out into space. It is the greatest show on Earth. But what, exactly, is out there? — In this new, authoritative encyclopedia you can find out about: — * the big bang, and the early universe — * galaxies - spiral, elliptical, colliding, active, with quasa... more »rs, with black holes
* stars - giant, dwarf, variable, double, pulsars, black hole stars, novas, birth and death, our Sun
* planets in our solar system -- their orbits, craters, volcanoes, atmospheres, interiors, weather, rings
* moons, asteroids, comets, meteors, meteorites, meteoroids, the Kuiper Belt, the Oort cloud
* constellations, phases of the Moon, eclipses
... and how we know so much ...
* astronomers
* skywatching -- binoculars, small telescopes, sky maps
* space exploration -- robot explorers, probes, space stations, orbiters, fly-by missions, landers, manned missions.
So next time you gaze into the night, the greatest show on Earth will be even greater than before. As the stars whirl slowly across the sky, you will recognize Orion, the hunter, with his star-studded belt. With your binoculars, you will see the mountains on the Moon and the red glow of Mars. And you will know that far in the distance planets are orbiting our Sun and other suns, that new stars are being born and old ones are dying, that our knowledge of space, along with the universe itself, is expanding every day.
This beautiful book takes children on a trip through space to learn many fascinating astronomy lessons. Learning aids include Fact Files and clearly designed charts, and an interactive section points out all objects that can be seen without a telescope from your own backyard!« less