Sky Calendars Books

the advent calendars that i received were really unique. i have had an advent calendar all of my life and that is alot of christmas'. these were lovely and much enjoyed.

I bought this Advent calendar and it was just as beautiful when I received it. By far the best selection online and I checked many web sites. My family throughly enjoyed this calendar.It matches the wonderful advent calendars I had as a child growing up.

My kids were excited to open a flap each day during Advent to "add on" to the story. Good enough quality for a one time use. I would recommend.

Unlike many space calendars which are just cool space photos, Sky & Telescope's calendar concisely includes celestial events (when/where planets are visible, eclipses, meteor showers, etc.). Also on each month are simplified sky charts to help observers locate the planets & events. Individual days on the pages are still left open enough to write appointments & usual daily calendar notations.

Compiled and organized by Silke Leffler, "A Simply Wonderful Christmas: A Literary Adventure Calendar" offers children of elementary school age a wonderful and enthusiastically recommended collection of twenty-four seasonally appropriate stories meant to be read one at a time for each day in December leading up to Christmas. The stories are enhanced with Leffler's lovely and whimsical illustrations reflecting the enchantment and magic of the three weeks leading up to Christmas Day. There are even pages set aside where young readers (and their parents) can record personal holiday memories making "A Simply Wonderful Christmas" a truly enduring family legacy and keepsake.

The little boy that received this enjoyed each day of opening the calendar date while waiting for Christmas.

I give this as Birthday gifts, and people love it.
Now they have figured out, how I can remember everyones birthdays!

Makes a great gift. You need to fill it out only once and so easy to use.
Helps you remember your family and friends.

This is a great product. Lots of color and sparkles and cute pictures. Not too childish for an adult to have either.

The calendar is full of great illustrations and is easy to organize. Being able to hang it on the wall is a bonus. It is very durable, I imagine I will be able to use this for a long time

Very cute calendar. The pages are thinner thean I had hoped, causing the calendar to be a bit flimsy and is easily bent out of shape. However, I love the upbeat, fun designs and I have been looking for a birthday calendar for a while. Could not have been more affordable; however, I would have been willing to spend a little more money for a thicker, more subsantial calendar. I don't really have any regrets, as the price is great and the calendar certainly is substantially able to serve it's purpose.

It has been nearly 40 years since I dabbled in astronomy, and 50 since I was a boy scout. Back then, astronomy seemed to be more popular which made it easier to look skyward and identify major star constelations. Now, in my 60's, and thanks to a pair of Canon 12x36 IS binoculars, my wife and I are becoming re-introduced to the hobby/science. I still have my old books, but acutally felt a bit intimidated by them as I dusted them off. I wanted something simpler, something that a beginner might grab to refresh my faded memory. This book did quite well at that. Because star gazing is not completely new to me, I might not be able to fully put myself in the shoes of a beginner, but I will try.

The book is definately not intimidating, neither is it comprehensive. It takes you out to your backyard and helps you make sense of what you can easily see without optics, understand why things move the way they do. It helps you position yourself in our immensely large universe and, with a little effort on your part, imagine how things would look from space, or even another hemishpere on earth.

Divided into four main parts, based on the seasons of the year, it provides a decent star chart for each season, and short stories that have attached themselves to some constelations and prominent stars. I found the stories helpful in locating and remembering their subjects. I was pleased that the book does not talk down to the reader, as though a child, nor like a stuffy professor who wants to show you how smart he is.

I doubt that I could give 5 stars for any introductory astronomy book because it must necessarily be short enough to invite reading, but that means it cannot answer all the questions that will arise as one becomes involved in star gazing. This book did not disappoint us and my wife and I are glad we purchased it. We are likely to continue to carry the poor dogeared thing around with us until we can identify the points of interest in it for all four seasons, then maybe I can go back to my dusty library and go deeper.

I have ordered numerous books and other items from AMAZON and have had great service 5 star ! I can recommend using this site! I have used Amazon from the beginning and it gets better each year.

Got this book while I was helping my daughter work on her sky searcher badge for girl scouts. Great book for a beginner. My daughter read it cover to cover.

Patterns in the Sky by Ken Hewitt-White
Sky Publishing, 2006, soft cover, 6" x 9", 98 pages

I've been having fun with astronomy for the past 17 years and still consider myself a novice. That is why I get excited about new books written for the astronomy-challenged person that I am. Patterns in the Sky by Ken Hewitt-White
Is just such a book. It is one of the first in the series of books by NightSky written especially for the readers of that excellent magazine. The book is targeted for the beginner and intermediate level student.

The introduction gives the reader a concise overview of basic astronomy with terms to be found in the text and colorful illustrations to make it easy to understand. It contains a list of constellations and stars you will be viewing throughout the year and two fold-out star charts covering all four seasons.
The book is organized by seasons with the best objects visible showcased.
Each season chapter contains interesting astro facts, mythology, charts, photos and diagrams to help the student find those objects in the sky. The book concludes with a helpful glossary and resource information.

You don't need a large telescope or huge binoculars or vast knowledge of the sky to use this book to find these celestial wonders. This is entry level astronomy directed to the masses that can be a stepping stone to a greater understanding of the stars.

Jack Fox, Richmond Astronomical Society

I love this calendar. I get it every year. I have for nearly 20 years now. Some of the information is repeated every year. But that is the nature of calendars and astronomy in general. But enough new stuff is in every calendar to make getting a new issue worth it. It well written and informative.

Buyer beware: please do not be fooled by the title. This is NOT a calendar, but rather a very thorough (82-page) astronomical almanac. This is arguably the best astronomical resource an amateur astronomer can buy.

This power-packed almanac has almost everything an amateur astronomer could want:

(a) Monthly sky maps with recommended "telescopic" tour objects;

(b) Monthly observer highlights with date/times of significant astronomical events;

(c) Monthly east and/or west horizon & sky highlights charts for each month showing ecliptic and path/location of the evening and/or morning planets, sun & moon with significant conjunctions for the month;

(d) Detailed "strip-charts" of astronomical twilight, hours of "dark sky" and "moonlight" (which could interfere with dark sky observation);

(e) Detailed chapters re: lunar & solar eclipses;

(f) Corkscrew charts of the major Jovian and Saturian moons for each day of the year;

(g) Finder charts for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto;

(h) Meteor Showers (major & minor) with burst/outburst predictions (dates/times);

(i) Asteroids incl. finder charts for the big 5;

(j) Comets with brightness predictions and detailed finder charts;

(k) Occultations incl. binocular & telescope events;

(l) And even general information re: measuring light pollution, magnitude, significant spaceflight information, and a small section on selected deep-sky profiles.

And I haven't even mentioned it contains one of the best astronomical glossaries of any astronomy book on my bookshelf.

Admittedly, this almanac looks intimidating to beginner's. But the author has an excellent explanation of how to use this publication - and interpreting the data quickly becomes a snap.

The only publication out there that comes close to this is the annual RASC Handbook. But mano y mano, this publication packs a greater wallop by giving more information, more detail and definitely more value considering the price of each.

This book is published annually in October of each year. I ordered mine in advance and had it delivered in plenty of time (prior to 1 November) so I could start my annual planning in advance.

This publication is a must for serious amateurs who own telescopes. But given the detailed information re: the moon, eclipses and sky highlights (and the great glossary), even observers without a telescope will benefit.

Bottom-line: if you find that you want or need more detail than the online astronomy magazine sites provide, or you want information you normally fnd from multiple Internet sites, or you wish to plan observations for later in the year - definitely consider buying this publication! But remember, this is not a wall calendar but rather a detailed astronimical almanac - on steroids!

I really enjoy the past versions of this publication but...I ordered the 2006 and still did not receive it after 3 months. This version has the pages 25-32 replaced with the pages 17 - 24. The quality control/project management needs improvement.

Gorgeous and of excellent quality. I have a large collection of advent calendars, and this one is a great addition!

I bought this as a present for my daughter and she was thoroughly happy with it

An important synthesis of data on Inca astronomy, well-written and well researched by two experts in the field, an archaeologist/historian and an astronomer. Recommended for serious students of othe ancient Andes

An important synthesis of data on Inca astronomy, well-written and well researched by two experts in the field, an archaeologist/historian and an astronomer. Recommended for serious students of othe ancient Andes.

The book, written by a small interdisciplinary team, has clearly benefitted from this cooperation. It provides an excellent overview of Inca astronomy as reported in Spanish documentary sources, which are put to the test by first-hand astronomical and archaeological observations. It also carefully examines some of the currently dominant yet more speculative approaches to the subject. Very much recommended. Fred Spier