Astronomy with the Naked Eye

The specific things undertaken in this book are: First, the presentation of a set of star-charts, accompanying and illustrating the text, and containing the constellation figures, so that the reader may see those strange forms that the imaginations of men for thousands of years have drawn in the sky. The sixth-magnitude stars are visible to ordinarily good eyes, but they are inconspicuous. The charts are reductions from Heis's Atlas Calestis. Second, the march of the constellations across the sky, resulting from the annual revolution of the earth in its orbit, is followed from month to month, and they are presented in the text according to the times of their successive arrivals near the meridian, the north and south line of the sky. The appearance of the constellations, as viewed with the naked eye, is described, their histories and mythologies are given, and the stories of their chief stars and star groups are detailed. For the convenience of those who have telescopes, some of the double stars and other interesting telescopic objects in each constellation are described and their positions indicated. Third, the planets are described in a separate chapter, with illustrations intended to enable the uninitiated reader to follow their paths among the stars and to predict their approximate places for himself. In consequence of their constant motion, the planets cannot be indicated by symbols definitely located on the charts like the fixed stars. To sum up, the general purpose is to revive and cultivate interest in the picturesque and easily understood side of astronomy, so that everybody who wishes may "feel at home in the starry heavens," may share in the great intellectual pleasures which an acquaintance with them invariably gives, and may understand and enjoy the references to the stars, the constellations, and the planets that abound in all literatures and in all the periodicals of the day.