An Intimate Look at the Night Sky

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Not too long ago, the sky above was as familiar to Canadians as the view
from their own front porch. People from Halifax to Vancouver could look
up into the night sky and see stars, planets, and comets the way most
21st-century people can see buildings, telephone poles, and street
lights. Today, when the majority of Canadians manage to escape the
artificial light of their urban homes, the rural sky above them is a
strange and wonderful sight. A few might be able to pick out the Moon
and the Big Dipper, but most would have a hard time distinguishing a
star from a planet. This book by astronomy professor and science writer
Chet Raymo, is a fascinating way for Canadians to reacquaint themselves
with the universe. Disparate names like Aristarchus, Dante, Einstein,
Shakespeare, and Hubble are linked together as Raymo combines science,
mythology, and history to explain how the night sky has been interpreted
through the ages.

Because the night sky changes from season to season, Raymo divides his
text into Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. In each section, he picks an
easy-to-find point of reference in the sky and builds from there. In
Winter, for example, he starts with the constellation Orion and
discusses how that particular “formation” received its name. Next,
he isolates specific components and explains the difference between the
white dwarfs, yellow stars, and red giants that constitute Orion. From
there, he points the reader to nearby objects in the sky and explains
what we know about them from both the scientific and mythological points
of view.

Twenty-four star maps display the night sky as it changes through the
seasons. There are also detailed photos of particular objects like
exploding stars and Jupiter’s moons to support the text. A glossary,
an index, a list of pertinent websites, and two appendixes are included
for additional information. This pocket-sized book is one of the best
one-stop references for anyone who wants to understand the northern sky
and how humanity has related to it for thousands of years.