The Amateur Astronomer's Introduction to the Celestial Sphere

An introduction to the night sky for those who wish to understand the principles of naked-eye astronomy. Written in a conversational style, using only elementary mathematics, it contains review questions and exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding. The last chapter contains a set of practical observation projects.

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This introduction to the night sky is for amateur astronomers who desire a deeper understanding of the principles and observations of naked-eye astronomy. It covers topics such as terrestrial and astronomical coordinate systems, stars and constellations, the relative motions of the sky, Sun, Moon and Earth leading to an understanding of the seasons, phases of the moon, and eclipses. Topics are discussed and compared for observers located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Written in a conversational style, only addition and subtraction are needed to understand the basic principles with a more advanced mathematical treatment available in the appendices. Each chapter contains a set of review questions and simple exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the material. The last chapter is a set of self-contained observation projects to get readers started with making observations about the concepts they have learned.