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book: Naked-Eye Astronomy
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Naked-Eye Astronomy

Stars, the Sun, the Moon, Planets, and the Deep Sky
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2025
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About this book

In this textbook the author brings back some of the ‘old’ astronomy, but viewed through the imaginary lens of huge telescopes and orbiting observatories. He teaches us what we can see in the sky without any instrument at all - with the only pre-requisite of access to a dark sky. We learn about lunar / solar eclipses and how contemporary cultures and ancient ancestors around the world discovered the sky.

  • In the past the celestial realm provided us with navigational and timekeeping tools vital to agriculture and trade.
  • Using telescopes, however, we almost unlearned to interpret the naked-eye sky.
  • This work brings all its secrets back to us.

    • Author / Editor information

    Thomas Hockey, University of Northern Iowa, USA.

    Topics

    • Publicly Available

      Frontmatter

      I
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      Preface

      V
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      Contents

      IX
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      Abbreviations

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      1 Introduction to your book

      1
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      2 Your eyes

      12
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      3 The atmosphere

      24
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      4 The dome of your sky

      40
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      5 Stars

      55
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      6 Navigating your sky

      73
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      7 The celestial sphere

      89
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      8 Celestial coordinates and the precession of the Equinoxes

      107
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      9 The Sun

      122
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      10 Your year through the seasons

      139
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      11 Seasonal insolation and daytime/nighttime

      158
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      12 The Moon

      176
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      13 From New Moon to Full Moon

      195
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      14 Full Moon to New Moon

      216
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      15 Further lunar cycles

      239
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      16 Eclipses

      252
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      17 Predicting eclipses

      279
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      18 Planets

      295
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      19 Your Solar System

      319
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      20 Your naked-eye universe

      348
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      Afterword

      369
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    • Appendices
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      I The most dependable of clocks

      371
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      II Selected heliacal star sets and rises

      375
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      III The constellations

      377
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      IV The Greek alphabets

      379
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      V Stars that rise and set at mid-northern latitudes

      381
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      VI Northern circumpolar stars

      383
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      VII Southern circumpolar stars

      385
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      VIII Zodiac constellations used in astrology

      387
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      IX Northern evening constellations by season

      389
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      X Year, month, and day lengths

      391
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      XI Properties of naked-eye planets, satellites, and asteroids

      393
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      XII Apparent magnitudes of the planets1

      395
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      XIII Selected annual meteor showers

      397
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      XIV Selected naked-eye optical double stars

      399
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      XV Naked-eye recurring novae

      401
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      XVI Selected naked-eye variable stars

      403
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      XVII Selected naked-eye open clusters

      405
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      XVIII Selected naked-eye globular clusters

      407
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      XIX Selected naked-eye nebulae

      409
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      XX Naked-eye galaxies

      411
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      Further reading

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      Glossary

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      Index

      433
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    Publishing information
    Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
    eBook published on:
    November 17, 2025
    eBook ISBN:
    9783111441245
    Paperback published on:
    November 17, 2025
    Paperback ISBN:
    9783111441184
    Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
    Front matter:
    12
    Main content:
    330
    Illustrations:
    8
    Coloured Illustrations:
    223
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111441245
    eBook ISBN: 9783111441245
    Paperback ISBN: 9783111441184
    Keywords for this book
    Night Sky; Stars; Sun; Moon; Eclipses; Comets
    Audience(s) for this book
    Students and teachers of Astronomy.
    Safety & product resources
    Manufacturer information:
    Walter de Gruyter GmbH
    Genthiner Straße 13
    10785 Berlin
    productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
    Downloaded on 26.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111441245/html?lang=en
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