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Astronomy and space

Astronomy and space

With stars in my eyes

21 Feb 2019 Tushna Commissariat
Taken from the February 2019 issue of Physics World.

Tushna Commissariat reviews Seeing Stars: a Complete Guide to the 88 Constellations by Sara Gillingham

Modern constellations
Celestial menagerie Modern constellations (those named since 1600) commonly take the forms of animals. (Courtesy: Sara Gillingham/Phaidon)

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my father pointing out the stars in the constellation of Orion to me. This was quite some feat – growing up in the big, bright city that is Mumbai in India, visible stars were few and far between. But despite the city glow, I learnt to read the sky, or what I could see of it, and this early foray into astronomy set me on a path in science that I have followed all of my life.

So the idea of a star-gazing manual aimed especially at children is an excellent idea. But Seeing Stars: a Complete Guide to the 88 Constellations by Sara Gillingham is so much more than a typical stellar atlas. Instead, it is a beautiful, hardbound coffee-table book, aimed at children aged 7–10, but pleasing to the eye for all. The large-format book is coloured mostly in gold and blue, and is beautifully drawn and illustrated, in a very different style from most star atlases aimed at adults – these often go for accuracy over artistry, and are quite a challenge to entertain a child with.

However, Seeing Stars is not just a picture book. Gillingham, who is both writer and illustrator, is a consummate children’s author and knows just how to pitch her language. Although I am not sure it is “the first ever children’s book to introduce budding stargazers to all 88 internationally recognized constellations”, I like that Gillingham chose to depict all of the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) official constellations.

Seeing Stars is equal parts astronomy and mythology, with a sprinkling of history, which is a good way to provide context to star-gazing’s ancient roots. The book opens with a short and sweet primer on how to read the sky with Gillingham deftly explaining concepts such as asterisms, how to find the brightest stars in the sky, hemispheric differences in the sky. She then digs into the many ancient constellations (both mythological and the 13 zodiacal ones), as well as the modern constellations (animals, people, objects and symbols) as determined in the 17th–19th centuries.

Microscope and compasses

Each individual constellation is displayed on a double-page spread that features a tiny how-to-find-it map that shows it in relation to other constellations; a realistic connect-the-dot shape of the constellation as it appears in the sky; some key information about its main stars; and a large glossy illustration of the mythological character, object or creature for which the arrangement is named. The book ends with accurate sky maps that could be used for practical star-gazing, and other resources, such as websites and apps for young star-gazers.

The book provides an accessible overview of the night skies, and will equip readers with all the information needed to spot and name a constellation, while recalling its mythological or historical background. Gillingham’s writing is simple and clear throughout.

A particularly interesting section to me was the history behind the modern constellations, where she describes how, in the 1800s, the invention of devices such as the microscope and the compasses (see above) had such an impact on science that astronomers including Nicolas Louis de Lacaille mapped new constellations based on them.

Beautiful to look at, just like the night sky itself, Seeing Stars is sure to delight and inspire young star-gazers and adults alike.

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