A Walk through the Southern Sky.pdf

A Walk through the Southern Sky

A Guide to Stars and Constellations and their Legends

2nd edition

What star is that? Where is the Southern Cross? Who was Orion? A Walk through the

Southern Sky is a beautiful guide to pathways in the night sky which answers these

questions and many more. Its unique simpliﬁed maps make it easy to ﬁnd by eye the

constellations and the stars within them. Clear instructions guide the user on how to

gauge sizes and distances, and how to move easily between constellations. This new

edition has been updated with additional mythology information, and a list of the planet

positions up to 2016.

Ancient myths and legends of the sky, thousands of years old, are retold to add to the

mystery of the stars. Of value to all ages, this book introduces the patterns of the starry

skies in a memorable way. No equipment is needed to use this practical guide, apart from

normal sight and clear skies. Magically illustrated, this is an ideal introduction to launch

the young astronomer on a journey across the starlit skies.

MILTON HEIFETZ is an amateur astronomer, professor of neurosurgery, and inventor of

‘The Precession of the Equinoxes’ planisphere, now in the Harvard University Museum

of Historical Scientiﬁc Instruments. It is used to determine positions of the stars in

ancient history and years in the future.

WIL TIRION is a freelance uranographer and graphic designer. He is co-author of The

Monthly Sky Guide , now in its seventh edition (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

✶

MILTON D. HEIFETZ & WIL TIRION

✶

A WALK THROUGH THE

SOUTHERN SKY

A Guide to Stars and

Constellations and their

Legends

✶

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press

477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521689458

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reproduction of any part may take place without

the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2007

Printed in China by Printplus

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication data

Heifetz, Milton D., 1921– .

A walk through the southern sky : a guide to stars and

constellations and their legends.

2nd ed.

ISBN 9780521689458 (pbk.).

1. Southern sky (Astronomy) – Observers’ manuals. 2.

Astronomy – Southern Hemisphere – Observers’ manuals. 3.

Constellations – Observers’ manuals. 4. Stars – Mythology –

Southern Hemisphere. I. Tirion, Wil. II. Title.

523.80223

ISBN–13 978-0-521-68945-8 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or

third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such

websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Contents

Acknowledgements

page x

Introduction

Part 1 Measuring distances in the sky

Distances to the stars

The brightness of stars

The Milky Way 6

Life in the heavens 8

Instructions for use of the atlas

Four seasonal star maps

Part 2 A walk through the heavens

A walk through the southern sky

The Southern Cross (Crux)

Pathways from Crux

To locate Musca 19

To locate Corvus 19

To locate Carina 19

To locate Achernar of Eridanus 19

The Centaurus–Crux–Carina–Vela relationship

The True and False Southern Crosses

To locate Vela and the False Southern Cross

The Acrux–Canopus–Achernar triangle 23

The Centaurus–Lupus–Ara–Libra–Scorpius

relationship 25

Pathways from Centaurus

To Lupus 25

To locate Libra

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