The annual treasury for sky-watchers and stargazers, including references and a variety of fascinating articles.
The Yearbook of Astronomy series is renowned for its comprehensive jargon-free monthly sky notes and authoritative sky charts that enable backyard astronomers and sky-gazers everywhere to plan their viewing of the year’s eclipses, comets, meteor showers, and minor planets, as well as detailing the phases of the moon and visibility and locations of the planets throughout the year. Every annual edition also includes a variety of entertaining and informative articles. Among the wide-ranging articles in this 2021 edition are:Male Family Mentors for Women in AstronomyHenrietta Swan Leavitt and Her WorkSolar ObservingObsolete ConstellationsLunar VolcanismPages From the Past: Collecting Vintage Astronomy BooksMaori Astronomy in Aotearoa-New Zealand, and more
In addition you’ll find the first in a series entitled Mission to Mars: Countdown to Building a Brave New World, scheduled to appear in the Yearbook throughout the 2020s to keep you fully up to date with the ongoing investigations, research, and preparations that are already underway, as well as those in the planning phase, geared towards sending a manned mission to Mars around the end of the decade. We are at the start of what promises to be an exciting journey—and the Yearbook of Astronomy continues to be an essential companion.
Brian Jones hails from Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire and was a founder member of the Bradford Astronomical Society. He developed a fascination for astronomy at the age of five when he first saw the stars through a pair of binoculars, and his interest took him into the realms of writing sky guides for local newspapers, appearing on local radio and television, teaching astronomy and space in schools and, in 1985, becoming a full time astronomy and space writer. He has penned 18 books to date which have covered a range of astronomy and space-related topics for both children and adults. His passion for bringing an appreciation of the universe to his readers is reflected in his writing.