Nonfiction | 8 – Adult

The Monthly Sky Guide, 10th edition, by Ian Ridpath and Will Tirion
I’ve always enjoyed stargazing, and living in a (relatively) remote area away from city light pollution means it’s so much easier for me to explore the nighttime skies. I obtained a digital edition of the 10th edition (published in 2019) of this title through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review, but a technical problem at my end resulted in my losing access to the copy. Thanks to the great staff at the Grand Forks & District Public Library, I did obtain and examine an older edition as well as an excerpt from the new edition, so I do feel able to comment on this title, with the understanding I did not examine the newest edition directly.

As the title suggests, the book is organized by month, allow you to focus on the skies that are visible at different times of year. The introduction covers the basics of astronomy, from eclipses and nebulae to constellations and galaxies. Ridpath and Tirion also cover the gear you are likely to use (including the naked eye). I like that they note that you don’t need to invest in a big telescope – your hiking binoculars are enough to give you a good image of the moon, galaxies, star clusters, and even planets. Tips for beginners are helpful, including a clear explanation of why and how the night sky changes over the course of a year. Signposts of spring, summer, autumn, and winter help new skygazers learn their way around the seasonal constellations. The monthly sky charts are the real reason to pick up this book, though, as northern hemisphere skies are clearly displayed for you to explore. (Ridpath is from the U.K.) Each month includes a colour chart, an entry on key stars and sometimes meteor showers to watch for, some information on the planets spanning several years making this title useful for several seasons, and discussions of the constellations to watch for each month. This is an excellent introduction to star gazing that is accessible to young readers discovering the beauty of the night sky. A basic one-page index allows access to specific searches of planets and constellations, and includes entries on each of the galaxies you can see from Earth. My thanks to Dover Publications and the Grand Forks & District Public Library.
More discussion and reviews of this title: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42478866 (10th edition) and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1294837 (previous editions).

I received this book via Netgalley in return for an honest review. I liked the in-depth descriptions of the various types of stars, constellations, galaxies and planets. I also really liked the month-to-month guide of the stars and planets we should be able to see in the sky from 2020-2024. The only drawback I had was I read this on Kindle and the pictures of the constellations and stars were hard to see or non-existent. If you are interested, I would buy a physical copy of the book.