The young Oxford book of Astronomy by Simon and Jacqueline Mitton. Its a very nice book.. My son has it. Its about 160 pages and describes all of the different constellations.

Posted by sea_sher, on November 30th, 2008, at 11:00 pm. #.

I would start with an astronomy dictionary. If you can’t understand what you are reading then what’s the point of it? A couple of good books I would recommend for a beginner are ” A Journey Through Time ” and ” Astronomy ” ISBN 1-40546-314-7. Both are excellent readers with High Res. pictures. Hope this helps.

Posted by justask23, on December 2nd, 2008, at 7:55 pm. #.

my first college astronomy text!

Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics by Smith & Jacobs

Its Superb!

(and two votes on that dictionary thing. really.)

Posted by faesson@sbcglobal.net, on December 4th, 2008, at 8:21 am. #.

I do a lot of astronomy reading and I like the simple books.
“A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson
“Astronomy For Dummies”
“The Astronomical Calendar” by Guy Ottewell and everything else that he has written.
“Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars”

Posted by luvlaketahoe, on December 6th, 2008, at 4:15 pm. #.

There are so many books out there that it really depends on what level you’re at and where your interests lie.

I’d start with a good general book like Terence Dickinson’s The Universe And Beyond:

For more depth, go to your local college bookstore and get a copy of whatever they use for their introductory astronomy course.

Posted by Geoff G, on December 6th, 2008, at 6:56 pm. #.

It depends on your level of knowledge; however, I encourage
anyone who wants to go far in astronomy to learn the sky
first, and the best book I have ever seen for that purpose is
“The Stars – a New Way to See Them” by the late H.A. Rey.
He also drew the cartoon of the monkey “Curious George”.
This book is published by Houghton Mifflin and can be bought
at nearly any book store – go to the Science section.
It is definitely (note correct spelling) a book you will want!
It is what I used to learn the sky many years ago.

Posted by Reginald, on December 7th, 2008, at 12:27 pm. #.