Astronomy for Beginners

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Astronomy for Beginners opens the night sky with clarity and wonder, inviting readers into a science that is both humbling and exhilarating. Hereward Carrington explains what astronomy is, why it matters, and how it differs from astrology, guiding beginners from the familiar Moon to the farthest reaches of the universe. Along the way, he reveals humanity's small place in a vast cosmos while making its greatest mysteries feel approachable. The book surveys the solar system in vivid, memorable terms: the Sun as the life-giving center; the inner planets from scorched Mercury to cloud-hidden Venus, Earth, and dry, enigmatic Mars; the giant Jupiter and beautiful ringed Saturn; and the distant, faint worlds of Uranus and Neptune, along with the asteroid belt and the possibility of undiscovered planets beyond. It also explores sunspots, lunar craters and phases, meteor showers, meteorites, comets, constellations, nebulae, the Milky Way, and the origins of the solar system, blending scientific explanation with the enduring excitement of discovery.