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Michigan StarWatch: The Essential Guide to Our Night Sky | 
| Author: Michael W. Lynch
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $5.98
You Save: $20.97 (78%)
New (14) Used (13) from $0.78
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 229310
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 9.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0896586758
Dewey Decimal Number: 522.09774
EAN: 9780896586758
ASIN: 0896586758
Publication Date: May 31, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
“Make the Stars Your Old Friends!” . . . with Mike Lynch, America’s Master Stargazing instructor. Mike has led stargazing classes for over 30 years and has instructed 1000s of would-be backyard astronomers (and maybe a few would-be professional astronomers!)
Now with Michigan StarWatch you can easily pick up what beginning and advanced stargazers ages 12 and up have learned in his popular stargazing classes.
• Use the detailed seasonal constellation charts to quickly identify their main stars and find “celestial goodies” such as star clusters, nebulae, and other galaxies.
• Enjoy the stories and mythology of characters for whom the constellations are named, including Orion the Hunter, Cassiopeia the Queen, and Perseus the Hero.
• Locate the most prominent seasonal constellations with easy-to-use monthly star maps designed especially for Michigan’s northern latitude.
• Learn about the moon, solar and lunar eclipses, planets, as well as comets, meteor showers, and aurora borealis. There is even a planet locator guide good through 2015!
• Gain firsthand advice on purchasing a telescope and other stargazing equipment, plus find listings of local astronomy resources.
You won’t find a more enthusiastic guide to the night sky than Mike Lynch, and you won’t find a better guidebook to our night sky than Michigan StarWatch. About the Author: Mike Lynch is the author of Mike Lynch’s Minnesota StarWatch. He has been a broadcast meteorologist and personality at WCCO Radio in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since 1981, as well as a regular weekly astronomy columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Lynch has taught thousands of stargazing classes since 1973.
He loves teaching the basics of stargazing and especially loves pointing out constellations and telling the stories about them. The main goal Lynch has for his students is to “make the stars your old friends!”
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| Customer Reviews:
 Nice format, but sky maps are over simplified March 8, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I thought this book was carrying regional publishing to a bit of an extreme. What's the difference between starwatching in Michigan or say, Wisconsin? Why not buy yourself a Miller Planisphere (much cheaper) and turn the dials to the correct date and time. This will give you a map of the constellations at Latitude 40 degrees North for the exact hour of the year you're star gazing.
That said, "Michigan Starwatch" is an interesting book and nicely put together: hardbound with a spiral binding, so the pages conveniently lie flat. This is a handy feature when you're outside and trying to use one of the maps to identify constellations. Really, the only item you have to supply is a flashlight with a red filter so you can look at the maps without ruining your night vision.
Each of the twelve included maps is set up to be 100% accurate for three hours per year, e.g. the June map is good for 10 P.M. in June, 2 A.M. in April, and 6 A.M. in February. With a planisphere, I can dial up the exact date and time, and it shows a much more complete star map. The maps in "Michigan Starwatch" are bigger and easier to read, but the author also eliminated lots of stars and whole constellations for ease of use. This lacuna is okay if you're a beginner and trying to identify the more prominent constellations such as Virgo or Aquila. Once you can make your way around the night sky with ease, then you will want more accurate maps for locating dimmer constellations such as Libra or Ophiuchus.
The author's purpose is to "make the stars your old friends." The book contains a quick education complete with color photographs and diagrams of what you might see in the night sky: nebulae; galaxies; planets; comets; and meteor showers. Telescopes and astrophotography are briefly covered. There are also modern renditions of the mythology of the constellations, e.g. Hera to Cassiopeia: "If you think you're so beautiful, I'm going to put you where you can show off your good looks to the whole world every night."
This book is fun to read, and the maps and stories of the individual constellations are loaded with viewing information. The only drawback to its use is that you're going to see many more stars in the night sky than are shown on its twelve maps. The solution is to use a planisphere rather than the maps for advanced viewing.
 Michigan Star Watch September 1, 2005
This is a great book .It explains the constellations and where to find them and also has detailed star maps for the different seasons of the year.It has been invaluable in looking at the summer sky with my grandson.
It is also filled with information about the history of star gazing and how the constellations were named. It is very informative and good reading even if you are stuck indoors.
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