Steve Parish Publishing

Why not take up stargazing for the International Year of Astronomy?

Can you identify Venus in the night sky? What about the constellation Centaurus? Or even the world-famous Southern Cross? If not, 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, so it's the perfect time to start stargazing. When it comes to the southern skies, there are myriad fascinating objects to identify. In fact, world-renowned astronomer Doug Welch, author of Steve Parish Publishing's Amazing Facts About  Australia's Southern Skies, says the night skies above Australia are among the most fascinating places in the world to watch the heavens. "Every amatuer astronomer dreams of the day when they can finally view the southern sky," says Doug, "because the southern sky really is more exciting than than the sky that is visible in the northern hemisphere! Many of the best and brightest celestial objects can be best seen, or only seen, from the southern hemisphere and Australia’s vast open spaces make it the perfect place to stargaze."

What you'll need...

First of all you'll need a great guide to what you can expect to see, such as Amazing Facts About Australia's Southern Skies, which includes detailed skymaps for each season and will help you find constellations such as the Southern Cross, Orion’s Belt and Scorpius. You'll be able to see some constellations, planets and shooting stars with the naked eye, but for really amazing astronomical discoveries you'll need binoculars or a telescope. They don't have to be expensive, but they should have dimensions of around "7 x 50" (7 is the magnification and 50 is the diameter of the lens in millimetres). You'll also need a sense of adventure! It's difficult to see the stars in the city because the brightness of city lights obscures them, so the best place to stargaze is out in the wide open spaces (that's also the best place to see Australia's nature and wildlife, so talk mum and dad into "going bush" for a weekend camping trip!).

What exactly are you looking for?

That depends. Different objects can be seen in the night sky at different times. One of the most obvious objects to explore is the moon, along with the planets Venus and Mercury, which can only be seen in the few hours following sunset or just before sunrise. Later at night, you might be lucky enough to see meteors (shooting stars) and on some special occasions you might even see a comet or a lunar eclipse.

Did you know?

Getting involved with astromony will also introduce you to many fascinating facts that will astound your friends and family. For instance, did you know:

 * Astronomers recently decided that Pluto is not a planet at all but a "dwarf planet". It is smaller than several moons of the other larger planets and has a very low mass. In fact, poor little Pluto is so far away from the other planets and the Sun that it takes 248 Earth years to orbit the Sun! But don't feel sorry for Pluto, it's not out there all on its own. In the last few years at least three more dwarf planets (or plutoids) have been found in the outer solar system. They include Eris (formerly known as 2003 UB313), Ceres, and a dwarf planet called Makemake. Makemake was the most recently discovered and is named after a Polynesian god, but before being named it was labelled as 2005 FY9 (although it also went by the unofficial nickname of "Easter Bunny").

* The planet Jupiter is the biggest planet. Despite being absolutely HUGE by planet standards, in fact it has no solid surface but is made up entirely of clouds of swirling gas! It is orbited by more than sixty moons, including four moons known as the Galilean Moons. They are so named because, in 1610, the Italian scientist Galilieo spotted them through his small telescope and noticed that they orbited Jupiter. This discovery led to the understanding that the Earth orbited the Sun, rather than the other way around as people once believed.

Don't stop there, though, because there's so much more to learn about astronomy. The sky really isn’t the limit -- there’s a whole Universe of knowledge out there! You'll find even more incredible facts about the mysteries of the Universe in Amazing Facts About Australia's Southern Skies, from manned moon landings to mysterious black holes and dark matter. And, if you can't find it in the night sky, the book's spectacular photographs will show you volcanoes on the surface of Venus, the moons of Mars and even what a supernova and a total solar eclipse look like!

Discover for yourself the wonders of our Galaxy with Amazing Facts about Australia’s Southern Skies during the International Year of Astronomy 2009. 

Happy stargazing!