Kids and adults can explore outer space from their own backyards with this handy book of unusual and engaging activities. By simply looking up at the sky- with the unaided eye- parents, camp counselors, and other group leaders can help children identify, understand, and appreciate the inhabitants of the Milky Way and galaxies beyond. With this book, amateur star-gazers will become acquainted with the constellations, planets, and phases of the moon; how compasses, sundials, and telescopes work; and what causes shooting stars and other galactic phenomena. Down-to-earth explanations of astronomical events and concepts helps readers navigate their way through the stars.

Philip Harrington is the author of Touring the Universe through Binoculars andStarware, published by John Wiley & Sons, and regularly contributes to Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines. He teaches courses in astronomy at the Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium and at Hofstra University and is a frequent lecturer at astronomy clubs and conventions worldwide. Edward Pascuzzi, a high school physics and earth science teacher, holds a bachelor's degree in theoretical astrophysics and a master's degree in physics education. For the past decade he had lectured and taught astronomy at the Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium.