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Informationen zum Autor David H. Levy is the co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy, which slammed into Jupiter in 1994 in a series of spectacular explosions with a force equal to several million tons of TNT. He is the author of More Things in Heaven and Earth, the Man Who Sold the Milky Way, The Ultimate Universe and Impact Jupiter. Levy was asked by Parade Magazine to take over the science column after the death of Carl Sagan. Levy is also the editor of The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos. Zusammenfassung Observation of variable stars is an area where anyone can make a contribution to science! and is a fascinating activity using a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars. Aimed at the enthusiast! this book gives a thorough and lively description of all aspects of observing variable stars! including a seasonal guide to the skies. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword; Opening thoughts; Acknowledgments; Part I. Getting To Know The Sky: 1. Beginning with the Big Dipper; 2. Magnitude, color, and distance; 3. A word on binoculars and telescopes; 4. Learning to see; Part II. Getting To Know The Variables: 5. Meeting the family; 6. Getting started with Cepheids; 7. Algol, the demon of autumn; 8. How to estimate a variable; 9. Names and records; 10. Observing hints; 11. Stately and wonderful; 12. Stars of challenge; 13. Bright, easy, and interesting; 14. Betelgeuse: easy and hard; 15. Not too regular; 16. Nova? What nova?; 17. Supernovae; 18. Three stars for all seasons; 19. A nova in reverse; 20. RU Lupi?; 21. Orion, the star factory; 22. Other variable things; 23. The Sun; Part III. Suggested Variables For Observation Throughout The Year: Introduction: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, Southern sky notes; Part IV. A Miscellany: 24. Stars and people; 25. The next generation; 26. Going further; Glossary and abbreviations; Index.