Chasing the starry Cetus

“The sad and solemn night
Hath yet her multitude of cheerful fires;
The glorious host of light
Walk the dark hemisphere till she retires . . . .
And thou dost see them rise,
Star of the Pole! And thou dost see them set.
Alone, in they cold skies,
Thou keep’st thy old unmoving station yet.
--William Cullen Brant
“Hymn to the North Star”

If you challenge me to a game of astronomy trivia, you might win, but I would have the most fun, hands down. I love trivia AND stars, constellations, black holes, dazzling doubles and glittering globulars. If you are similarly afflicted, or simply in the mood for something different—you should pick up Deep-Sky Wonders: A tour of the Universe with Sky and Telescope’s Sue French. Stunning pictures, purportedly by the hundreds, although I confess I did not count them, entrance the reader. An education in star maps, sky-hopping, deep sky objects, and planetary nebulae await. With chapters titled “Scuttling around the Scorpion,” and “A Toehold in the Virgo Cluster,” how can you resist?