This stunningly illustrated visual guide to the heavens deserves a place on every amateur astronomer's bookshelf. It features both sky maps and dramatic photos of all major constellations, from Andromeda to Virgo. It also provides a stargazer's excursion across the solar system, focusing on planets, asteroids, meteors, and comets. Exploring further into deep space, it presents breathtaking photos--many of them taken from NASA's famous Hubble telescope--of colliding galaxies, supernovas, and spirograph nebulae. The author advises beginners on nighttime sky-watching, whether they make their observations with the naked eye, with binoculars, or with a telescope. He also discusses unmanned space exploration, provides star maps for each month of the year, and explains such phenomena as the Big Bang and black holes. The Stargazer's Guide to the Universe is printed throughout in full color and features more than 250 photos and illustrations.