Black Holes Constellations Eclipses NASA

Gr 2—3—These volumes offer short, simply phrased introductions to topics in astronomy enhanced by generous quantities of fairly high-quality space photography and art. Zappa bravely attempts to explain at least the "ins" of black holes-there aren't any "outs"—but founders on the subject's intrinsic complexity. (She makes the accurate but baffling observation that an object falling past an event horizon "becomes part of the black hole's singularity.") Readers should come away from Constellations with a clear understanding of why many star patterns move in the sky from season to season, Eclipses confines itself to the lunar and solar types but includes specific eclipse-related discoveries about how light behaves and other phenomena, and the author's history of NASA is up-to-date enough to close with mentions of the Space Shuttle program's end and its probable successor, Orion. Resource mini-lists for each title are available on the publisher's website. In general, sturdy fare for fledgling sky watchers.—John Peters, formerly at New York Public Library