Introduction -- Part I. Stalking the cosmos : Seeing the light: the art and science of astronomy : Astronomy: the science of observation ; What you see: the language of light ; Gravity: a force to be reckoned with ; Space: a commotion of motion -- Join the crowd: skywatching activities and resources : You're not alone: astronomy clubs, websites, smartphone apps and more ; Visiting observatories and planetariums ; Vacationing with the stars: star parties, eclipse trips, dark sky parks, and more -- The way you watch tonight: terrific tools for observing the skies : Seeing stars: a sky geography prim ; Beginning with naked-eye observation ; Using binoculars or a telescope for a better view ; Planning your first steps into astronomy -- Just passing through: meteors, comets, and artificial satellites : Meteors: wishing on a shooting star ; Comets: the lowdown on dirty ice balls ; Artificial satellites: enduring a love-hate relationship -- Part II. Going once around the solar system : A matched pair: Earth and its moon : Putting earth under the astronomical microscope ; Examining Earth's time, seasons and age ; Making sense of the moon -- Earth's near neighbors: Mercury, Venus, and Mars : Mercury: weird, hot and mostly metal ; Dry acidic, and hilly: steering clear of Venus ; Red, cold, and barren: uncovering the mysteries of Mars ; Differentiating Earth through comparative planetology ; Observing the terrestrial planets with ease -- Rock on: the asteroid belt and near-Earth objects : Taking a brief tour of the asteroid belt ; Understanding the threat that near-Earth objects pose ; Searching for small points of light -- Great balls of gas: Jupiter and Saturn : The pressure's on: journeying inside Jupiter and Saturn ; Almost a star: gazing at Jupiter ; Our main planetary attraction: setting your sights on Saturn -- Far out!: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and beyond : Breaking the ice with Uranus and Neptune ; Meeting Pluto, planet or not ; Buckling down to the Kuiper belt ; Viewing the other planets -- Part III. Meeting Old Sol and other stars : The sun: star of the Earth : Surveying the sunscape ; Don't make a blinding mistake: safe techniques for solar viewing ; Fun with the sun: solar observation -- Taking a trip to the stars : Life cycles of the not and massive ; Star color, brightness, and mass ; Eternal partners: binary and multiple stars ; Change is good: variable stars ; Your stellar neighbors ; How to help scientists by observing the stars ; Star studies to aid with your brain and computer -- Galaxies: the Milky Way and beyond : Unwrapping the Milky Way ; Star clusters: meeting galactic associates ; Taking a shine to nebulae ; Getting a grip on galaxies ; Joining Galaxy Zoo for fun and science -- Digging into black holes and quasars : Black holes: Keeping your distance ; Quasars: defying definitions ; Active galactic nuclei: welcome to the quasar family -- Part IV. Pondering the remarkable universe : Is anybody out there?: SETI and planets of other suns : Using Drake's equation to discuss SETI ; SETI projects: listening for E.T. ; Discovering alien worlds ; Astrobiology: how's life on other worlds? -- Delving into dark matter and antimatter : Dark matter: understanding the universal glue ; Taking a shot in the dark: searching for dark matter ; Dueling antimatter: proving that opposites attract -- The Big Bang and the evolution of the universe : Evidence for the Big Bang ; Inflation: a swell time in the universe ; Dark energy: the universal accelerator ; Universal info pulled for the cosmic microwave background ; In a galaxy far away: standard candles and the Hubble constant ; The fate of the universe -- Part V. The part of tens : Ten strange facts about astronomy and space : You have tiny meteorites in your hair ; A comet's tail often leads the way ; Earth is made of rare and unusual matter ; High tide comes on both sides of the Earth at the same time ; On Venus, the rain never falls on the plain ; Rocks from Mars dot the Earth ; Pluto was discovered from the predictions of a false theory ; Sunspots are not dark ; A star in plain view may have exploded, but no one knows ; You may have seen the Big Bang on an old television -- Ten common errors about astronomy and space : "The light from that star took 1,000 light-years to reach Earth" ; A freshly fallen meteorite is still hot ; Summer always comes when Earth is closest to the sun ; The back of the moon is dark ; The "morning star" is a star ; If you vacation in the asteroid belt, you'll see asteroids all around you ; Nuking a "killer asteroid" on a collision course for Earth will save us ; The sun is an average star ; The Hubble Telescope gets up close and personal ; The Big Bang is dead -- Part VI. Appendixes : Appendix A. Star maps -- Appendix B. Glossary.