Amateur astronomers spend a lot of their time observing the sky, but not everything up there is necessarily an astronomical phenomenon. Nor is everything immediately identifiable. How many people can tell the difference between a Sun Dog and a Glory - both meteorological phenomena? Or between the Zodiacal Light and the Gegenschein, which are astronomical?

Lights in the Sky is a truly comprehensive guide to observing, identifying, and imaging sky glows and other unusual atmospheric/astronomical phenomena, in both the night and daytime skies.

If, as a practical observer, you want to be able to identify what it is when you are faced, for example, with the Specter of the Brocken - or with an unidentified flying object that is...well, unidentified...then Lights in the Sky will provide all the practical scientific information you need.

Zusammenfassung

Many lights and other objects in the sky go unrecognised, or at least are little understood by those observing them. Such things range from the commonplace like rainbows and meteors, to the distinctly unusual like the green flash and ball lightning. And there is still a residuum of objects that remain unidentified by the watcher classed generally as 'UFOs', a description which today has connotations of the mysterious, even of extraterrestrial visitors.

The first part of this book is an identification guide, very much like the "plant identifier" sections found in a good gardening or botany book. It allows quick (and structured) identification of known aerial phenomena, whether at night or during the day. The objects thus found are referenced to the second part of the book.

The second part gives a full description, physical explanation, and where relevant notes on observing and photographing the various phenomena. Some will need optical aids such as binoculars or telescopes, but the main thrust of the book is identification and explanation rather than imaging.

The final chapter approaches UFOs from a scientific standpoint, particularly the way in which human perception and often preconception affects the outcome. It does however finish with a short section on "extraterrestrial UFOs", emphasising the burden of proof aspect and touching on the scientific theories of life on other worlds and the improbability of visitors.

Inhalt

Part 1: Identifier.- Daylight.- Dawn and Dusk.- Night.- Part 2: Astronomical and Meteorological Phenomena.- Dawn: Zodiacal light.- Season for pre-dawn sighting.- Red sky, Shepherd's warning.- Crepuscular rays.- Daylight: Haloes and coronas also detached arcs.- Sundogs and mock suns.-Iridescence.- Glories.- Heiligenschein.- Rainbows and fogbows.- Dusk: Zodiacal light Season for twilight sightings.- Red sky Shepherd's delight.- Solar pillars.- Green flash.- Spectre of the Brocken.- Mother of pearl clouds.- Volcanic dust ( Krakatoa 1888, via El Chicon 1981 to Pinatubo 1990).- Other dust: Bishop's ring, green and blue suns.- Night: Light pollution.- Milky Way.- Messier objects.- Caldwell objects.- Gegenschein.- Lunar haloes.- Lunar rainbows.- Aurorae.- Nacreous clouds.- Noctilucent clouds.- Meteors.- Other phenomena: marsh gas, fireflies: Lightning.- Ball lightning.- UFOs: Human perception.- Mistaken identities.- Astronomical and meteorological.- Man-made.- Extraterrestrial visitors?- Burden of proof.- The Fermi paradox.