The 50 best sights in astronomy and how to see them: observing eclipses, bright comets, meteor showers, and other celestial wonders

Basic Information for Astronomical Observers: Field of View: 180[degree] (the Whole Sky) to 100[degree] (Naked-Eye Scan) Sight 1: The Starry Sky Sight 2: Total Eclipse of the Sun Sight 3: Meteor Shower or Storm Sight 4: Fireball Meteor Sight 5: The Northern Lights, or Aurora Sight 6: Bright Satellite or Spacecraft Sight 7: The Milky Way, Field of View: 100[degree] to 50[degree] (the Widest Fixed Naked-Eye Field) Sight 8: The Big Dipper and the North Star Sight 9: The Orion Group of Constellations Sight 10: The Summer Triangle Region, Field of View: 50[degree] to 15[degree] (Moderately Wide Naked-Eye Field) Sight 11: Venus and Mercury at Greatest Elongation Sight 12: Venus, Jupiter, and Mars at Brightest Sight 13: Bright Comet with Long Tail Sight 14: Sirius, the Brightest Star Sight 15: Other Bright Stars Sight 16: Orion Sight 17: Other Prominent Constellations, Field of View: 15[degree] to 1[degree] (Narrow Naked-Eye Field, Binoculars Field, and Wide-Telescopic Field) Sight 18: Total Eclipse of the Moon Sight 19: Total Eclipse of the Sun Close-Up

Sight 20: The Moon at Full and Other Phases

Sight 21: Very Thin Crescent Moon

Sight 22: Lunar Conjunctions and Occultations

Sight 23: Planetary Conjunctions

Sight 24: Bright Comet Close-Up

Sight 25: The Hyades Star Cluster and Aldebaran

Sight 26: The Pleiades

Sight 27: Other Very Bright Large Open-Star Clusters

Sight 28: Orion's Belt and Sword

Sight 29: Algol, Mira, and Other Dramatic Variable Stars

Sight 30: Novae, Supernovae, and Supernova Remnants

Sight 31: Starriest Fields

Sight 32: The Sagittarius Milky Way Region

Sight 33: The Great Andromeda Galaxy

Sight 34: The Realm of the Galaxies, Field of View: 1[degree] to 0.1[degree] or Less (Medium to Narrow Telescopic Field)

Sight 35: Overall Telescopic Views of the Moon

Sight 36: Close-Up Views of Lunar Craters and Other Features of the Moon

Sight 37: Sunspots and Other Solar Features

Sight 38: Partial Eclipses of the Sun

Sight 39: Transits of Mercury and Venus

Sight 40: Venus Near Inferior Conjunction

Sight 41: Jupiter and Its Moons

Sight 42: Saturn and Its Rings and Moons

Sight 43: Mars at Closest in a Telescope

Sight 44: Uranus, Neptune, and Other Dim but Important Worlds

Sight 45: A Colorful or Otherwise Striking Double Star

Sight 46: The Great Orion Nebula

Sight 47: A Rich Open Cluster

Sight 48: A Bright Globular Cluster

Sight 49: A Bright Planetary Nebula

Sight 50: A Bright and Structured Galaxy

Appendix A: Total Solar Eclipses, 2008-2024

Appendix B: Major Meteor Showers

Appendix C: Total and Partial Lunar Eclipses, 2007-2017

Appendix D: The Brightest Stars

Appendix E: Transits of Venus and Mercury.