Sky & Telescope - April 2025 - 61

BOOK REVIEW by Jaime Herndon
Inspirational Stargazing
STAR GAZERS: Finding Joy in the Night Sky
David H. Levy
The University of Arizona Press, 2024
174 pages, ISBN 9780816554645
$19.95, paperback
WHEN'S THE LAST TIME you read
a book about astronomy that simply
celebrated the wonder of a dark night,
looking up at the sky? What was the last
one you read that reminded you of why
you love the cosmos so much?
David H. Levy's new book Star Gazers:
Finding Joy in the Night Sky might
just be the book you're looking for. Levy,
known for his discovery of 23 comets
(including Shoemaker-Levy 9), has
compiled a collection of his essays from
the last 10 years or so that examine the
stories of people who've made a difference
in his life or an impression on
him in some way. He explains in the
introduction to Part One, " Not all these
people are astronomers. What unites
them is not the sky itself, but their ways
and feelings about the sky. Moreover,
not all these people are people. Some
are telescopes. Some are constellations.
Some are comets. "
Levy's prose invites the reader to
linger, and the ideas he brings up
often make one stop and think.
The book is divided into various
sections, with titles like " Not How to
Watch the Sky, But Why, " " Comets, "
" The Night Sky Experience, " and " Joining
the Sky With Life. " Along with
writing about astronomy, Levy brings
in pop culture, history, literature, religion,
relationships, and love, presenting
a thoughtful and cerebral approach
to astronomy that sits comfortably
alongside the science. Everything works
in harmony, and at the
start of each section, he
writes a short introduction
alluding to what the
reader can expect in the
coming pages and what it
means to him.
Chapters within each
part are what bring the
book to life, and though
each one is brief, the
book is not a fast read.
Levy's prose invites the
reader to linger, and the
ideas he brings up often
make one stop and think or propel
one to look for more information.
Chapters like " Go Webb!, " " Join Your
Local Astronomy Club, " " Teachings
of an Eclipse, " " The Christmas Star, "
and " When Poetry Reaches the Stars "
contain practical advice, nostalgic
musings, and lessons learned.
The last chapter, " Goodbye,
Wendee, " is a beautiful tribute to his
late wife and illustrates how even
in grief, the cosmos was there. He
describes the night before Wendee's
funeral, when he and his grandson
Matthew were in the observatory. Matthew
saw a meteor, and as Levy asked
about it, he saw a faint one as well.
Levy writes, " I like to think that this
minor outburst of the October Cygnid
Meteor shower - three meteors within
a period of about five minutes - was
Wendee's goodbye. "
Those interested in the story of his
discovery of Shoemaker-Levy 9 won't
be disappointed, as he has a chapter on
that, as well as a touching one on the
friendship he and Wendee had with
co-discoverers Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker.
Although Levy is always aware
of and observing the skies above, it's
clear that he doesn't let things on Earth
pass him by unnoticed.
While he shares plenty
on astronomy and his
own experiences in these
pages, there's also an
intimacy that builds with
the reader that allows us
to get to know him. We
learn about the formative
events that nudged
Levy into astronomy and
the relationships with
the people who encouraged
him to keep working
toward his goals. By
the end of the book, it feels as if we
know him, and not just his work or his
thoughts on the stars.
Star Gazers is a deceptively thin volume
that, at first glance, looks like you
could knock it out in a night. But what
you find inside is much deeper, much
richer. Alongside pictures of eclipses,
stars, observatories, and nebulae, there
are photos of the Levys and Shoemakers
together, a photo of the viewing site
used by the author's local astronomy
club, a sketch of the Moon he drew in
1964, and more.
This collection feels like a labor of
love: Levy's love of the stars, his work,
the people he met, and his family -
and how all of this came together for
him in his life. It is a book to savor,
and share with a fellow stargazer, and
then maybe sit outside and together
look up.
¢ JAIME HERNDON is a writer and
editor. Her love of astronomy was reignited
as an adult, and she finally got to
experience the magic of Space Camp (a
NASA-led program designed to inspire
the next generation of explorers) when
she accompanied her son in the summer
of 2024.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * APRIL 2025 61
http://skyandtelescope.org
Sky & Telescope - April 2025

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