Planets Royal Observatory

Since ancient times five planets have been easily visible to the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They appear as bright points of light in our night skies.

Planets charts humanity’s celestial understanding of our solar system, from the first clues established by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century, through to the vast amount we do (and much we don’t) know today. Planets is the second book in a series of accessible guides to astronomy, written by Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder an astronomer, astrophysicist and science communicator. She is currently the Senior Manager of Public Astronomy at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. As an astrophysicist, she used microwave and radio telescopes to study the formation of stars and planets in our Galaxy. Emily became interested in astronomy as a child, when she would look up at the night sky and wonder if we were alone in the Universe. She still does this today.

Softcover.