FALLING STARS: A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites

Alastair Reynolds, Michael D. Reynolds, . . Stackpole, $12.95 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-8117-2755-6

Traveling at 44 miles per second, ranging in size from dust particle to fist-sized chunks, burning up 50 to 75 miles above the earth and lasting half a second, meteors are fast, hot and out of control. Reynolds, executive director of Oakland, California's Chabot Observatory and Science Center, relays to non-scientists know-how for meteor watching (equipment includes lawn chair, bug repellant, binoculars), recording data, photographing meteors, the meteorological calendar, etc. 54 b&w photos. (July)

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