Part I
Bad Astronomy Begins at Home
1.
The Yolk’s on You: Egg Balancing and the Equinox
2.
Flushed with Embarrassment: The Coriolis Effect and Your Bathroom
3.
Idiom’s Delight: Bad Astronomy in Everyday Language
Part II
From the Earth to the Moon
4.
Blue Skies Smiling at Me: Why the Sky Is Blue
5.
A Dash of Seasons: Why Summer Turns to Fall
6.
Phase the Nation: The Moon’s Changing Face
7.
The Gravity of the Situation: The Moon and the Tides
8.
The Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie: The Big Moon Illusion
Part III
Skies at Night Are Big and Bright
9.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Why Stars Appear to Twinkle
10.
Star Light, Star White: Stars of Many Colors
11.
Well, Well: The Difficulty of Daylight Star Sighting
12.
The Brightest Star: Polaris — Just Another Face in the Crowd
13.
Shadows in the Sky: Eclipses and Sun-Watching
14.
The Disaster That Wasn’t: The Great Planetary Alignment of 2000
15.
Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites, Oh My!: The Impact of Meteors and Asteroids
16.
When the Universe Throws You a Curve: Misunderstanding the Beginning of It All
Part IV
Artificial Intelligence
17.
Appalled at Apollo: Uncovering the Moon-Landing Hoax
18.
Worlds in Derision: Velikovsky vs. Modern Science
19.
In the Beginning: Creationism and Astronomy
20.
Misidentified Flying Objects: UFOs and Illusions of the Mind and Eye
21.
Mars Is in the Seventh House, but Venus Has Left the Building: Why Astrology Doesn’t Work
Part V
Beam Me Up
22.
Hubble Trouble: Hubble Space Telescope Misconceptions
23.
Star Hustlers: Star Naming for Dummies
24.
Bad Astronomy Goes Hollywood: The Top-Ten Examples of Bad Astronomy in Major Motion Pictures
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgments