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The dishevelled enthusiast Sir Patrick Moore gave many of us a love of astronomy, waxing lyrical on the wonders of outer space on the BBC's The Sky at Night. The detailed science of astronomy can be mind-numbing but a telescopic glimpse of Saturn's stunning rings or the red glow of neighbouring Mars always awakens our awe. Mark Thompson's exploration – from the extreme inhospitality of Mercury and Venus to the gas planets from Jupiter to Neptune – is accomplished in an imaginary spacecraft. It's a daunting journey, taking 42 years. We learn of each planet's orbital period, its chemical composition, wind speeds and temperatures. Thompson's entirely textual treatment drove me back to Moore's 1980 Pocket Guide to the Stars and Planets, with its beautiful charts.
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