Why are we fascinated by a starlit sky? With this single question, Patrick Moore sets out on a journey of exploration and investigation which takes the reader to the edge of the universe and back in a typically unconventional introduction to the subject of astronomy. From accounts of man's earliest star-gazing efforts to the concept of photographing nitrogen geysers on one of Neptune's moons, from an underground observatory in the Black Hills to speculation on the origin of black holes, the reader is offered glimpses of the almost unimaginable variety of the known universe. Whilst principally for the newcomer to astronomy, the book's aim is also to provide enough new information to satisfy the more experienced practitioner.