If you don’t understand the Big Bang theory, would you like to? If Stephen Hawking was too scary for you, how about a lovely book that turns mathematical cosmology into plain English? A famous rock musician, a great popular astronomer and a working astrophysicist got together to tell this story.

What would it take to explain the Big Bang Theory? James Lu Dunbar's "Bang!" might do it - and amuse you and your children at the same time. It's a splendid little book which tells the story of the universe in verse and appealing graphics.

Autumn begins on the equinox as the Sun crosses the equator. Equinoxes were celebrated by the earliest known civilizations and still are in many places. One of the biggest celebrations these days is the Chinese Moon Festival. A traditional palace or garden probably has a moon-watching pavilion.

There's a glow on the northern horizon. The Sun set hours ago and there are no city lights there. What's up? You could be seeing nature's great polar light show - an aurora. With solar activity on the rise, you might not have to go to the far north (or south) to see one.

The constellation Auriga represents a charioteer, but he has no chariot. However he does have a she-goat and two kids, as well as a rare ring galaxy and a runaway star. Capella is one of the sky's brightest stars, but it also has some surprises.

Birthdays, Christmas, and other special occasions . . . What might please a young astronaut or astronomer? Here is a varied list of suggestions - and you may be surprised to find that a telescope is very low on the list.

An exquisite whirlpool of two galaxies held together by invisible bonds was this year's winning image. And the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year captured the beauty of the Pleiades, a cluster of hot blue stars surrounded by a delicate haze of reflective dust. A feast for the eye.

More fantastic astronomy pictures from around the world were sent to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England in 2011. Exquisite skyscapes and landscapes, aurorae and nebulae, and the expanding shock wave of an ancient supernova explosion. Young astronomers continue to impress too.

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