Part I: Getting to know the sky
Beginning with the Big Dipper
Magnitude, color, and distance
A word on binoculars and telescopes
Part II: Getting to know the variables
Getting started with Cepheids
Algol, the demon of autumn
How to estimate a variable
How your observations help us understand a variable star
Bright, easy, and interesting
Betelgeuse: easy and hard
Clyde Tombaugh's star and the family of cataclysmic variables
Part III: Suggested variables for observation throughout the year
October, November, December
"Hands-on astrophysics" and the next generation
Glossary and abbreviations.
