The course of general astronomy has survived three editions . This means that a book of this kind is needed and to some extent satisfies readers. It is used not only by students of universities and pedestals, but also by teachers of astronomy in secondary schools. Naturally, such an expansion of the scope of the book increases the responsibility of the authors. In our time, astronomy is experiencing an era of rapid development, and in the second half of the XX century there was another revolution in this science. It's not just about turning astronomy into an all-wavelength ,. not only in achieving high resolution by intercontinental radio interferometers, in the development of new methods of registration of cosmic radiation of all kinds , all energies as from Earth, and outside of , ..................................... It's not just an information explosion.... The main thing is to shift the general center of gravity of all astronomy towards a deeper understanding of the evolution of both individual objects and nature as a whole. Introduction, Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, and VI are written by P. and . Bakulin, Chapters IX, XI, XII, XIII and 181 - E. In. Kononovich, Chapters VIII, X and XIV - B. and . Frost. The authors remain deeply grateful to all their colleagues who have been of great help in writing the textbook and preparing this edition. [March 1976, Authors]