Observing Books Archives

Celestial Sampler

If there is a general statement that can be made regarding amateur astronomy, it is that most beginners who take up this hobby do so with a modest instrument

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Book: Nebulae and How to Observe Them

Nebulae and How to Observe Them is the latest book in the Astronomer's Observing Guides series of books published by Springer. This is Steve Coe's second book, his first being Deep Sky Observing, The Astronomical Tourist published by Springer-Verlag in 2000.

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New Atlas of the Moon

Initially I felt that the text reflected our present understanding of lunar geologic history. That was until I ran into an image of Alphonsus on page 79 that stated the "mysterious" dark halos around craters

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Book Review: Star Clusters & How to Observe Them

One of the books in the series is Mark Allison's Star Clustersa guide to observing techniques related to, information about, and an observing list of, star clusters

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Astronomy Magazine Atlas of the Stars

Astronomy Magazine touts Atlas of the Stars as a must have for all stargazers

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The Next Step: Finding and View Messier Objects

During my first attempt at a Messier Marathon, in March of 2005, I paid close attention to the sorts of gear and references other amateur astronomers brought out to aid them in this one night pursuit of the archetypical celestial catalog.

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Celestial Sampler - A Sampling Book Review

A review of the book Celestial Sampler, a deep sky observing guide.

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Introduction to Visual Deep-Sky Observing

I will confess from the outset that I sent away for a copy of this publication because of the many interactions I have had with the author as a member of the Cloudy Nights Forum

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Sharing the Night Sky

In this day of numerous star parties, good guidebooks on what to show interested newcomers are hard to come by.

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Sharing the Night Sky – The Star Party Guide

Those of you who participate in any type of star party know the biggest challenge is not locating the object, but rather being able to show and tell someone what they are seeing and share interesting information about that object. As a member of The Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas, I have participated in many public star parties.

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Uranometria 2000.0 version 2

I received this 3-volume edition shortly prior to my last outing, so I got quite a few hours to use these editions under the stars. The previous version of Uranometria 2000.0, from the early '90s was useful primarily as a cross-reference check for me, as I have and use a computerized scope with a large object memory. Uranometria was often referred to to clarify an ID in a crowded field.

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Uranometria 2000.0 Second Edition (Three Volumes)

I received my copy of the brand-new and extensively revised star atlas Uranometria 2000.0 (Second Edition) this week, just published this month (November 2001) by Wilmann-Bell. It comes in three volumes (which can be purchased separately) : Volume 1 covers the northern hemisphere down to -6°, Volume 2 covers the southern hemisphere to +6°, while volume 3 is a field guide to the non-stellar objects contained in the charts - over 30,000 of them. This third volume is worthy of purchase on its own as the object detail it contains is extensive, with many positional corrections undertaken for this edition.

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THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF AMATEUR ASTRONOMY: Star Ware 3rd Edition by Philip S. Harrington

After a thirty year hiatus, I found myself, in August of 2003, un-boxing my old 60mm refractor. Once the center of a teenage astronomy obsession it had become little more than a room decoration, when it was out of the box at all. It was Mars that did it, and all the media hype about it’s amazingly close approach. I couldn’t resist getting in on the act. And to my delighted surprise I was able to see Mars in enough detail through that old scope to make out the south polar cap. That same week I learned that the Flandrau Science Center, on the University of Arizona campus where I work, was hosting a public viewing of Mars using scopes volunteered by the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association. My wife and I went out for the event, and although Mars was indeed quite a sight, what really made an impression was the array of telescopes and the amateur astronomers who had turned out to share their expertise and their passion with the general public. After an evening of peering through scopes and talking to stargazers, the old teenage obsession had reawakened from dormancy. I was hooked again (if in fact I’d ever really given

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SKY ATLAS 2000.0 Deluxe Version, 2nd Edition

Ever since 1981, when it supplanted Becvar's ATLAS OF THE HEAVENS 1950, SKY ATLAS 2000.0 has been truly one of the "standard" wide-field atlases for the amateur astronomer interested in locating and observing deep-sky objects. It was often the atlas most relied upon by amateurs working on the Messier or Herschel 400 observing projects. However, even with its expanded list of objects, better plotting, and fainter limiting magnitude, there was still some room for improvement in the work. I am pleased to say that most of those

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National Audubon Society Pocket Guide – Constellations

On initial inspection this book does indeed look very nice and compact. It measures 6” x 4” and almost half an inch thick – perfect for sliding into the back pocket of my jeans and heading out for a nights observing. The book is divided into four sections, each of which is outlined below:

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The Planet Observer’s Handbook, 2nd Edition by Fred W. Price, Cambridge University Press, 1994, 2000

While there are a number of beginner’s books on amateur astronomy, there seems to be a lack of intermediate-level materials for the amateur to reference. Beyond the beginner’s books, there is a leap to college-level texts and specialist books for the student or professional. Fred Price’s book, The Planet Observer’s Handbook, 2nd Edition, provides a very good guide to observing the planets with modern amateur equipment. The book is up-to-date, with the exception of the section on CCD imaging (and that is only out-of-date due to the rapid rate of technological process) and is very useful as a home and field reference.

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Turn Left at Orion (Orion Takes a Turn for the Better)

There are a few astronomy books which, it seems, are nearly universal recommendations. One of them is Terence Dickinson’s Nightwatch, a beautifully produced introduction to astronomy. Dickinson’s book covers a lot of ground, none of it in any great depth. In terms of equipment, for example, a better reference source is The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, co-written by Dickinson and Alan Dyer. In terms of observing targets, one of the books mentioned most often is Turn Left at Orion.

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Turn left at Orion

In an astronomical world that's becoming increasingly dominated by computerised 'goto' telescopes, here's a book that shows the budding amateur that the old method of 'star-hopping' is still a valid and satisfying alternative.

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"Nightwatch" by Terence Dickinson, 3rd Edition

"Nightwatch" by Terence Dickinson is one of those astronomy books that you know from the first minute you pick it up, will always be part of your library and part of your "core" observing session resources. If you are like me, keeping things simple when going out to observe is a must and "Nightwatch" certainly helps do just that.

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The Night Sky Observer's Guide

One important aspect of amateur astronomy is planning your observing session prior to looking into the eyepiece. I find that preplanning saves me a lot of time and heightens the enjoyment of finding and studying the objects of interest. Up until the time I obtained the two volume set of "The Night Sky Observer's Guide" I had longed for an illustrated guide to deep sky objects which would help me organize my observing session and give me an idea of what I might see with an amateur scope. I found that I needed to pull from a number of texts and guides to do this in the past. I relied on Burnham's Celestial Handbook give me an idea of the objects I might find in a particular constellation. His descriptions are wonderful and he does attempt to qualify this from the perspective of various sized interments. What was lacking were diagrams marking the position of such objects in the sky, necessitating constant reference to a sky atlas.

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The Night Sky Observer's Guide

In a relatively short span of time The Night Sky Observer's Guide (NSOG) has become the new standard reference for serious deep-sky observing, surpassing Burnham's Celestial Handbook in a number of significant ways. (Many of today's advanced observers own telescopes with apertures larger than 16" and Burnham's venerable opus was written with telescopes in the 6" to 8" range in mind. In addition much of the scientific information in Burnham's is long out of date but the unique amalgam of poetry, history, and philosophy therein will most likely insure its status as a true classic.)

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The Messier Objects Book Review

A few years ago, Tele Vue began running a series of magazine ads in Sky and Telescope (and possibly in Astronomy as well) which featured Stephen O'Meara's sketches of various deep-sky objects as seen through his 4-inch TV Genesis. His sketches showed an astonishing amount of detail for any kind of scope, let alone a smallish refractor.

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The Year-round Messier Marathon Field Guide: Author: Harvard C. Pennington

n the forward to this book Perry W. Remaklus describes Harvard Pennington as a tireless promoter of the Messier Marathon. Pennington envisioned the marathon as a means of encouraging amateur astronomers, to promote their growth as observers. Unfortunately he died of heart disease prior to the publication of this book.

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The Great Atlas of the Stars

Maps hold a special fascination for me. As my interest in observational astronomy developed, my fondness for cartography extended to Star Charts and Star Atlases. I have many including Trion's SkyAtlas 2000, Hearld-Bobroff Astroatlas, Norton's Atlas (1950), The Photographic Atlas of the Stars, Peterson's Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, The Observer's Sky Atlas, The Night Sky Observer's Guide and, most recently, Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Atlas. I also have Starry Night Pro and The SKY software programs. With all these star guides one might reasonably ask, why would anyone want to have another one and what could it possibly add? Good question. I would argue, however, that The Great Atlas of the Stars fills an important niche and it will have broad appeal to astronomy newcomers and to veteran observers.

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Burnham's Celestial Handbook

The Handbook comes in three volumes with about 700 pages in each. They are arranged in the alphabetical order of the constellation names. Photographs are included for many of the most popular objects in the sky. Most of the pictures were taken using the large observatory class instruments of the day. The first book also has a short primer for the novice astronomer and does an excellent job of explaining some of the basics. The last volume contains various listings of the Messier Objects, brightest stars, nearest stars, and an assortment of other index material. Unlike other books Burnaham's Handbook forgoes flash for substance. The text is plain and the pictures are black and white but it more than makes up for the simple appearance by offering a massive collection of knowledge.

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