14 replies to this topic

[wilash]

Burnham's Celestial Handbook volumes 1, 2, 3

[Blues]

Eicher's "The Universe From Your Backyard" and Houston/O'Meara's "Deep-Sky Wonders" are two books I think you'd find both useful and enjoyable. (I also agree with Will that the Burnham's are classics.)

[AZDeepSky]

...now I do have a pair of binoculars at my disposal (as well as 6" and 10" newts), and I am wishing that I still had that book so that I could remember all the cool things I read about as a kid.... Is there a slightly more advanced book out there along the same lines? Something that talks about the interesting stuff in the sky from both a visual and scientific perspective? A book that could be called Cool Stuff in the Sky (with a 6-10" scope)?

As the previous posts make clear, there's no end to the books that might suit you. And why limit yourself to just one or two?

The truth is that the really meaty and current astrophysical - cosmological material is not to be found in observer's guides: e.g., Waller and Hodge, Galaxies and the Cosmic Frontier (2003). But such texts are largely devoid of information aimed specifically at the observer. And yet Waller and Hodge, interpreted though a visual observers needs, is enormously rewarding. You will never look, for example, at the Orion Arm of the MWG or M82 (a starburst galaxy) in the same way. (Retinal image will be the same. Meaning will be profoundly changed.)

So my worth: you need several books. For example, Kepple and Sanner, The Night Sky Observer's Guide is a very detailed observational guide. And then more astrophysically detailed books, like the aforementioned Waller and Hodge, Kaler's The Hundred Greatest Stars , O'Dell's The Orion Nebula , and so on.

And Burnham's is classic, if dated in some ways. You can find Burnham's in almost any decent used book store for half price.

Good reading and observing to you.
Cheers.
Max

[Blues]

Neither the Eicher nor the Houston/O'Meara books are big on the science aspects but are wonderful observing books especially for moderately sized scopes. They are a pleasure to read and use.

I also cherish my Burnham's (hardbound, bought for a steal in new condition on ebay) as well as "The Night Sky Observer's Guide".

As suggested by Max, it is often best to pursue the hard science in a separate edition from the observer's manuals, however, Craig Crossen does offer a wonderful introduction to the (relatively current state of the) science of astronomy in Kepple and Sanner's "Night Sky Observer's Guide".

[David Brodeur]

For a guided tour of the sky, Eicher's "The Universe From Your Backyard" will do nicely. You will want to have a star atlas handy, too, as the charts in Eicher are not always adequate for locating the objects discussed. Also, while providing a good sampling of objects, TUFYB is not comprehensive - many worthwhile objects are not included. If you want comprehensive, get the Night Sky Observer's Guide.

Burnham's is a unique and wonderful work that will give you lots of science, as well as history, literature, and mythology. The best way to get the Celestial Handbook is to buy the hardcover edition, available only as a used book. After having the bindings break on my softcover set, I found a pristine hardbound set at Half Price Books for $20.

[John Flannery]

hope no-one minds me plugging the binocular handbook I wrote . . . the original post about it is over in the Binocular forum but I've put the link below. The idea of the Handbook was to be one of a set of observing challenges booklets for the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies. You can download it as a 1.4Mb pdf (64 pages) and it details 110 interesting objects for the binocular observer. Just to add, although the intro mentions that the "challenge" is open to IFAS members only, that's not the case as there has been such big interest in the Handbooks from abroad.

all the best,

John

link to Handbook is -- http://www.cloudynig...5/o/all/fpart/1

[desertstars]

hope no-one minds me plugging the binocular handbook I wrote . . .

As long as it's a free download, plug away! And thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[John Flannery]

hi Tom,

many thanks! I had actually editted the post to put in a little more about deep-sky books with a science content but the info got lost in the aether somewhere :o

I got a copy of Gerald Rhemann and Craig Crossen's "Sky Vistas: Astronomy for Binoculars and Richest Field Telescopes" over the weekend. Not cheap, but it was a case of a late Christmas present to myself!

the book is lavishly illustrated by Rhemann's photographs and Crossen delves into the astrophysical quantities of deep-sky objects in some detail. It has to be said that he highlights only those objects accessible to the optical instruments mentioned in the title.

a quick glance through it late last night gave me a little idea of what it's about. However, I thought he glossed over globular clusters a bit -- to be fair, binoculars will not show a globular more than a spot of light ('cept in those 20-inch monsters I saw at RTMC last year!)

another source worth checking out is the Springer-Verlag "Practical Astronomy" series that is editted by Patrick Moore but has a wide range of books. One nice edition is the book on stellar evolution which shows how you can track down DSO's that are examples of various stages of stellar evolution.

all the best,

John
South Dublin Astronomical Society

[Starman1]

I recently positively reviewed a new book that not only lists the 500 or so "best" Deep-sky objects, with 2000 coordinates, but also contains astrophysical information about each one. It's a nice guidebook to use in the field, too.
It's "Concise Catalog of Deep-Sky Objects" by W.H. Finlay, Springer-Verlag Press, 2003.
It's available here
if anyone is interested in obtaining this fine book.

[desertstars]

Looksa like a book worth checking out. Would you care to expand on that brief review a bit? Perhaps in a thread of it's own where it can be discussed more specifically?

[Starman1]

Tom,
I reviewed the book on that amazon.com page, a little further down the page. If that's not enough, send me a PM and I'll tell you what you want to know about the book.