667 replies to this topic

[Chris K]

Been searching for The Immortal Fire Within and can't find it for less than $65. I know it's out of print and one 400 pages but can't bring myself to pull the trigger. I think I can read it on Google Books but I like a nice smelly old book in my hands.

[BrentKnight]

I found a paperback copy in 2020 for $30.  Everything has gone up.  Good luck in your search.

[BrentKnight]

These two are on the way...

 

Galaxies and the Cosmic Frontier by Paul Hodge and William Waller

 

Got this one for $5 based on a recommendation from another book loving CN'er.

 

Photographs of Stars, Star Clusters And Nebulae Volume II by Isaac Roberts

 

I got volume I of Photographs of Stars, Star Clusters and Nebulae as a POD from Cambridge and while the text is just fine, the photos were a bit washed out.  I feel lucky to have found an original volume II owned by a relative of Mr. Roberts.  The interior pages look good, but something happened to it.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it when I get it...  Good quality, these go for over $1000 (if you can find them).

 

 

 

[zuumo]

During the Easter holidays several books have accumulated in the mail, and today these five have arrived all at once.

 

The two books in Spanish are translations from English of the following books:

 

- Helge Kragh. Masters of the Universe.
- David Whitehouse. The Moon: A biography.

 

Edited by zuumo, 18 April 2022 - 05:49 PM.

[Alex65]

I found this book at my local thrift store. It is the 2016 edition of The Planets: The Definitive Visual Guide.

 

 

It has all the recent (2014) scientific information about the Sun, the planets and other members of our Solar System (moons, comets, asteroids, Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud objects) in an easy to understand format, so typical of DK books.

 

[Alex_V]

Finally arived

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Edited by Alex_V, 23 April 2022 - 10:48 AM.

[Alex65]

I found this old Bantam paperback in my local thrift store. It is a 1980 paperback edition of a book that came out as a hardback in 1979. Seems like a good read - a quick glance shows me that while some of the minutiae is a little dated, the bigger picture is still in accordance with modern theories. Anyhow, it'll be a nostalgic trip back to my teens as I read these Bantams paperbacks a lot back in the late 70s - early 80s. 

 

[jcj380]

During the Easter holidays several books have accumulated in the mail, and today these five have arrived all at once.

 

The two books in Spanish are translations from English of the following books:

 

- Helge Kragh. Masters of the Universe.
- David Whitehouse. The Moon: A biography.

 

 

I pulled out my copy of Eicher a couple of days ago.  I no longer have my C8 so the book isn't oriented toward my current gear, but it's still a fun armchair read.
 

[mikemarotta]

Arrived in the mail this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

[desertstars]

Arrived in the mail this afternoon.

 

AstroLeague Carbons copy.jpeg

What's the copyright date on yours? Curious to see if they've updated or changed anything since 2012, when I picked it up. (They've certainly changed the binding. Mine's stapled.)

[BrentKnight]

Not Carbon Stars, but here's my copy of the AL guide for the Herschel 400, printed in 1980.  Wow...I've been working on these since then??  Only 11 more to go though...

 

 

 

 

 

[BrentKnight]

I recently finished Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate by Paul Halpern.  That got me interested in the original popular books on the subject and so I just got this one in the mail:

 

 

From the back cover:

 

The Creation of the Universe is concerned with the fundamental questions of whether the universe had a beginning in time, and whether it has an end in space.  A proponent of the theory of "beginning", Dr. Gamow examines and rejects conflicting theories, and is the first writer in his field to examine nuclear reactions with strict attention to the principles of relativity.

 

I never knew the theory was called "beginning" before Fred Hoyle got ahold of it.  It's a short 140 page book - I can't wait to get started on it.

 

 

[mikemarotta]

What's the copyright date on yours? Curious to see if they've updated or changed anything since 2012, when I picked it up. (They've certainly changed the binding. Mine's stapled.)

The Copyright is 2021 with previous editions 2012 and 2017. It still has typos, mostly ledding (vertical spaces, extra CR/LF or <nl>) between some lines. One end-of-line hyphenation in the middle of a line. I don't know about the actual content. 

 

I am not going for the certificate. So, I will probably set up the AVX go-to mount later (summer). I found the easiest target right now to be in Virgo above Zaniah eta Virginis. I tried last night but I could not even make out the full head of the Virgin. Spica and Vindimiatrix and some others were there, but I was not going to chase it through a poor sky. 

 

Also, reading the narrative, I am a bit more inclined to read about carbon stars because I understand this as a problem in "identification and controversy" from Steven Dick's book. (My review in ths forum here: https://www.cloudyni...-steven-j-dick/ ) The rudiments of carbon stars are easy enough, but it seems that the actual processes fall into at least two classes as invisible (to us) binary companions feed material into our target. On the other hand, the "classical" carbon star (if I can call it that) is one star that has gone through they H-He phase, collapsed, and is now in a later He-C phase. 

 

Also, there is a difference between He-C fusion at the core and "whatever" the process at the core and the radiation from them being filtered by the carbon compounds in the corona of the star. So, the B-UV is blocked and only R-IR gets through. 

 

At least, that all is what I understand so far. (What I will not do is take a picture of a carbon star and then filter it through photo-editors until I have a magenta with highlights of scarlet touched by sandstone pink with a hint of mint green.) 

 

Thanks!

Mike M.

Edited by mikemarotta, 29 April 2022 - 09:10 AM.

[WillR]

A year ago I had one book, Turn Left at Orion. ( I was just starting out in the hobby )  Now this. Most recent are the three volumes of Burnham's,  Norton's 2000, and Astronomy Hacks. (all for less than $30 on Thriftbooks)  I haven't delved into Burnham's yet other than a quick look. I like the wide area the Norton's charts cover. What I don't like is the map distorted by the gutter in the middle or the small fonts. This book is less substantial than I thought it would be. On the other hand Astronomy Hacks is more substantial- quite packed really and looks most useful.

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Edited by WillR, 29 April 2022 - 12:56 PM.

[Knasal]

You’ve got a lot invested, Will, and those are excellent books to start you out well in the hobby! 
 

Great job!

 

Kevin

[herschelobjects]

Not Carbon Stars, but here's my copy of the AL guide for the Herschel 400, printed in 1980.  Wow...I've been working on these since then??  Only 11 more to go though...

 

AL Herchel 400 (Cover).jpg

 

AL Herchel 400 (Spring).jpg

That book has been my mousepad for the last fifteen years...

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[BrentKnight]

Oh No...  At least it looks like it's held up well.

 

Did you use it when completing the H400?

[herschelobjects]

I received it 30 years ago from the Branchetts when I signed on to provide observations for the Astronomical League’s intended guide to the entire Herschel catalogue. That project was stillborn.

 

 

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Edited by herschelobjects, 29 April 2022 - 03:20 PM.

[mikemarotta]

A year ago I had one book, Turn Left at Orion. ( I was just starting out in the hobby )  Now this. Most recent are the three volumes of Burnham's,  Norton's 2000, and Astronomy Hacks ... 

It may be said that a bad book is hard to find. Of the ones you display, I can speak to the ones that I know from my own use.

 

I rely heavily on Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Don Pensack here has criticized it because some of the astrophysics is out of date. I just bought the Astronomical League project book on Carbon Stars so I was just reading about carbon stars in Burnham's and they were not well understood in 1950. All he has is some passing comments about some stars. And exoplanets simply did not exist except as a theoretical possibility. That being as it may, most the universe is pretty much as it was back then and I turn to Burnham's to fill in knowledge about what I am viewing in my telescope.

 

The Sky and Telescope Pocket Atlas Jumbo Edition is an outstanding work of cartography. I had two graduate classes in geographic information systems and this book meets the highest standards. Whereas I turn to Burnham's after the fact, I used the Pocket Atlas to plan my work. 

 

I see, also, that you have a standard college survey textbook on astronomy. You need one of those. The one I picked up is all over town in various recent editions. So, I figured that it has been a standard assignment at the University of Texas. It is the kind of thing that informs you about the important facts and details to explain what you are looking at. 

 

Many people here rate Nightwatch and The Backyard Astronomer's Guide very highly.

 

I see that you have two book on making telescopes. Got plans?

 

Best Regards,

Mike M.

[Alex_V]

Latest book, but I have absolutely no time to read it, far behind on all those new books .

One year to retirement.

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[LKSM12]

I wanted a copy of Willman Bell's star clusters don't know if it's going to be eventually posted or it's out of print  and I'm not paying somebody's scalper fees for it. Someone put a copy in eBay listed as cosmetic damage for $32 and 20% off.  I took the bait and grabbed it and as you can see from the photograph I think it fell in the bathtub!!  Needless to say it works it solves my problem of filling a vacancy in my library and it's perfectly usable. 

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[Headshot]

Alex, the Walter Baade book is very well written and covers a solid astronomer who was not a character or a prima donna like some others. Osterbrock did a great job on this book and the Yerkes Observatory book.

 

As far as what I have been doing, I have been getting old issues of Sky and Telescope off of e-bay. I now have the issues covering the years from when I first got into astronomy until I started subscribing to the magazine myself (1963 to 1968). I am enjoying them immensely.

 

Headshot

[WillR]

It may be said that a bad book is hard to find. Of the ones you display, I can speak to the ones that I know from my own use.

 

I rely heavily on Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Don Pensack here has criticized it because some of the astrophysics is out of date. I just bought the Astronomical League project book on Carbon Stars so I was just reading about carbon stars in Burnham's and they were not well understood in 1950. All he has is some passing comments about some stars. And exoplanets simply did not exist except as a theoretical possibility. That being as it may, most the universe is pretty much as it was back then and I turn to Burnham's to fill in knowledge about what I am viewing in my telescope.

 

The Sky and Telescope Pocket Atlas Jumbo Edition is an outstanding work of cartography. I had two graduate classes in geographic information systems and this book meets the highest standards. Whereas I turn to Burnham's after the fact, I used the Pocket Atlas to plan my work. 

 

I see, also, that you have a standard college survey textbook on astronomy. You need one of those. The one I picked up is all over town in various recent editions. So, I figured that it has been a standard assignment at the University of Texas. It is the kind of thing that informs you about the important facts and details to explain what you are looking at. 

 

Many people here rate Nightwatch and The Backyard Astronomer's Guide very highly.

 

I see that you have two book on making telescopes. Got plans?

 

Best Regards,

Mike M.

Mike, is the college textbook you are referring to the one titled "Astronomy" on the lower right of the photo? Found that at a book sale. It's beautifully illustrated. Most of these I got very cheaply used. Just got the set of Burnham's so haven't delved in yet.

 

Yes, making my first scope. Those two books were not that helpful. I am finding the 6" build on the Stellafane website to be the most useful. Hoping to test the scope in its unfinished state tonight!

[jcj380]

I wanted a copy of Willman Bell's star clusters don't know if it's going to be eventually posted or it's out of print  and I'm not paying somebody's scalper fees for it. Someone put a copy in eBay listed as cosmetic damage for $32 and 20% off.  I took the bait and grabbed it and as you can see from the photograph I think it fell in the bathtub!!  Needless to say it works it solves my problem of filling a vacancy in my library and it's perfectly usable. 

If you have access to a college library, you can read it online.  You can also download it, but I don't know what the restrictions are re: personal use, etc.
 

[helpwanted]

That book has been my mousepad for the last fifteen years...

you need a new copy... and to update your Mac!