71 replies to this topic

[Arkade]

"Yes, fantastic book! When I first started this hobby, I purchased many books, all of which helped me understand what I’m looking at in the nighttime sky and how to use my equipment properly. Technology is always evolving, and these books need updating to keep up. I recently received my Homebrew HBG3-Relay and absolutely love it—this new technology deserves a mention in the Celestron telescope books."

My enthusiasm for learning and experimenting with equipment like the HBG3-Relay shows I'm totally in with this fantastic hobby!

My Books....
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Wow that is quite a collection...which one would you recommend for a beginner, something that is easy to understand and fun too. Just your top 2 for a newbie , thanks

[Neanderthal]

Guess I'm an outlier, I didn't like it (TLaO) and never gelled with the illustrations. I'd sell my copy in a heartbeat but it was a gift from the wife and I don't want to hurt her feelings.

[edsmx5]

Guess I'm an outlier, I didn't like it (TLaO) and never gelled with the illustrations. I'd sell my copy in a heartbeat but it was a gift from the wife and I don't want to hurt her feelings.

While I've found it useful to have around ( and I appreciate the DOB views ), I too find it over-hyped and less than advertised: I'm another outlier, lol.

[WillR]

Oh my bad, I thought it was somebody else, a guy from YouTube who wrote that book. I think he wrote something like 100 things to see with a telescope

Yes, that is John Read, someone much younger, Turn Left at Orion has been around a long time. It was the first book I bought for astronomy, years before I got a telescope. I know there have been a lot of revised editions and I am not familiar with them and any changes.

 

Definitely a book a beginner should have. It has a great list of targets and drawings showing what to expect to see in the eyepiece, which is much more helpful than glossy astrophotos that give you unrealistic expectations. 
 

The only part of the book I found difficult to use were the finder charts.They were for straight through, reversed image finders, and most off us now have RACIs. They may have addressed that in later revisions, but I don’t know.

Edited by WillR, 12 June 2025 - 08:14 AM.

[NinePlanets]

You know, these two little Edmund books have been helpful to many people over the years. They explain a lot of things in simple terms with great, logical illustrations. FREE PDF downloads:

 

https://www.edmundop...undSkyGuide.pdf

 

https://www.edmundop...g5StarAtlas.pdf

[WillR]

Wow that is quite a collection...which one would you recommend for a beginner, something that is easy to understand and fun too. Just your top 2 for a newbie , thanks

From that photo I would recommend the Backyard Astronomers Guide.

[WillR]

Guess I'm an outlier, I didn't like it (TLaO) and never gelled with the illustrations. I'd sell my copy in a heartbeat but it was a gift from the wife and I don't want to hurt her feelings.

I hope your wife doesn’t read the forum.  Actually she might think your sentiment very sweet. We all have presents from well-meaning loved ones we don’t know what to do with. How many of us have things stashed away that we try to remember to get out when that friend who gave it to us is coming over?

Edited by WillR, 12 June 2025 - 08:23 AM.

[KrisKringle]

The NexStar User’s Guide II is a solid reference for Celestron telescopes, and having a collection of these astronomy books helps me deepen my understanding. There's something special about flipping through trusted sources and absorbing the knowledge at your own pace.
Cloudy Nights really is a goldmine for astronomy enthusiasts. The firsthand experiences, troubleshooting advice, and shared observations make it an invaluable resource.

Edited by KrisKringle, 12 June 2025 - 09:14 AM.

[Jehujones]

Guess I'm an outlier, I didn't like it (TLaO) and never gelled with the illustrations. I'd sell my copy in a heartbeat but it was a gift from the wife and I don't want to hurt her feelings.

Naw, you got company. We’re just not as vocal as the supporters.

[DyDyMT]

I've always been Odd Person out on this book.  I bought as a total beginner 2 years ago and have opened/used it probably 2x.  I'll be donating mine along with other books I've outgrown (but used).  With L at Orion, it may sound silly, but the size itself is cumbersome (10x12.5).  I've just pulled my copy out, and now, with a couple years under my belt, (ha, I did a funny, Orion - belt), anyway, it is easier to get through, but for me as a total beginner, too much info in a tedious format.

 

I had wanted a concise, to the point highlight of objects to get me started (without frustration), which I found in The Monthly Sky Guide, Night Sky Atlas and a small but fun book (with color), The WOW! list (50 stunning Deep Space Objects for amateur stargazers).

 

You mentioned ADHD - I don't have that, but I'm impatient and L at Orion put me off immediately.  If I were to say of all my books for a total beginner, that wants just the nuts and bolts of some BASIC beginner cool stuff (w/charts) take a look at the WOW! book - Amazon has previews that show you the meat of it.

 

Here is a page from L at Orion in case you haven't found a preview.

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Edited by DyDyMT, 12 June 2025 - 08:51 AM.

[Arkade]

I've always been Odd Person out on this book. I bought as a total beginner 2 years ago and have opened/used it probably 2x. I'll be donating mine along with other books I've outgrown (but used). With L at Orion, it may sound silly, but the size itself is cumbersome (10x12.5). I've just pulled my copy out, and now, with a couple years under my belt, (ha, I did a funny, Orion - belt), anyway, it is easier to get through, but for me as a total beginner, too much info in a tedious format.

I had wanted a concise, to the point highlight of objects to get me started (without frustration), which I found in The Monthly Sky Guide, Night Sky Atlas and a small but fun book (with color), The WOW! list (50 stunning Deep Space Objects for amateur stargazers).

You mentioned ADHD - I don't have that, but I'm impatient and L at Orion put me off immediately. If I were to say of all my books for a total beginner, that wants just the nuts and bolts of some BASIC beginner cool stuff (w/charts) take a look at the WOW! book - Amazon has previews that show you the meat of it.

Here is a page from L at Orion in case you haven't found a preview.

It looks very 'text booky' , seems a bit too serious like I'm back at school again and opening the book and seeing black small text and those kind of diagrams that I can't make heads nor tales of

[hfjacinto]

I have the book and recommend it (and I’m not a beginner), my copy was signed by Guy.

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Edited by hfjacinto, 12 June 2025 - 10:31 AM.

[hfjacinto]

Guy and I on November 14, 2009

 

 

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[KrisKringle]

You know, these two little Edmund books have been helpful to many people over the years. They explain a lot of things in simple terms with great, logical illustrations. FREE PDF downloads:

 

https://www.edmundop...undSkyGuide.pdf

 

https://www.edmundop...g5StarAtlas.pdf

Thank you for these pdf. links. I printed them and spiral bound them. These are both extremely expensive even if you can find a copy. Thanks again!

[WillR]

It looks very 'text booky' , seems a bit too serious like I'm back at school again and opening the book and seeing black small text and those kind of diagrams that I can't make heads nor tales of

Well, there is a fair amount of text and if you are a beginner, the charts are definitely a challenge. I coupled it with the Pocket Sky Atlas to find things.

 

But the text is one of the strengths of the book. There is commentary on what you can expect to see in the finder scope and the eyepiece of the telescope, as well as some general information about the object. That’s the idea- not to just check a target off a list, but to learn something about the make up and structure of the universe. It is not simply an observing list.

 

If that is what you are looking for, this may not be the book for you. I understand that with ADHD, this book might be a bit too much reading.

 

Another thing I like about the book is the little section in each chapter called Also in the Neighborhood, where the authors give you a few more targets close by. This is how experienced observers observe. They look for other nearby targets. Beginners tend to jump around the sky, as I did.

Edited by WillR, 12 June 2025 - 06:10 PM.

[Alex65]

I really do like the book and still use it on a regular basis when planning my viewing sessions.

 

However, the only real criticism that I have (I observe with a Newtonian reflector) is of the orientation of the telescopic view diagrams. They have north at the top and east to the right, unlike my telescopic views with south at the top, west at the right. It doesn't, having said that, decrease the usefulness of the book though it is a bit of a pain at times trying to 'flick' the diagrams mentally into the 'correct' orientation. My copy is the 8th printing (2008), so perhaps later editions may have rectified this? 

[Kefka1138]

Turn Left at Orion is a fantastic work - as others have alluded to. However, after reading several astro texts, I find the Backyard Astronomer's guide much more rich. Highly recommended! 

[Jehujones]

I hope your wife doesn’t read the forum.  Actually she might think your sentiment very sweet. We all have presents from well-meaning loved ones we don’t know what to do with. How many of us have things stashed away that we try to remember to get out when that friend who gave it to us is coming over?

Better to be honest with her 

My first scope was a gift from my wife (to be).

 was a 114mm Tasco Newt on a shaky EQ mount 

[classic hobby killer]

I gently asked if we could return it and I showed her the Coulter ad in the back of S&T.

 She was all for it and I still love that scope  (and her)

[Neanderthal]

Better to be honest with her 

My first scope was a gift from my wife (to be).

 was a 114mm Tasco Newt on a shaky EQ mount 

[classic hobby killer]

I gently asked if we could return it and I showed her the Coulter ad in the back of S&T.

 She was all for it and I still love that scope  (and her)

lol.... She knows I don't care for it and it's just eating space on the book shelf. She would have no problem with me parting with it, I just feel bad for her because I'm pretty hard to buy for and she tried to surprise me, lol. She enjoys looking at the night sky as well and is very supportive. 

[WillR]

lol.... She knows I don't care for it and it's just eating space on the book shelf. She would have no problem with me parting with it, I just feel bad for her because I'm pretty hard to buy for and she tried to surprise me, lol. She enjoys looking at the night sky as well and is very supportive. 

Well, since you’re keeping it, maybe give it another look. It is a good book and well respected for a reason. We have all seen most of the targets, but they do tuck some oddities into the In the Neighborhood entries.

Edited by WillR, 13 June 2025 - 08:17 AM.

[gfamily]

I understand the dilemma with ADHD.  I have severe ADD without the HD. Only difference is that I am knocking at the door of 70. They didn't know about ADD when I was in school. As a result I did not do well in school. To many things distracted me. I barely graduated High School and ended up in mechanical trades (cars, aircraft, heavy equipment and custom machining). When my son, now 42, began to have trouble in early elementary school ADD/ADHD was just being researched and discovered. He qualified for a research project out of Harvard Medical School dealing with ADD/ADHD. It was a landmark research project and brought to the fore front the difficulties with ADD/ADHD, the causes and effects. My son was also severe ADD so they wanted to test me and they did. I became part of a research project for Adults with ADD/ADHD.  It explained a lot about my dismal school experience. 

 

There's a recently published book by the British author Robin Ince - you may know him as the collaborator with Professor Brian Cox on his Horizons tour, as well as the `Infinite Monkey Cage` podcast.

Anyhow,  Robin was diagnosed as having ADHD at the age of 53, and has written a book `Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal` about the difference the diagnosis of a neurodiversity has made. 

I believe it's available in the US (maybe under a different title), and a lot of people (at least here in the UK) are finding it a great read, giving great insight into understanding and sharing what it means to be neurodiverse. 

[scanner97]

Lots of great comments in this thread, and it nicely highlights how different we all are in how we learn and what we might want an introductory book to do for us.

 

@OP ... I have no personal experience with ADD or ADHD but, setting that aside for a moment, I'm not sure you ever clarified what you were looking for in a book.  A lot of us are old guys who started at a time when you really needed to learn your way around the sky if you wanted to do visual astronomy.  For a certain type of learner, a book like TLAO can be helpful with that.  But today, with accurate goto mounts, it's possible to never learn your way around the sky.  For some people that's fine, and they might be more interested in a book that just shows what various targets will look like in a certain scope - without any "how to find it" or other text description..  The challenge is that images show more detail than you will see at the eyepiece.  And color images are even worse, since they don't look anything like you'll  see at the eyepiece.  A book of sketches might be better, but sketches made through a 20" dob won't look much like what you can see with binoculars or a small refractor.   And, of course, you might be looking for something completely different.

 

Say a little more about what you'd like a book to do for you at this point in your astro career.  (I did re-scan the thread and didn't see anything, but I might have missed it.  If so, my apologies.)

Edited by scanner97, 13 June 2025 - 08:07 AM.

[Dave Mitsky]

You might find the out-of-print Star-Hopping for Backyard Astronomers by Alan M. MacRobert, which is an excellent book on learning the technique of star-hopping, to be more useful, Arkade.

 

https://www.amazon.c...t/dp/0933346689

[vintageair]

I'm new to the hobby as well and have purchased a number of books including Turn Left at Orion and the Cambridge Star Atlas but I think my favorite is 110 Things to see with a Telescope. It's more like a logbook for documenting your search for all of the Messier objects so is more focused on a specific task rather than an overall view of the cosmos. Here's a tip: consider looking at the used offers on Amazon, I bought both "Turn Left" and "Cambridge" used for less than half the price and they are in like new condition but I wouldn't buy "110 Things" used as it is more of a log and sketch book so there would most likely be things written in it.

[KrisKringle]

Just added these two to my collection.....