Astronomy books for beginners.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Hmmm
Currently out of stock!

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

I have been following this thread with great nostalgia for some time now and though I am new to the forum I am very old to the hobby {started with Nortons in 1957 and never look back!) But in stellar age who cares. I still love my much annotated Norton and went all along the trail through Hartung, Ridpath,Harrington's binocular tour of the universe, Burnham's great 3 volume set and was most impressed by the Massey and Quirk Atlas which has some surprising entries and opens new horizons. We had to start with the inspiring Patrick Moore's early southern sky offerings many moons ago but now we have our magnificent Astronomy Yearly ' Guide to the night Sky' that keeps on coming every year in November. In a fit of madness I bought a desk edition of Interstellarium some months back and took it outside to my soaking night sky air last November and soon had to start patching it up! A great atlas but key features like the Greek letters on key stars are too faint(added my own!!) and even the marginal RA and Dec lettering is too dim for these ancient eyes. I now keep it covered more and stick with S&T's Pocket Sky Atlas - the hardiest handbook outdoors and surprisingly detailed. However when you chase Comet Calelina through the vague Columba and want detail on all these lovely unseen clusters, I still think Interstellarum was worth it. For all the newchums starting out - search out the book sales and even buy spare copies of what you already have - you will make friends for life and finally don't be afraid to write on all these great atlases and forget their resale value - but do keep them out of the dew a bit more!
Eugene

[yoda776 (Matt)]

Checked a lot of book stores as been wishing to have a good book for viewing. At least all the book stores are consistent! All out of stock

If anyone knows where it can be purchased would be great to know. Wonder whether the publisher could be convinced to do another run?

[yoda776 (Matt)]

Oddly enough it seems you can borrow it from a number of libraries ...

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/3447652...onId=196553783

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

Hi Matt,
I've spotted one for sale at "Boomerang Books" for $40.50c
Best of luck,
Eugene

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Hmmm
Still unavailable - backorder status......

[raymo]

I see Angus & Robertson have Hartung's 2nd edition listed at an
RRP of $299. Out of print, of course, so firstly, why bother with an RRP
if it is unavailable, and secondly, where did they dream up that figure?
Recommended by whom, certainly not the publisher I would have thought, if it's out of print.
As a poor pensioner [seriously], it makes me wonder how much I
treasure mine.
raymo

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

I guess it's the law of supply and demand, Raymo. A new member of our group on the south coast paid over $200 for a copy of Rukl's "Atlas of the Moon." It makes you treasure what you have and snap up anything you see at the big book sales, such as the Red Cross biannual, where I often get a Partick Moore old edition and pass it along to a starter. They sell water don't they?

[grimsay (Iain)]

Originally Posted by BilliGoatsGruff

What's the best book for someone who is just starting to explore astronomy? Preferably something made for the southern hemisphere?

Can I expand on this a little... What's a good general introductory book to astromomy/cosmology?

I have a copy of 'Atlas of the Southern Night Sky' (thanks Morton) which, is great for learning the constellations and exploring objects to look for. I'm also re-reading my 1994 'Atlas of the Universe' by - and proudly signed by - Patrick Moore. This is great and includes the subject matter that I'm interested in but it's more of a reference book, isn't easy to follow much of the time and is clumbersome to read casually/in-bed.

Is there a book similar to Richard Dawkins 'The Greatest Show on Earth' which serves as an excellent intro to further reading on evolution etc?

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

Iain, I have come across an excellent paperback in Dymocks recently called" Human Universe," by prof. Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen, mostly theoretical on both cosmology, Physics and Astronomy. About $20, very readable and inspiring. Two oldies do it for me" Music of the Spheres" in two volumes by Guy Murchie, one on Astronomy and one on Cosmology, and of course the 3 volumes of BurnHam's Celestial Haandbook (mentioned here). Nowadays, Astronomy and Cosmology are not often combined and there's lots out there on Cosmology and Particle Physics(not for bedside reading). Also if you can rise to it "The Great Courses," on dvds are very inspiring and many members of local clubs will have selections.

[grimsay (Iain)]

Thank Eugene, I have seen Prof. Brian Coxs' (Brian's awesome) series of the same title, think I'll give the book a shot. Does it cover the basics though? Like what a globular cluster is and how it forms etc etc?

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

Hi Iain, For such specifics as this (origin of Globs) you won't find this in that book. His general headings are: Where are we? Are we alone? Who are we? Why are we here? and What is our future? To my memory Burnham covers these specifics as he gets to them in his vast observations - but his work is dated (1960s). I have had another thought for you. I have been grabbing;
New Scientist(The Collection) which is a 130 page or so magazine that comes to good newsagents every couple of months and takes themes such as:Our Planet; The Unknown Universe etc with about ten well researched essays by the experts in each issue. They are up to date and very readable. You can buy back issues on the net of if you are near a good library....
Keep searching, but don't leave such profound reading for the pillow. Kind regards.

[BeanerSA (Paul)]

Originally Posted by grimsay

Like what a globular cluster is and how it forms etc etc?

For that specific question, I can highly recommend the following book
http://www.springer.com/br/book/9781846281907

[bigjoe (JOSEPH)]

Billi .

All the books mentioned are great, but you could try some other useful info like this one if you want a more intermediate approach.
http://www.constellation-guide.com/

bigjoe.

[Bombardon (Eugene)]

Well done, Joe. Lots of good stuff in this online guide. There is so much out there now, nobody should be short of new material to take to the telescope each night. Thank you.

[grimsay (Iain)]

Originally Posted by Bombardon

... I have had another thought for you. I have been grabbing; New Scientist(The Collection) which is a 130 page or so magazine that comes to good newsagents every couple of months and takes themes such as:Our Planet; The Unknown Universe etc with about ten well researched essays by the experts in each issue. They are up to date and very readable. You can buy back issues on the net of if you are near a good library....
Keep searching, but don't leave such profound reading for the pillow. Kind regards.

Thanks for the tip Eugene. My mother in law works at the library and I have seen her with a copy of New Scientist before, I'll give it a shot. Wish I had the time to read prior to bed. The subject either keeps me awake or puts me to sleep haha. Either way by 11pm I struggle to take in more than a few pages, frustratingly.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Norton's Star atlas has been around since 1910....
The latest edition carries on the great tradition.
The handbook section will tell you all you need to know, and the atlas is great for the novice.
Highly recommended.

[AEAJR (Ed)]

I love Turn Left at Orion for one main reason, it gives you REAL examples of how things will look in your eyepiece.

So many of the books and magazines I have seen and own have these beautiful hubble like pictures. Beautiful to see but what I see in my 80 mm refractor and my 203 mm reflector doesn't look anything like that.

As I help friends get engaged in astronomy I loan them my 10X50 binoculars or a 76 mm reflector and Turn Left at Orion. They also have ratings for the targets as to whether it is good for binoculars, a small telescope or a large telescope, again setting the right expectations.

I should point out that I am in the North so I can't say how much of TLAO applies in the South but its real value, to me, is in setting the proper expectation of what the new astronomer will see.