Binocular Astronomy Book Suggestions Please

[pfitzgerald]

Hi Folks

I have a colleague at work who is retiring at the end of the year. They already have a decent pair of binoculars (used for bird watching and watching the ships in Port Phillip Bay).

I want to get them a decent southern hemisphere book on binocular astronomy. Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you all in advance.

Paul

[dannat]

I haven't been too fussed with most of the sth'ern hemi bingo books, most good bingo books are for nth'ern hemisphere only. There are 2 types of books, the ones with objects charts, or the more conversational style whereby you read thru the paragraphs & it describes seasons etc. Which type are you thinking of?
Robert bee book is still a really good one, a binocular guide to the southern skies, not sure if its available

[pfitzgerald]

Hi Daniel

Thanks for the reply. They don't know much astronomically speaking so was after a book that had objects that are relatively easy to find with a pair of binoculars with a little bit of history/explanation to go with the object.

The two books under consideration atm are:
Southern Sky Guide 3rd Edition by David Ellyard & Wil Tirion
and
Atlas of the Southern Night Sky 4th Edition by Steve Massey & Steve Quirk

So I'm hoping that there are those who have read and or used these and could advise me accordingly as to their appropriateness.

Paul

[dannat]

not a big fan of either of those books in general, not sht'ern specific enough -they are editors who use a fair bit of a nth'ern hemi book & change charts etc to suit sth'ern skies
i checked robert bee book no longer avilable, try this https://www.bintel.com.au/product/night-sky-observers-guide-vol-3/
its not inexepnsive though [can be bought cheaper elsewhere also]

to be honest the other really good work is a pdf done by one of the members here [rob horvat]-perhaps you could get it printed into a book; il see if i can dig up the pdf & ill pm you if i find it [it has constellations darwn the way we see them, not from a nth'ern hemi view

[pfitzgerald]

Thank you for the info Daniel - I'll look into your suggestions.

Paul

[dannat]

i have found the pdf; pm me your email & ill send it thru

[pfitzgerald]

PM sent.

[SkyWatch]

Hi Paul,

You could try Stephen O'Meara's Deep Sky Companion: Southern Gems
(see: https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=deep%20sky%20comp anions%20southern%20gems&search=Find+book )
- this has a lot of objects that can be seen through binoculars, and some very good descriptions. (Do not get the e-book/Kindle version though! It is almost impossible to use because of its poor indexing.)
Others that aren't Southern-sky specific, but are very useful are:
Gary Serinok's "Binocular Highlights" has some very good descriptive stuff, and is more up-to-date. Again, the Book Depository has it at quite a good price (and free delivery): https://www.bookdepository.com/Binocular-Highlights-Revised--Expanded-Edition-Gary-Seronik/9781940038445?ref=grid-view&qid=1509678866961&sr=1-1
- and of course Phil Harrington's "Touring the Universe through binoculars". It is dated, but has some good stuff.

All the best,

Dean

[pfitzgerald]

Thank you Dean - I'll add to my list of books to look into.

Paul