Best book to buy to learn how to navigate the night sky.

[BJunge]

Hi, what would be the best book to purchase to learn the constellations and how to navigate the night sky?

Also to learn how to find deep sky objects without relying on goto and apps.

Thanks for your assistance.

[m11]

Hi Bjunge,

I found the South African Astronomical society constellation cards useful and its free to download. Used it heaps, especially with batteries dying and having to go manual mode.:rofl:

They also show the best time of year to view and wow factor for each constellation.

Link below:
http://assa.saao.ac.za/how-to-observe/getting-started/star-charts/concards/

M11

[BJunge]

Thanks M11 I will check it out!

[m11]

No problems. All the best.

M11

[taminga16]

Brendan, the purchase of a planisphere would be a good start, http://shop.iceinspace.com.au/shop/star-disc-planisphere/
Greg.

[el_draco]

The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is to get a good set of 7X50 binos and a BASIC star chart. Learn the major constellations and then get a higher resolution set of charts to find the fainter stuff.

This site has a fabulous, free, deep sky atlas that you can use "later on" and plenty of guidance for beginners. There's also a deep sky observing guide.

http://www.deepskywatch.com/index.html

Have fun. I've been at it for almost 45 years!

[leon]

Hey Mel can't answer your book question, :) but bloody hell mate you do have some scopes. :eyepop:

Leon :thumbsup:

[m11]

Hi Leon,

Hehe , I am not the original poster ;)

Don't tell the missus or she will killllllllllllll meeeeeeeeee if she found out about the amount of scopes in the house!

My aim was to collect enough scopes to lend to people for free to enjoy. Still a work in progress.
I have a Lunt 100mm DS scope on order - man, solar scopes are not cheap!.

m11

[MichaelSW]

Brendan,

G’day.

So what’s the best book for someone starting to learn the constellations and navigate the Night Sky?

Two good bits of advice commonly given on IIS are to get a planisphere, and to download Stellarium - a virtual Planetarium program.

A useful bit of advice I got when starting out was to learn the position of the 20 brightest stars. One aspect of beginning to navigate the night sky is learning to star-hop.

I don’t know what your telescope set-up is, but if you are trying to find objects and learn the sky without the aid of a computer guided scope, it can be a bit daunting – where do you start?

The book I thoroughly recommend is “Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects” by Philip S Harrington. Go along to your local library and see if they have a copy on the shelf.

This is a wonderful book to get you into learning to star-hop. The stars and objects for each season are presented in 6 or 7 charts with clear instructions how to hop you way to the target object.

Once you realize that YOU CAN find objects – well the sky is the limit.

Here is a link to the book on Philip Harrington’s website. You can see examples information in each chapter and the Sky-Charts at http://www.philharrington.net/swtch.htm

The Book Depository currently has it available at AUD $25.55

http://www.bookdepository.com/Star-Watch-Philip-Harrington/9780471418047

I also have “Atlas of Southern Night Sky” and find it very useful in planning my observing. The photos of selected objects in each constellation are a bonus.

And as an extra - not on topic of your question - If you would like some Astronomy Science, have a look at the website for Gresham College, London. http://www.gresham.ac.uk

There are many Astronomy lectures in the Science Category.

And join your local Astronomy group – if there is one!

Cheers to you.

Michael.

[kittenshark]

Planisphere is really good as it's simple and not too complicated.

There's another book called 50 Things to See with a Small Telescope (S. Hemisphere ed.).

Pocket Sky Atlas from the US Sky & Telescope mag is another popular one once you got the basics down.

You can find them on any good bookseller sites or your local astro retailer.

[bigjoe]

Hi Mel ..Turn left at Orion.
Its a great book for intermediate amateurs even some novices. Written by Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ is an American research astronomer, Jesuit religious brother, and Director of the Vatican Observatory and Davis..A really underrated book .
From Dymocks or cheaper Depository.
Cheers bigjoe.

[Premordial]

As mentioned before, Stellarium is a great learning tool on a PC or a tablet.

If you feel like flicking thru a book, I highly recommend "Walk through the southern sky" by Milton D. Heifetz and Wil Tirion.

[bigjoe]

+1 Max ...2 other great ideas.
bigjoe.