Suzy
12-08-2010, 05:47 PM
I was at the post office today and amongst one of their tables of goodies, I spotted this book "A guide to the Night Sky" revised and updated. There it was, right next to A guide to the Weather" same look book. It was only $20.00 and upon a very quick flick through, decided it was worth it (we all know how expensive astro books can be!). The authors are well known: Robert Burhnam, Alan Dyer, Robert A. Garfinkle, Martin George, Jeff Kanipe, David H. Levy & consultant editor Dr John O'Byrne.
When I got home, I explored this book further, and what a great book this is - fully worth $20.00. It's packed with 288 pages and I love the size; it's a hardcover, tall and narrow being very easy to handle, esp. for outside. It's pretty much everything you need to know from telescopes, filters, binoculars, variable stars, double stars, planets, the moon etc. Then onto the final and very large chapter, entitled "The Star Hopping Guide", which has a map for each constellation and then a tour of all the glorious objects to look for. I really like the way the tour is conducted, as an example, "head south 3 degrees and you will come across ....." Colour pictures and great descriptions (including lots of stars) accompany each constellation. Lots of colour pictures through out the entire book as well. It's not "Astronomica" by any means, which is a large, heavy and an expensive book, but a really fantastic useable size (and cheap!) for outside.
Here is a the link to what this book looks like, though the cover is different and I don't see any authors listed, but the title is the same and so is the size and shape of the book.
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9783833115851/Guide-to-Night-Sky
I'm also not sure if every Australia Post will have it, but if your heading into one, it's certainly worth checking out.
When I got home, I explored this book further, and what a great book this is - fully worth $20.00. It's packed with 288 pages and I love the size; it's a hardcover, tall and narrow being very easy to handle, esp. for outside. It's pretty much everything you need to know from telescopes, filters, binoculars, variable stars, double stars, planets, the moon etc. Then onto the final and very large chapter, entitled "The Star Hopping Guide", which has a map for each constellation and then a tour of all the glorious objects to look for. I really like the way the tour is conducted, as an example, "head south 3 degrees and you will come across ....." Colour pictures and great descriptions (including lots of stars) accompany each constellation. Lots of colour pictures through out the entire book as well. It's not "Astronomica" by any means, which is a large, heavy and an expensive book, but a really fantastic useable size (and cheap!) for outside.
Here is a the link to what this book looks like, though the cover is different and I don't see any authors listed, but the title is the same and so is the size and shape of the book.
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9783833115851/Guide-to-Night-Sky
I'm also not sure if every Australia Post will have it, but if your heading into one, it's certainly worth checking out.