Any good astronomy books?

[04Stefan07 (Stefan)]

Can anyone recommend any good in depth astronomy books? I would really like it to include the constallations as well anything about the universe.

Thanks!

[traveller (Bo)]

Collins Stars and Planets, by Ian Ridpath and Will Tirion is a very good reference book complete with monthly charts and a all the constellations etc.
$20 delivered if you buy on line, $50 from your local book store.
Bo

[Grimmeister (Anthony)]

Have a look at "Astronomica" by millennium house. Has great images as well as heaps of details on the night sky space exploration, the solar system, etc etc, I have just purchased it and started to read but find it very informative.

Cheers

[Manav (Yugant)]

Of all the books I have on the subject "Hartung's astronomical objects for southern telescopes: a handbook for amateur observers" is the easiest to access. I'm not sure if there any other book written specifically for southern hemisphere.

[rmcconachy]

“Atlas of the Southern Night Sky” by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk (reviewed here <http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-444-0-0-1-0.html>) is a nice beginners/intermediate book. "The Night Sky Observers Guide, Volume 3" (all three volumes reviewed here <http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-627-0-0-1-0.html>) is a great observer's handbook for the southern skies. "Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes: A Handbook for Amateur Observers" (reviewed here <http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-343-0-0-1-0.html>) is a very good book but the last edition is usually very expensive to buy.

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Originally Posted by Manav

Of all the books I have on the subject "Hartung's astronomical objects for southern telescopes: a handbook for amateur observers" is the easiest to access. I'm not sure if there any other book written specifically for southern hemisphere.

Good luck on trying to hunt one down.

[Manav (Yugant)]

Nothing is easy in life I guess!

I just did a quick search and found amazon had 5 used starting from $598.00. It was only a year ago I got mine from used book store (online) for ~$120.00.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Manav

Nothing is easy in life I guess!

I just did a quick search and found amazon had 5 used starting from $598.00. It was only a year ago I got mine from used book store (online) for ~$120.00.

abebooks.com have this book starting at $190, for a 1984 edition. Will be hard to find now at a reasonable price. I paid $85 about 4 years ago for a new copy. Glad I bought it, given the second hand price now.

[Jen]

Originally Posted by Manav

Nothing is easy in life I guess!

I just did a quick search and found amazon had 5 used starting from $598.00. It was only a year ago I got mine from used book store (online) for ~$120.00.

$598 dollars woah what is the book made out of LOL why is it so expensive

“Atlas of the Southern Night Sky” by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk this is one of my fave books and The Night Sky Observers Guide, Volume 1,2 & 3 they are lovely books and i do have quite a huge collection of books
Oh and my big favourite is the Atlas of the Messier Objects

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Theres also 3 books of Burnhams Celestial Handbook.
Very informative.
Cheers

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Kevnool

Theres also 3 books of Burnhams Celestial Handbook.
Very informative.
Cheers

These can be picked up through abebooks.com starting from just $4.00 each. I managed to get a near pristine set, in hard cover, for $10.00 plus postage. If you read the descriptions carefully, you can still find these books in very good condition.

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Originally Posted by Stardrifter_WA

These can be picked up through abebooks.com starting from just $4.00 each. I managed to get a near pristine set, in hard cover, for $10.00 plus postage. If you read the descriptions carefully, you can still find these books in very good condition.

They are great books and loads of info.
I do have the 3 books 2 are soft cover and volume 3 is hard covered.
Treasures to me.

Cheers Kev.

[Suzy]

+1 for Stars & Planets.
My favourite and most used guide by the scope. Aye, there's so many post-it notes on it their going to weigh the same as the book . I find popping in little notes into the respective constellations very helpful.. must see targets, star hops suggestions etc. I use the tiny square notes, that way I can fit lots on the page if I need to.
I admit it, I'm a post-it junkie.

Here's a couple of pics I took of the book.




I'm cutting and pasting here from a post I did a while back....

The Night Sky Observers Guide...
The Night Sky Observers Guide series is a great book. It's quite intense and covers a ton of deep sky objects with finder charts for everything, sketches on lots of objects, and observation notes as to what can be see through different sized apertures.
At the beginning of each constellation it gives a large table listing of binocular objects and stars of interest. It's a hard cover book with a whopping 504 pages!

There are a lot of dso's in this book more specific to larger scopes, but there's still plenty of stuff in it for 8-10" scopes, not a lot for 4-6" scopes, and pretty much favors 12-14" and in particular 16" scopes.
I love this book and wouldn't be without it.. a book I will grow into as I get more experience.

Our own Paddy has done a wonderful review of it here in this forum.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-627-0-0-1-0.html


Atlas of the Southern Night Sky...
Another thick and fantastic book. Beautiful colour photographs, descriptions of the objects, followed by a map on the facing page.
Paddy has done a review of this book also (good work Paddy!)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/bookreviews.html


The Southern Sky Guide (David Ellyard)...
I just could never get into this book.
For me, I find the maps difficult to read and having the constellations broken up makes it even harder. The descriptions on the facing page aren't well laid out either as the object descriptions are merged thru large paragraphs instead of being listed.


Hartungs Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes...
I did a thread on this a while back.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=63394&highlight=ha rtung's

This is an observers companion book describing the objects beautifully. There are no maps however. Anyone that owns one of these books, displays it with pride of place on their bookshelf I'm sure (as I do).



The following two books aren't specific to the Southern Sky but does include the Southern Constellations. I have added them because I think they are great books.

Collins Stars & Planets (Ian Ridpath)...
This is my favourite book and my right hand at the scope. The objects, stars and astrophysics are listed beautifully, with the map of the entire constellation on the facing page. The map is very easy to read and the book is a nice handle-able size by the scope. Each constellation also has its greek mythology explained.
However, this book won't give you really deep dso's- that's where the Night Sky Observers Guide comes into its own.
http://www.amazon.com/Collins-Stars-...2641053&sr=1-2


Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas...
Spiral bound and easy to handle, it's filled with a ton of goodies.
I've just gotten this book so I haven't had the opportunity to really to put it to use yet, but it looks easy to read and well laid out. Many of us here on the forum have got this book. And it's so cheap at $20 from the Book Depository in the UK (free shipping!) - great value!


In summary...
I doubt that you'll find one book that will do it all. Like me, you'll probably find that you'll wind up with several books and maps. Some books cater for the brighter objects and are quite easy to read and navigate thru, others are intense, some books cater more for "observing", i.e. more a teaching guide on techniques and what to look for in objects (such as Stephen O'Meara's Deep Sky Objects- Messier Objects- fantastic book, and Hartung's), some books list the astrophhysics and objects of interest better or clearer than others, etc. I have lots of books/maps- each used for different observations.


__________________
Saxon 10" F/4.7 Dob. named Wanda Ifdaskyssleclare "Wanda".
Pentax XW 7mm, Pentax XW 10mm, Vixen LVW 22mm,
Denkenmeir 14mm, Celestron X-Cel 5mm,
Celestron 4mm, Andrews UWA 2" 30mm. GSO ED 2" 2x Barlow, Stellarview 9x50 finder.
Filters: UHC/OIII/ & various colour filters. Starry Night Software. 7x50 & 10x60 Binos.

Who's got Brian Cox here in Aussie? You have a rightful duty as a fellow astronomer to let me at him. Looking for Brian & searching for Travolta... Men!

[Suzy]

And another post I've done which I'll cut and paste here also. Some of these book are already listed on my previous post.
The Messier Objects by Stephen O'Meara is one of my favourite books. Here's a pic of it that I took.



Here are some books which I highly recommend.
For binocular and telescope viewing respectively. Note that the book (which Malcom suggested-Collins, "Stars & Planets" is also listed below.

For Binocular Viewing....

- Touring the Universe Through Binoculars by Phil Harrington.
I haven't read this book but have heard many reviews and recommendations on it.


- Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars by Stephen James O'Meara.
This is an observing book which goes a bit deeper than Heavens Above. It also helps you find the objects using your hands to measure your way across the sky.

I've attached some pics here for you...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...1&d=1315729652

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...1&d=1315729652


- Heavens Above by Robert Bee (specific to the southern skies).
Highly recommended to start out with.


Some Useful Links for Binocular Observing:

The Messier project through binoculars done by our member, Faith Jordan.
http://www.fjastronomy.com/?page_id=429


A couple of my own binocular observation reports...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...r+observations

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ight+centaurus


Binoculars- A Basic Guide for Astronomy...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-374-0-0-1-0.html


How to make a binocular chair...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-382-0-0-1-0.html


How to make an Parallelogram...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-617-0-0-1-0.html

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-376-0-0-1-0.html




For Telescope Viewing...

- Stars & Planets by Ian Ridpath & Wil Tirion
One of my favourite hard working books. Covers general astronomy at the beginning of the book and the rest is dedicated to maps with the facing page to each map detailing objects of interest and the astrophysics. It will tell you what the spectral classes of the stars are, nice doubles to look at, and each object of interest nicely detailed. Beautiful pics accompany them. Each constellation has its own map- very easy to use. Great book for beginners. Even though it's more specific to telescopes, many of the objects and stars in it are viewable through binos or the naked eye. I highly recommend this book also.

I've attached some pics here for you...

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...1&d=1315729565

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...1&d=1315729565




The Night Sky Observers Guide.
The Night Sky Observers Guide series is a great book. It's quite intense and covers a ton of deep sky objects with finder charts for everything, sketches on lots of objects, and observation notes as to what can be see through different sized apertures.
At the beginning of each constellation it gives a large table listing of binocular objects and stars of interest. It's a hard cover book with a whopping 504 pages!

There are a lot of dso's in this book more specific to larger scopes, but there's still plenty of stuff in it for 8-10" scopes, not a lot for 4-6" scopes, and pretty much favors 12-14" and in particular 16" scopes.
I love this book and wouldn't be without it.. a book I will grow into as I get more experience. Many of us on here own this book/series.

Our own Paddy has done a wonderful review of it here in this forum.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-627-0-0-1-0.html


Atlas of the Southern Night Sky.
Another thick and fantastic book. Beautiful colour photographs, descriptions of the objects, followed by a map on the facing page.
Paddy has done a review of this book also (good work Paddy!)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/bookreviews.html


Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas.
Being spiral bound, it's easy to handle on your lap by the scope as it stays open. It's filled with a ton of goodies that go deeper than "Collins Stars & Planets", but for a first book, I would recommend the latter first because the pocket atlas book is mainly maps. It even has a Telrad circle to use with it's maps.
It's so cheap at only $20 from the Book Depository in the UK (free shipping!) - great value!


Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects, by Stephen O'Meara.
It's an observing book and tells you all the little details to go look for, and also a little black & white pic (for every object) of what to expect to see out of your telescope. Lots of sketches too- so you can really get a nice sample of what to expect at the eyepiece. He observed with only around 4 inches of apperture, so everything he says is within reach for most of us. Some astro physics are given on each object too, and basically its about a page per object. It is a hard working companion of mine.



And for both:
A general book that covers all forms of observing - naked eye, bino & telescope....
Astronomica
I mention this book because it just covers so much. General astronomy is covered well, and towards the back section, a large part of this book is dedicated to maps and objects, listing objects of interests that are available be it naked eye, binoculars or through a telescope. Beautiful pics accompany them. For the weight and information covered in this book, it is well worthy of it's price. I Highly recommended it- great coffee table book also.


In summary (regarding books)...
I doubt that you'll find one book that will do it all. Like me, you'll probably find that you'll wind up with several books and maps. Some books cater for the brighter objects and are quite easy to read and navigate thru, others are intense, some books cater more for "observing", i.e. more a teaching guide on techniques and what to look for in objects (such as Stephen O'Meara's Deep Sky Objects- Messier Objects- fantastic book, and Hartung's), some books list the astrophysics and objects of interest better or clearer than others, etc. I have lots of books/maps- each used for different observations.



Some Useful Links for Telescope Observing:

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/astr...tartright.html

http://www.asignobservatory.com/inde...d=88&Itemid=65

http://www.fjastronomy.com/?page_id=1092

ww.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_files/observing_tips.htm

http://http://www.visualastronomy.com/2008/01/ten-essential-astronomy-accessories.html

http://http://sites.google.com/site/southernastronomer/
You can't go by this!!!!
Rob H from our forum has made these charts- they are brilliant & many of us use them. Print them off and pop them into plastic sleeves and file them in a ring binder.

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Sure do alot of reading Suzy

Cheers

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

If I can add my 20 cents worth, for general astronomy overviews , The Atlas Of The Southern Sky by Massey & Quirk and Universe, published by ABC Books. I suspect that this is the same as Astronomica as it says it was produced by Millenium House, they are 2 fine encyclopedic style books.
For more intermediate to advanced guides 2 books that go hand in hand are, the indispensable Hartungs Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes and Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects by Luginbuhl & Skiff. They cover both hemispheres nicely.
Going more in depth are the 3 volume sets Burnhams Celestial Handbook and The Night Sky Observers Guide. Between them they list a lifetimes worth of objects and combined with atlas' such as The Cambridge Star Atlas or Nortons' for basic stuff and moving up to The Cambridge Double Star Atlas which also contains plenty of dso's and then Uranometria and the Herald Bobroff ( if you can find one, out of print and rare, like Hartungs ) and no, I'm not selling mine, well maybe, if the price was right.

Cheers
Jeff

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Originally Posted by Grimmeister

Have a look at "Astronomica" by millennium house.

I picked this up in Westfield Tuggerah (NSW) for $20. The QHD bookshop was sacrificing books, and to pick this up so cheap was great. It is the size of my coffee table!

[DJT (David)]

Bang! A history of the Universe
Written by of all people Patrick Moore with Brian May (of queen fame) a very good reminder as to the reasons why the things we are so fascinated with actually exist. Couldnt put it down..OMG, we only have 3 billiion years to go!!4 billion with a set of thermal underwear..

Astronomy 2012 Australia
Not least because I have just figured out it tells you what the hours of total darkness are which is brilliant when planning an imaging session when there is a full moon and La Nina kicking around...You can still squeeze in an hour and just occasionally that hour is before midnight...Remember though to check stellarium for the actual size of the things you are planning to view/image..on the off chance you dont have a 12" dob and there is only so much zooming in you can actually do. The size column in this editions DSO table is pretty useless if you have a 4 inch refractor

Backyard Astronomer - 3rd Edition

Written by a couple of amateur astronomers who practice what they preach. Excellent info on scopes, other stuff such as what to look for and imaging primarily with DSLRs. I bought most of my kit based on information gleaned from this book..a godsend. It may not be right but it seems to work.

Photoshop Astronomy - 2nd edition
How to stretch that well worked image into something you can be proud of. You know why the nebula exist ( Bang!), you have got the right kit for taking a piccie (Backyard Astronomer), you know where to look for your image and when is the optimum time (no good looking for a galaxy when it spends half of the year hiding below the horizon) (Astronomy 2012 Australia) and now you need to "tweak"...

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi Stefan,

You have already been given a lot of good books to get you started with. I own just about everything that's been mentioned and a lot of others. One book I would highly recommend which has not been mentioned is "The Backyard Astronomers Guide" 3rd edition by Alan Dyer and Terence Dickinson. This doesn't have a great deal in the way of star charts and the like but it covers the basics that you should know about astronomy and observing better than all the other books put together. It also has a chapter devoted as an introduction to astrophotography.

In addition to a book, as such you should consider the purchase of a good beginner/intermediate star atlas or a software package. An excellent star atlas for beginners/intermediates is the Cambridge Star Atlas and an excellent software package is Sky Tools 3

An excellent beginners book, as has been mentioned, is Collins Guide to Stars and Planets.

Hartungs is an excellent reference (I have both the 1st and 2nd editions) but it has no star charts of any description.

Hartung in combination with the Cambridge Star Atlas goes like "peaches and cream"; but sourcing a copy of Hartung's is now very difficult. Keep your eyes open for it and grab one when you see it at a good price.

Burnhams Celestial handbook is very good but a little dated now.

The Night Sky Observer's Guide is a must have book for all intermediate + observers, with a medium to large aperture telescope. It isn't really a beginners book IMO. I would think you are 1 or 2 years off this book at the moment. At least 95% of the targets listed in this book you will struggle to find in a 5" telescope, which I believe is what you have?

Cheers,
John B

[CJ (Chris)]

Collins Stars & Planets has painfully small print!