Useful Tomes
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Useful Tomes
Sections could include but not be limited to; photography / imaging, atlases, observer's guides, and so on.
Then perhaps a sticky for novices?
A few to start things off;
Atlas of the Southern Sky - Massey and Quirk A good introduction to the Southern Hemisphere for the beginner.
Practical Astronomy with your calculator - Duffett-Smith. A convenient handbook.
Astrophotography - Legault. Another excellent introductory text.
Obviously to create a proper list, full author's details, ISBNs, publisher and so on would be included.
A follow on from this would then include journals, websites and fora, but one step at a time.
Cameras - Blads, D70s, D3300, Lunar and Planetary Cameras (2)
DIY Glass - German military and opthalmic sourced items, AGFA AVIPHOT DIA C
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Re: Useful Tomes
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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Re: Useful Tomes
I'd reccomend Dickinson and Dyer's _The Backyard Astronomer's guide_. Well worth reading _Before_ you go out to buy a scope. (US Publisher)
For inexpensive introductions (at least here in the UK) Philip's do a range of paperback astronomy books, around the size of a normal paperback.
Price typically around £8-£10, though they sometimes show up in discount bookshops at around £2-£3. All the ones I've read (about half a dozen
or so) have been well written.
Somewhat more expensive (and bigger) are the Patrick Moore's practical astronomy series published by Springer (despite the series name, most of them are written by other authors (including one of the AF mods). It's a big series, and - to me, anyway - somewhat of a mixed bag. There are a number of very good books, and also several that didn't appeal to me because I'd already got other stuff that covered the same area. That's one reason I like going
to the annual UK Astrofest exhibition - they usually have a stand there, so I can have a look and flip through the new titles to see if they interest me.
I also like Steven James O'Meara's observing guides.
And I also have to recommend tbe three volumes of Burnham's Celestial Handbook - the info is a bit dated these days, since they were written quite a few years back now, but the author's love for the subject shines through. Still available new, or as ebooks, but readily available second hand too.
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Re: Useful Tomes
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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Re: Useful Tomes
Mission Moon 3-D - David J. Eicher and Brian May
The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets - Ruben Kier
Your Place in the Universe: Understanding Our Big, Messy Existence - Paul M. Sutter
I'd say all three are useful tomes.
Regards
Graeme
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Re: Useful Tomes
This would make a good addition to a beginner's library, but I think it could be good for more experienced observers as well, especially those who haven't bagged all the M-objects yet (like me - 40-ish to go). I really like the charts even though I have other atlases, Sky Safari, etc.
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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Re: Useful Tomes
I have written 4 books in that series!
The series is mostly aimed at intermediate astronomers. However, they were unwilling to publish a beginner book.
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Re: Useful Tomes
I have a personal bias but I couldn't put them down.
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Re: Useful Tomes
"Discover the Stars" by Berry. Nice monthly constellation charts and some more detailed maps.
I rediscovered a copy on my bookshelf yesterday while starting to cull the herd.
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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Re: Useful Tomes
The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing, R. Berry and J. Burnell. A lot of great background on image processing. I have the associated software but I prefer PixInsight and MPO/Canopus for what I’m doing.
The Scientist and Engineer’s Guide to Digital Signal Processing, S.W. Smith. Free PDFs of the individual chapters are available. Very readable, great background on sampling theorem and Fourier transforms, among many other things.
A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis, B.D. Warner. Background for
Inside PixInsight, W.A. Keller. There are tons of videos on the web, but having a hard copy of this great overview is really helpful.
https://www.willbell.com/
http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/ ... 19-32750-1
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319256825
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Re: Useful Tomes
2. Rukl's Atlas of the Moon
3. Craters of the Near Side Moon
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Re: Useful Tomes
Obviously dated; first published in 1944:
Amazon has it here: A Dipper Full of Stars
All the best,
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Re: Useful Tomes
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
=============================================================================
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Re: Useful Tomes
Celestron Wedge, Canon EOS 7D
Oberwerk 20x65 ED Deluxe binoculars, Oberwerk 8x42 Sport ED binoculars, Oberwerk Series 4000 tripod with Series 5000 head, Oberwerk Series 2000 monopod (for airline travel)
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Re: Useful Tomes
Geared toward beginners, but I really like it - monthly sky maps and several more detailed constellation / region maps showing things like the location of the Veil, etc. The monthly maps are in a nice at-a-glance form and there's a reasonably detailed correct image lunar map. Another cool feature is they use the outstretched fist method for approximating angular distances. Great for naked eye observers.
The downside is the planetary positions in my 9th edition only go through 2017, but those are easy enough to look up on "S&T" or wherever.
I do wonder if Cambridge will be publishing any more editions. I thought I read they're getting out of amateur publications.
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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Re: Useful Tomes
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
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Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Useful Tomes
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
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>)))))*>
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Re: Useful Tomes
There's lots of star charts and sky maps out there and the one that's best is the one you like. That said, this book meets the highest standards of cartography. It is easy to read, indexed, and cross-indexed, with tables for constellations,
Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Choosing, Buying, and Using Telescopes and Accessories, 4th Edition, by Philip S. Harringon, 2007, John Wiley and Sons (417 pages)
Now somewhat dated for lack of today's newest product releases, this book remains the primary resource to explain all of the basic instruments and supporting hardware that comprise the "telescopes" we use. This includes the mounts, tripods, focussers, lenses, eyepieces as well as theoretical optics, (and simple geometry to explain that). Even though the book has not been updated, Harrington does have a website: https://www.philharrington.net with updates and extensions.
Observer's Handbook: 2021, James S. Edgar, editor, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, (352 pages).
This is the 113th edition. You do not necessarily need a new one every year, but you do need at least one. The RASC also supports a USA edition. From the basic mathematics of telescopes and eyepieces to detailed summaries of what to expect when viewing the Moon, Sun, planets, stars, minor planets,comets, and the deep sky, this handbook is a reliable reference for beginning and advanced amateurs.
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, 3 volumes, by Robert Burnham, Jr., Dover Publications, 1966, 1978. (2138 pages)
Despite the extreme age of the work, it is as close as we have to an Encyclopedia for Amateur Astronomers and it was written by a professional working at the Yerkes Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. And he wrote it for himself. Burnham built massive 3-ring binders of compiled information about all of the research topics in his purview. This book was published from those notebooks. It is organized in alphabetical order by constellation. Within each is a list of double and multiple stars, a list of variable stars, a list of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Each list is a table with relevant data of names, catalog citations,
Michael E. Marotta
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Re: Useful Tomes
Mike,mikemarotta wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:42 pm
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, 3 volumes, by Robert Burnham, Jr., Dover Publications, 1966, 1978. (2138 pages)
Despite the extreme age of the work, it is as close as we have to an Encyclopedia for Amateur Astronomers and it was written by a professional working at the Yerkes Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. And he wrote it for himself. Burnham built massive 3-ring binders of compiled information about all of the research topics in his purview. This book was published from those notebooks. It is organized in alphabetical order by constellation. Within each is a list of double and multiple stars, a list of variable stars, a list of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Each list is a table with relevant data of names, catalog citations, RA and DEC location, magnitudes, etc. Following those tables are descriptive notes about each special target star or other object. In addition, the chapters are supported by cultural notes for context, mythology, history, etc. Moreover, the book is loaded with photographs, charts, and graphs. Burnham died alone and socially isolated. Everyone thought that this Robert Burnham was the Robert Burnham working at Sky & Telescope. He would show up at sidewalk star parties, standing at the back, watching people being introduced to the sky. You can find these all over at used bookstores and second-hand shops in your town or online for about $35 a set. There is no better bargain in astronomy.
Thanks for your post.
I need go no further than my bookshelves to find the Burhams set which I have owned for coming up to 40 years.
You will also see "Observational Astronomy for Amateurs," and "Amateur Astronomers Handbook" both by Sidgwick and "How to Build a Telescope" by Jean Texereau. I don't recommend the latter for most people, a lot of the book deals with mirror grinding, polishing, and optical testing.
I also have a small collection of paper Star Atlases - Nortons, the Herald Bobroff Atlas, and the Skalnate Pleso Field Edition (all pictured) and the Tirion 2000 field edition (not pictured). If I do use an atlas at the telescope, I still like the Skalnate because it's in plastic sleeves. When I was 19, I bought some sheets of tough plastic from a department store and my lovely late mother cut the sheets and sewed them into large plastic pockets on her semi industrial sewing machine. I also have the NASA Five Millennium Canons of Solar And Lunar Eclipses and their respective catalogues and I have kept the solar eclipse bulletins that NASA used to publish before modern online tools made them somewhat redundant. Joe
Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
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