Favorite beginner's book
- youngsww
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Favorite beginner's book
An informal poll: what book was the one that first got you on track as a beginning amateur astronomer, the one you turned to most often to find out what things were and what things meant. What was it about this book that made it your favorite? Provide, if you can, book title, author(s), publisher, approximate price and age it would approriate for..
Mine was a gift from my wife, The Star Guide, by Robin Kerrod.
What was yours?
Mine was a gift from my wife, The Star Guide, by Robin Kerrod.
What was yours?
Last edited by youngsww on Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- youngsww
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FAvorite book
Hi Buzzy,
I am not looking to buy, I just to see what kind of answers I get in case beginners ask.
John
I am not looking to buy, I just to see what kind of answers I get in case beginners ask.
John
- Bill Bynum
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Ditto on Nightwatch as a great beginner's reference. I probably read it cover to cover three times in the first several months after getting going.
365 Starry Nights by Chet Raymo is also a great general introduction book, but not so great as a reference. He writes about astronomy topics and objects based on what is up that night, with successive articles moving from history, to the science, to descriptions of objects in the matter of a few sections. It's an easy read, lots of hand drawn pictures to illuminate the text, and interesting enough that by the time you get to the end of the year, you want to start over again.
365 Starry Nights by Chet Raymo is also a great general introduction book, but not so great as a reference. He writes about astronomy topics and objects based on what is up that night, with successive articles moving from history, to the science, to descriptions of objects in the matter of a few sections. It's an easy read, lots of hand drawn pictures to illuminate the text, and interesting enough that by the time you get to the end of the year, you want to start over again.
Last edited by Bill Bynum on Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bill Bynum
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This is the 'other' book that I recommend for beginners, right along with Nightwatch.patti wrote:I'd say that my favorite beginners book is "Turn Left at Orion". It gives you a realistic idea of what you're going to see through a small telescope. I found it to be a real help working on my Messier certificate to know what I should be seeing.
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Y'know, I have to agree with your assessment . I've looked through the book and found it to be a really good reference for beginners. It's nicely illustrated, simple to use, easy to follow, and much of what you'll read is specifically written for viewers living at our latitude, approximately 45 N. I don't have this book in my library yet, but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.Jon Hickman wrote:Also, Mike Lynch's "Minnesota Star Watch" is a pretty good reference, especially for Minnesota beginners.
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well, when i was in elementry school I found a thick book on blackholes. That got me interested in reading other books on outerspace. What acytualy got me started however, wasn't a book it was a 2nd grade play, in which I played the part of planet Earth. I still have the cardboard cutout prop that I held that looks like earth.
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- wkocken
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Nightwatch by Terrence Dickenson is good intro for observers
and Starwatch by Phil Harrington, is a very nice hands-on for finding specific stuff, including the Messiers
and Starwatch by Phil Harrington, is a very nice hands-on for finding specific stuff, including the Messiers
Bill Kocken
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w m kocken at gmail dot com
16" f4.5 - home built truss design
8"f6 home built dob
102f7 Explore Scientific APO with Ioptron ZEQ25GT mount
4.5 Orion Starblast
60mm Meade ETX
Homemade equatorial platform
w m kocken at gmail dot com
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I was looking back at this topic, and I couldn't believe that no one mentioned "The Year-Round Messier Marathon" by Harvard Pennington. The charts and drawings in this one are very good, as well as the general info on how to do a Messier Marathon.
Steve Emert
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MAS Membership Coordinator
12.5" f/4.7 Obsession Clone Homemade Truss Dob, sometimes equipped with Celestron StarSense Explorer app
Celestron C8 SCT OTA on AVX GEQ mount
Astro-Tech AT72 ED Refractor OTA usually on Explore Scientific Twilight 1 mount or tripod with Benro geared head
Celestron 5" SCT OTA on Explore Scientific Twilight 1 Alt-Az Mount, usually equipped with StarSense Explorer app
Orion 150mm Mak OTA and Orion EQ-G computerized mount
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Well, Steve, now that you've revived the topic I'll add a book published just this past fall that is really quite nice for beginners.
Celestial Sampler by Sue French is a compilation of her columns from Sky & Telescope Magazine. It is a year round "tour" of 60 objects especially suited for small (3" or less) scopes. It is an easy read and organized by month with star charts to use while hopping and includes "through the eyepiece" images to help beginners learn what to expect. Very nicely done!
Celestial Sampler by Sue French is a compilation of her columns from Sky & Telescope Magazine. It is a year round "tour" of 60 objects especially suited for small (3" or less) scopes. It is an easy read and organized by month with star charts to use while hopping and includes "through the eyepiece" images to help beginners learn what to expect. Very nicely done!
Jon Hickman
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Thanks for unearthing an older topic. Great suggestions everyone. I have to place my votes for Dickerson's Nightwatch and Lynch's MN Starwatch.
While these are good visual references, sometimes one simply wants to get information in an interesting way. For this, I recommend Bob Berman's "Secrets of the Night Sky." Written with Berman's "Strange Universe" wit and style, this is a great book to read and gain some great background for what you are seeing.
While these are good visual references, sometimes one simply wants to get information in an interesting way. For this, I recommend Bob Berman's "Secrets of the Night Sky." Written with Berman's "Strange Universe" wit and style, this is a great book to read and gain some great background for what you are seeing.
- Gomanson
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As far as a "basics" book I really liked "Astronomy: The Definitive Guide" from Barnes and Noble Books. It was under $15 and was a great intro to all areas of astronomy with tons of color photos and diagrams. It includes a decent library of star charts too.
The WORST book I've ever seen is "Atlas of the Skies: Journeying Between the Stars and Planets in the Discovery of the Universe." It would be a good book to get further into all topics, but it is SO FULL of typographical errors, misnumbered pages, etc. that I had to stop using it. A good percentage of the diagrams appear to be Italian or Spanish and haven't been translated. Even some random paragraphs and captions are still in other languages. Give it to your little kid and let them abuse it...if the many photos sparks their interest in the night skies, the book has achieved all it can.
But as far as what got me interested in astronomy, it was "Moon Hunters" by Jeffrey Kulger. It's a history of America's missions to the solar system. Before reading it I had no idea there were so many terrestrial worlds so close.
The WORST book I've ever seen is "Atlas of the Skies: Journeying Between the Stars and Planets in the Discovery of the Universe." It would be a good book to get further into all topics, but it is SO FULL of typographical errors, misnumbered pages, etc. that I had to stop using it. A good percentage of the diagrams appear to be Italian or Spanish and haven't been translated. Even some random paragraphs and captions are still in other languages. Give it to your little kid and let them abuse it...if the many photos sparks their interest in the night skies, the book has achieved all it can.
But as far as what got me interested in astronomy, it was "Moon Hunters" by Jeffrey Kulger. It's a history of America's missions to the solar system. Before reading it I had no idea there were so many terrestrial worlds so close.
-Ross
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My First Glimmer
The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin. Not a lot of astronomy in it, but just enough. A well-written book, highly recommended.
You writing another article, John?
You writing another article, John?
Glenn Lee
Northfield, MN
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