Book for beginning astronomy

[Alastair Smith]

Hi all.

Can anyone recommend a good, easy to understand book on astronomy. I have the Dorling Kindersley book 'The Practical Astronomer' but am looking for another with a bit more detail without being too technical.  Also is there somewhere that can tell me what is available to view on a given night?

Thanks in advance!

[popeye85]

I am reading 'Patrick Moore's astronomy-a complete introduction' by the great man himself-this sounds like exactly the sort of thing you are after and I can highly it although the best advice I can give is to just head down to your local library and see what takes your fancy!

[baggywrinkle]

Phillips publish a month by month guide each year, and both S@N and Astronomy Now also publish yearbooks. They are a mix of starcharts for each month and advertorials showing what equipment is around.

Turn Left at Orion roughly divides the constellation into seasonal groups. Norton 2000 Star Atlas has an excellent technical section. But as suggested above go down to the local library and see what they have. If you like it then consider buying.

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

For finding out what you can see, I would recommend the free computer program Stellarium. Configure it to your coordinates, or more simply to a city near you, and it will show you the sky from your location. You can set it for the current time or specify any time/date you want. You can also put it on fast forward, and you will see how the night sky changes.

http://www.stellarium.org/

In terms of reading, there are books which will help you with observation, Turn Left at Orion is an excellent example. Other books specialise in certain types of object what you may want to look at, for example Atlas of the Messier Objects by Ronald Stoyan (CUP 2008) which provides scientific, historical and observing information on each object in a well-presented format.

Then there are books which deal more with the science of astronomy, rather than observation. One book I've enjoyed is A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy by Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian and Jean-René Roy, published by Cambridge University Press in 2010.

Pushing the pain threshold a little further, you might look at a general undergraduate course book for astronomy, although these do have an element of maths. A relatively kind start is offered by Ian Morison in his Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology, published by Wiley, 2008.

 

[laudropb]

A very good general introduction to astronomy is The Backyard Astronomer. A bit expensive, but I think worth the money. The Sky at Night magazine has monthly sky charts and targets for that month. It is very user friendly and suitable for beginners.

[bob4026]

Hi,

+1 for Turn left at Orion. I also found Astronomy for Dummies and Stargazing for Dummies helpful.

+1 for Stellarium also.

ATB

Bob

[Putaendo Patrick]

Useful free 2-page pdf with a monthly sky map and observing notes for the month at

http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

[MarkJ44]

Hi

TLAO is great for beginners to assist finding things. THe Backyard Astronomers Guide is a great all-round resource, and download Stellarium or one of the other free apps to see whats up there tonight.

Cheers

[Mak the Night]

I've owned this; Moon, Mars and Venus: A Concise Guide in Colour by Antonin Rukl, for years, I think it's still in print. It is quite useful and basically consists of maps. It is ideal for a beginner or someone more advanced.

 

[Alastair Smith]

Thanks everyone fort he suggestions.  I was thinking about Turn Left At Orion, so will order a copy now!  I have checked the library, but not a huge selection, and those I've tried get too technical way too quickly for me.  Will have a look at some of the internet sites that you've recommended too.

[spaceman_spiff]

I started with Patrick Moore's guide to the stars and planets (published by Phillip's). A nice small guide including good star maps, lunar maps, information on telescopes and observatories. It is also quite tough - I have taken it out on many damp cold nights and it's still holding up well.  SS.