Which Book ?

[vlebo]

Hi all

Due to my lack of goto I need to start knowing what I am looking at more thoroughly. I can navigate reasonably well i.e. polaris , ursa major and minor , orion, pleiades etc but it is not enough.

Is Turn left at Orion still the book to buy or can anyone recommend anything else before I hit the payment processed button ?

Just quickly on another note , fell asleep in front of the box the other night and woke up about midnight with the house pitch black and everyone asleep.

So, without turning any lights on , checked outside and it was crystal clear.

Got my 12" dob out of the garage and set it up outside in about 3 minutes. It was already cooled down because my garage feels colder than the outside temperature in the Winter. So in about 5 minutes after waking up I was outside viewing with perfectly dark adapted eyes and already had a couple of hours sleep.

Might try it again tonight, where's that alarm clock ?

[kniclander]

"A guide to asronomical wonders " has a lot lot more and very helpful layout (ie finderscope views down to mag 9(?) and 1 deg eyepiece views). Basically, you will get through turn left in one year. "A guide..." will keep you going much longer.

ps a good star atlas helps too - Tirion & Sinnott seem to be the one everyone goes for.

Dan

[MikeP]

Try here http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/search.php?key=pocket+sky+atlas&by=title

Mike

[beamer3.6m]

A guide to asronomical wonders is a great book and may I say it better than Turn Left at Orion.

[part timer]

Although turn left is a good start, it was really intended for observers using very small telescopes and you may find it a bit limited for a scope of 12" aperture.

[EA2007]

Stars and Planets by Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion is great and semi-pocket sized.

Also maybe try Norton's Star Atlas, its full of data etc, so more than just a star chart book, it is larger than A4, so not very portable.

[Astronut]

The Wil Tirion masterpiece Sky Atlas 2000 is excellent (available in various formats but too good to risk damage outside and rather large) so for an 'at the eyepiece' atlas I recommend Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas.

[GazOC]

I printed off the charts below and laminated them for when I'm out observing.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052

[vlebo]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

As always very helpful

Vlebo