turn left at Orion

[Neil H]

Hi all ok I got turn left at Orion from Amazon Thursday and it's 9 years out of date so some of the book I can't use, but it was still worth getting for the parts I can use , I like the telescope rating for each item to look at , just waiting for clear sky's 

[John]

What edition did you get ?

 

[Neil H]

Hi John I am not to sure ,it said updated edition 2011 , so I think it's a 2011 book can't find any other dates on the book 

Found another listing for the book same cover etc  and that's 2000

[John]

That sounds like the 3rd edition.

 

[Neil H]

Still a great book I have a Philips planisphere that goes to 2030 so will use this in conjunction with the book 

[John]

It is still a great book

[Timebandit]

 

 

Hi considering the age of the universe ,stars , galaxies ect ,many millions of years old. Then I am sure the objects mentioned in your 9 year old addition of "Turn left at Orion"will not be going anywhere soon 😀

 

 

[Ships and Stars]

2 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

Hi considering the age of the universe ,stars , galaxies ect ,many millions of years old. Then I am sure the objects mentioned in your 9 year old addition of "Turn left at Orion"will not be going anywhere soon 😀

 

 

It might be out of date by the next time the UK gets a clear night with no moon 🤣

Seriously, @Neil H I'm sure it's fine. Another handy one for me has been Sky & Telescope's Jumbo edition Pocket Sky Atlas. I have lots of stuff online and on my hard drive, but that one always goes outside with me.   

Edited January 11, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[Geoff Lister]

Although not a replacement for the book, some of its information is now available online, at

https://www.cambridge.org/turnleft

Geoff

[Neil H]

As Ships and Stars said any book will be out of date by the time the UK has clear night I am very happy with the book , I went on the link when posted on another thread , the main part that's out of date is the lunar Eclipses goes from 2000 to 2011, planets positions etc  all tables are out of date All end 2011 

If they tell you in the ad you can look for newer one but this may be the last print 

I have the Philips planishere which give me the info up to 2030

Your right the link has lunar Eclipses up to 2032 so saved it to my kindle 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Neil H
More info

[joe aguiar]

that's what I was gonna say

the only parts that get outdated is where the planets may be at in a certain constellations 

lunar and solar eclipse

and meteor showers

all else should be ok

joejaguar

[Louis D]

Just download and learn to run Stellarium to find the positions of the planets.  I believe if you zoom in enough, it also shows the positions of their major moons as well.

[Paul M]

Any book that shows a bright red star at the top left corner of Orion could be out of date soon... ⭐  🤣

[noah4x4]

The benefit of Turn Left at Orion is not for use as a sky map for events as it is inevitably out date the minute it is printed.  If you want current sky news instead use an APP or online source.

The benefit is that it shows novices exactly what to expect via an eyepiece. I only used my copy for a month, suffice to realise that my £2,000 investment in expensive eyepiece upgrades had been foolish as all I might ever see  from my severely light polluted back yard is a 'faint fuzzie'. I wish somebody had said "read this book first before spending ANY money". 

I now pursue Electronically Assisted Astronomy as it is the only way I can satisfy my desire to see more and my Televue eyepieces are back in their boxes redundant. I am not saying that we should discourage novices from pursuing visual, simply that we have a responsibility to manage their expectation to help them avoid expensive purchases that won't safisfy them where seeing conditions are poor. Turn Left at Orion is perfect for his, especially the (free) on-line resource. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by noah4x4

[Fraunhoffer]

best book I ever bought. 
There is a 5th edition 2018 - I expect all the updates are on the Cambridge site posted above anyway.

 

[Neil H]

As I am new to this I am trying to find an easy way to find planets the Philips planishere has so much into on it which is great but a mind overload lol

So is beetle juice going supernova or has it already but we don't know yet ?

[Alan64]

Betelgeuse is 642 light-years(estimated) distant.  If it exploded today, we wouldn't see the light from that until 642 years from now.  Then, it would most likely be visible during the day, at least at dawn or dusk.

On the other hand, if it had exploded 641 years ago, then we would see it in the sky next year.

Betelgeuse, and courtesy of my 150mm f/5 Newtonian...

By the way, books are most unlike monthly magazines.  I get great entertainment from some of Patrick Moore's books from as far back as the 1960s.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Alan64

[joe aguiar]

Ok first I dont have that planisphere but I'm not sure y it has too much info?it really should just have the constellations. 

What I used to do at the start is a couple hrs br I start to observe I dial the planisphere to say  8pm look and see what constellations are at good viewing and then open my night watch book to that constellations and see what objects to look for.

I sometimes also dial again to let's say 10pm see how the sky has turned and pick a 2nd constellations to look objects in.

For me it took one full year of observing every clear night seeing how the stars and constellations move slowly per couple nights, that after a yr I didnt need the planisphere.  I could now recognize them by just looking at them.

After I finished night watch book I went to a large map called Orion 600 or it's called something like that.

As per the star going super nova that would be one of the greatest events. There only has been 1 or 2 stars that went nova that we saw with our eyes, well I guess that's close.

Many people have captured super nova in images of other galaxies,  but to have one this close and as big as this one would be something.

The problem is it's still 642 light yrs away so even if it did explode last yr we wont see that explosion untill another 641 yrs from now. Which we will all be dead.

So unless it exploded 600 yrs ago already we may or may not see it.

Joejaguar 

[joe aguiar]

Damn Alan I guess we were both typing at same time and some parts are pretty similar. 

Altho right now I'm typing from my phone which took me a good 15 min to type that

Joejaguar 

[Alan64]

1 minute ago, joe aguiar said:

Damn Alan I guess we were both typing at same time and some parts are pretty similar. 

Altho right now I'm typing from my phone which took me a good 15 min to type that

Joejaguar 

You won in that, then.  Congratulations.

[joe aguiar]

Nah good minds think a like

Just on my way to work just reading few threads b4 I get there

Joejaguar 

Edited January 15, 2020 by joe aguiar

[Alan64]

1 minute ago, joe aguiar said:

Nah good minds think a like

Joejaguar 

What "good", you mean "great".

[joe aguiar]

 maybe Alan and few other pros can join and say if they remember any more.

The only 2 I can remember of top my head is 1604 which is the crab nebula was documented by humans. 

And 1987a which was also witnessed in of course 1987 but that was only if u were in the southern hemisphere.  Up here we cant or didnt see it.

Neil there are 2 threads going on about it going super nova in the solar observing section, not sure u wanna take look and join that if you like.

Joejaguar 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by joe aguiar

[rob_r]

On 11/01/2020 at 17:21, Neil H said:

Hi all ok I got turn left at Orion from Amazon Thursday and it's 9 years out of date so some of the book I can't use, but it was still worth getting for the parts I can use , I like the telescope rating for each item to look at , just waiting for clear sky's 

I got this too for Christmas, not sure on the edition though but it is spiral bound. I agree with the telescope rating feature. I have only had my 127mak scope for a year and already this book has given me a better indication of what I should be capable of seeing. The only hinderances are persistent cloudy skies (not had the scope out for a couple of months). Tonight looks promising for partially/mostly clear skies in Lancashire though.

[Neil H]

Hi weekend is ment to be better , I work nights so can only use the telescope at the weekend 

Hi Joe I will take at that thread , love this hobby so much to learn