Astronomy Log

If you are looking for an easy to use star atlas then this is the only one you will need. It is so clearly laid out and easy to use it’s incredible. I can’t rate it highly enough.

Some people may prefer laminated pages, so they can be wiped clean, these are not. But this Star Atlas was designed for outdoor use though, it is spiral bound making it really easy to open out and turn back on its self.

The Cambridge Star Atlas contains a really good lunar map as well. The lunar features in the book are displayed in alphabetical order and in numerical order as they appear on the moon’s surface. The moon maps are also shown in mirror reversed order, as you would view it through an eyepiece.

The constellations are then shown for both the northern and southern latitudes across the various seasons. From here you then drill down into closer views of the constellations, which have page numbers watermarked on them, this denotes which page to jump to in order to see that part of the sky in full detail.

This star atlas also contains a handy list of the Messier objects, a list of the 96 brightest stars and also a list of the constellations.
At the rear of the book there are a number of pages showing all sky maps, the first one shows the constellations, then a distribution of open clusters, globular clusters, diffuse nebula, planetary nebulae and the distribution of galaxies.

The final table in the book contains a list of Exoplanets or extrasolar planets.

Overall this is a brilliant book, if you are looking for a Star Atlas or if you are bored of looking at a planetarium program on a computer screen to find your way around the night sky then buy this book, you won’t regret it.

Cambridge Star Atlas is available to buy now from Amazon.

Cosmic Challenge contains nearly 500 pages and lists over 500 star targets for you to find. The book is aimed at both beginners and advanced astronomers alike, as the book contains a mix of Solar System and deep-sky targets to hunt for.

The first 25 pages of the book tell us about our own eyes and how they work, as well as information on binoculars, collimation, using baffling/flocking, eyepieces, the best filters to use on what objects and the things to think about when it comes to your observing site. This includes information on the jet stream, the Pickering seeing scale, the Bortle scale of darkness and more.

Cosmic Challenge is then split into objects you can hunt out with your naked eyes, binoculars, small telescopes (3 to 5 inch) and giant binoculars, medium telescopes (6 to 9.25 inches), large telescopes (10 – 14 inches) and very large/monster telescopes (15+ inches).

I think it was a great idea to divide the book up this way, as you don’t want to find yourself looking for an object like Palomar 1 with a 3 inch telescope. Having the naked eye chapter also means you don’t even need a telescope to benefit from Cosmic Challenge. Then if you do decide to invest in some large binoculars or a larger telescope you can then come back to this book and try hunting some more elusive targets.

There are also then subsections within each size of telescope required, informing you in what season the object is visible.
Each of the 188 targets in the book are well laid out and begin with a large title with RA and Dec co-ordinates, the name of the constellation and magnitude information. There is then a diagram within the constellation (if applicable) of where to find the object. Each target also contains a very nice description of the target and it’s background plus tips on how best to view it.

There are three appendices. The first appendix is called the cosmic challenge, this displays all of the 188 targets into a large table for easy reference. The second appendix is a guide of suggested further reading whilst the last appendix supplies you with 100 challenging double stars to try and locate.

Cosmic Challenge is a very fun book, what makes it so good is that the layout is very pleasing on the eye and objects are really easy to find in the book (maybe not so easy in the sky!). Another great thing about Cosmic Challenge is that the book has longevity as I mentioned before. As you could use the book at various times of the year as the sky changes, and again if you decide to upgrade your telescope aperture. Also you don’t even need any astronomical hardware to use this book, just your own eyes as it contains 21 naked eye challenges.

Cosmic Challenge is available now from Amazon with Free Delivery

This is a very heavy and solid book which includes an enormous amount of detail within its 575 pages. This is the latest edition of Patrick Moore’s book and it’s the first time I have seen an astronomical  book of this type containing so much data.

The data collected in this book is very much up to date and anyone interested in say the facts about the dates of the return of periodic comets with be very happy indeed.

The book begins with data about all of the planets within our Solar System which consumes the first 250 pages or so. The book  then contains information on comets, meteors and meteorites, as well as information on double stars, variable stars, stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and finally the constellations and a star catalogue.

At the rear of the book you will find details on observatories around the world, as well as the history of astronomy and a list of well known astronomers, there is also a handy glossary.

You won’t find any colour images in this book, but there are is a smattering of black and white images, such as one of Patrick Moore’s outline Moon maps, constellation drawings and surface details of some satellite worlds  as well as the odd image of asteroids.

Jupiter is covered in 20 pages and no less than 63 satellites are included together with the four Galilean satellites covered in even more detail. The actual work that gone into creating this book is amazing.

It’s nice to see even simple data displayed well such as the list of Solar Eclipses, in this list they date back to 1923 and you can find all of the upcoming solar eclipses up to the year 2039.

I think Patricks Moore’s Data Book of astronomy amazing, but probably not a book for the beginner. This is definitely a book you will keep coming back to time and time again in order to obtain the astronomical information you need for planning an observing session, astronomy training course material or as an educational text.

Patrick Moore’s Data Book of Astronomy is available from Amazon here.

The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration is one of the most detailed books on the lunar missions I have ever seen. If you want a book that goes into so much depth, then this is for you, that is, if you can handle the expensive retail price of around £100 for this book.

The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration provides details of every spacecraft mission to the moon since the dawn of the space age. Each mission is illustrated with a combination of maps and annotated photographs. Usefully the lunar missions are listed in chronological order through the book, so it’s easy to follow the history.

The book includes such information as how landing sites were selected.  The book also includes details on lunar missions that never happened. There is even material in this book which has never been published before together with specially created panoramic lunar photographs from every lunar mission.

This is a large sized coffee table type book which contains over 440 pages packed full of information. The panoramic photographs are truly stunning and for me a high point of the book is the detailed information and maps about the EVA routes and exactly where core samples were taken.

There are some really great moon mosaic images and details on exactly where flags, TV cameras, solar wind collectors and antenna were placed. There are even details on where the lunar landers should have landed and where they actually landed.

As you can probably tell from my lists of information, this book has everything. If your interests lie with the Moon and the lunar missions then this would make a great book for you to marvel at.

The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration by Philip J Stooke is available from Amazon

Hidden Treasures is a big, heavy, nearly 600 page book which includes an original selection of 109 deep-sky objects. None of the objects are included in either the Messier or Caldwell catalogues. Together with this all the objects are supposed to be visible with a 4” telescope under dark skies.

The Hidden Treasures book is one of three books by Cambridge University Press in the Deep-Sky companion’s series. The others are called The Messier Objects and The Caldwell Objects. With the Hidden Treasure book being so good it seems definitely worth buying the other books as well.

Each of the 109 hidden deep-sky treasures is clearly labelled, with some good introductory text, photographs of the object, sky maps and sometimes drawings.

There are several appendices at the back of the book, the first one is about Caroline Herschel and it takes you through some of her astronomical findings. The other appendices provide you with basic data in a table form of the 109 objects, there are also 25 additional hidden treasures to keep you going once you get through the whole book.

It’s really worth taking your time going through each deep-sky object in this book and discovering some new sites to behold when you are out on an observing session. Overall this is a great book, as I love it when objects are clearly labelled and you can jump around the book easily. It’s also nice to just have a few pages per object and so you don’t get bogged down in lots of details. I look forward to reviewing the other books in the series.

Amazon keeps stock of Hidden Treasures available here.

Alongside the Wonders of the Solar System DVD is the Wonders of the Solar System book.

The book accompanies the excellent DVD and TV series from the BBC. The book is split into chapters which relate to the episodes of the series.

The great thing about The Wonders of the Solar System book is the amount of amazing colour images in the book, truly fascinating.

The book (which is quite large – 28cm x 22cm) begins with a lovely and inspiring introducton. Very much of the style of the series, exhalting the ideals of exploration and celebrating the thirst for knowledge of the ocean to explore beyond the shore of our ‘thin blue line’.

The rest of the format is much like the series, 5 more chapters on the same heading as the television show;

Chapter 2 – Empire of the Sun
Chapter 3 – Order out of Chaos
Chapter 4 – The Thin Blue Line
Chapter 5 – Dead or Alive
Chapter 6 – Aliens

This book is great and very informative and also very easy to understand for all ages.

The Wonders of the Solar System book is available from Amazon

Observing the Moon is a hardback book from Cambridge University Press by Gerald North. This is the second edition of the book. When I started reading the book I was thinking that it was going to be a boring book just about the moon, but how wrong I actually was. It does contain a lot more information, including information on how to image the moon, via a webcam and video camera.

The book begins by describing the moon, its phases, eclipses, gravity and tides as well as occultations. The book then discusses what sort of telescope you need to best view the moon, as well as buying advice and eyepiece types and what you may need if you want to do some moon drawings.

Observing the Moon then goes through what you need to image the moon, this is a great section, if a little dated in areas. The book mentions CCD cameras, DSLR cameras, video cameras and image processing – including stacking your moon images using Registax.

Observing the Moon also covers each area of the moon with descriptions, photographs and some drawings. I must admit when reading the book it was the first time I had ever seen a really good image of the far side of the moon, it had me mesmerised.

The appendices cover telescope collimation, field testing a telescope’s optics and how to polar align. The books images and drawings are all in black and white, but when discussing the moon this does not really matter.

Overall a great read, and please don’t think this book is just about the moon, as there is so much more in it, such as telescope buying advice and how to image the moon.

Observing the Moon by Gerald North is available from Amazon now.

Stargazing Basics is a book for the beginner, it mainly covers what to look for when purchasing basic astronomy equipment including binoculars or your first telescope.

Stargazing Basics is divided into two main sections, the first describes the different types of telescopes you can buy and what to look for when purchasing binoculars. Every type of telescope is described, with a focus on those coming under a certain price bracket, in reality all those telescopes that you may choose when first making a purchase. But the first section is not just about telescopes, the book also briefly covers astronomy accessories which you may purchase at a later date.

Part two of the book entitled “What’s up There?” gives you an overview of the types of objects you may well see when using a beginner’s telescope. This is done using images and giving descriptions about the Moon, Sun, Planets, Nebulae, Galaxies, Stars etc.

There is a very large glossary at the rear of the book which takes up around 25 pages; this is a lot when the whole book is only 140 pages in total. But it can be very useful to have a glossary when you are starting out on as new topic and a lot of unknown words are used in the body of the book.

After the glossary there are some simple start charts you can use, as well as a list of the constellation names with descriptions.

Overall this is a very nice book for the beginner who wants to get into astronomy, it will certainly provide you with a lot of knowledge before you visit your local astronomy store and make a purchase of either binoculars or a telescope. Reading this book certainly would have helped me at the time.

It’s also nice to see that the author has not included images which represent objects what you won’t see through your first telescope. He has instead used his own images which mean you won’t be disheartened when you use your telescope for the first time and you don’t see in the eyepiece astronomy images like those produced by the big NASA telescopes.

Observing the Universe is available from Amazon now.

Observing the Universe, A Guide to Observational Astronomy and Planetary Science is a full colour astronomy book which has been compiled by a team of experts from The Open University. The book has been designed for students who are undertaking observational work in astronomy and planetary science, but is suitable for amateur astronomers.

The book begins with looking at the basics of our planet and its rotation together with the orbit of our planets in the solar system. There is a small section on how to use astronomical software programs as well as planispheres. The next section describes the different types of telescopes and how they work as well as the different types of telescope mountings.

There is a section on spectrographs and astronomical detectors, which are really CCD cameras. There are some interesting sections on reducing CCD data including details on bad pixels, bias and dark subtraction and even flat fielding.

The next sections of the book are about photometry and spectroscopy, there are scary equations in this section. Photometry is the technique of measuring the brightness of astronomical objects.

The second half of the book is given over to preparing for practical work in astronomy. This section really is for students or amateurs who want to start doing astronomical maths so to speak. This section instructs you how to keep observation records, and how to deal with experimental uncertainties, such as calculating standard deviations. There is also information on how to use calculators and computers and how to make use of graphs for astronomical research.

The back of the book contains answers to the questions asked at the end of every section and chapter of the book, there is also an extensive glossary.

Overall, Observing the Universe is a very good book, and it’s in colour. This makes it a great beginners astronomy book or for a student or someone who wants to get further into astronomical science and start to gather and work with astronomical scientific data.

Observing the Universe is available from Amazon now.

The Handbook of CCD Astronomy sounds a perfect title for an amateur to learn everything about how to use my Meade CCD camera with my telescope. Thing is, this is no book for the amateur astronomer, but really for the research astronomers, academics and professionals.

The book begins by telling you everything about CCDs including the manufacturing process, the various types of CCDs and how they work. There are also some interesting sections on CCD pixel size, pixel binning as well as flat fielding. The book covers some very in-depth CCD topics such as how to calculate read noise and gain, and signal to noise ratio.

The book contains a great deal of graphs, diagrams and mathematical equations, well over my head as an amateur astronomer, but I did find some parts of the book good for explaining certain things such as how CCDs work and about flat fields.

The chapters in the book are titled CCD manufacturing and operation, Characterisation of Charge-Coupled Devices, CCD imaging, Photometry and astrometry, Spectroscopy with CCDs and CCDs used in space and at short wavelengths.

The Handbook of CCD Astronomy ends with a CCD reading list, CCD manufacturers list and some basics of image displays and colour images.

The Handbook of CCD Astronomy is available from Amazon now.