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Good astro books


Tweedledee

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I have recently purchased several books. Well, I'm always purchasing books and seem to be addicted to Waterstones, Amazon or any book store for that matter. ;)

 

Here's some info about two of them that some of you may be interested in...

 

Annals of the Deep Sky - Volume 2, A Survey of Galactic and Extragalactic Objects.

 

The Night Sky Observer's Guide - Volume 1, Autumn & Winter.

 

Annals will build into a 12 volume (£300+) collection to cover the whole of the heavens, but only the first two volumes are available at the moment. Volume 2, covering Aquila, Ara, Aries, Auriga, Bootes and Caelum, had slightly more to interest me at this time of year than volume 1 (Andromeda, Antlia, Apus and Aquarius), although a couple of constellations I won't see from the UK. Volume 3 is due early in 2016.

 

The Observers Guide is available in just two volumes, but I saw no point in getting the spring/summer vol 2 just yet at £35. But it is definitely going to be on my bookshelf soon.

 

They are both superb books which I am thoroughly enjoying, but contrary to my initial thoughts before buying, they are quite different in layout and content.

 

The Night Sky Observer's Guide is, in my opinion, the ultimate amateur observers guide. It is extremely thorough, detailing observations of variable stars, double stars and DSO's for each constellation, as well as a good general DSO info section with relevent astrophysics and a practical observation info section covering nearly the first 15% of its 430 large pages.
For example, here is what you'll find in just the chapter on Orion...
An interesting overview of the constellation followed by a constellation map.

Detailed tables of info on about 64 variable, double and multiple stars.

Detailed observing reports of 10 interesting stars, 22 clusters, 28 nebulae and 2 planetary nebulae.
These reports are observations made using various equipment from binoculars through 2" to 22" scopes, sometimes up to 3 different apertures for each object, the
majority being 8" to 12" scopes.

Interspersed are 8 detailed finder charts, 15 good quality b&w photos and 9 sketches. That is just Orion!

 

Annals of the Deep Sky is a smaller book but equally jam packed full of extremely interesting stuff. It is more of an armchair read full of very interesting articles about objects in each constellation, some observable, some not. It is less comprehensive in the objects it covers than the Observers Guide, but what is covered is done in quite some depth.
Here is an example of what will be found in the chapter on Auriga...
The history and mythology of the constellation is covered in much detail.
A general synopsis of the constellation explaining the main objects that may be seen with binoculars and a small telescope.
Four pages containing everything you could want to know about Capella and its close companions.
A good two or three fascinating pages on each of Beta, Epsilon, Zeta, Theta, R Aur, HR 1938 and AE Aur.
The next 20 pages cover in detail astrophysical and observational aspects of the following DSO's, M36, Holoea (a nebulous star), M37, M38, NGC1931, IC2149,
Berkeley 17 and NGC1893/IC410.
Finally, something that I have not seen covered anywhere else, fan shaped cross sections at various scales through the Milky Way and beyond showing the galactic arms we are looking through when our gaze is directed towards the constellation, pinpointing the relative distances of stars and DSO's and even extragalactic objects from us.

This book is also profusely illustrated with b&w photos, tables and maps.

 

I am very impressed with both these excellent books and hope to collect the full set eventually. They are expensive but well worth the money, and I don't think that
anyone could be disappointed with the content of either.

 

1KeppleW.jpg                  1Annals2.jpg

 

Edited by Tweedledee
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They look two very interesting books Pete ?

Your reviews whet the appetite and make me think, " how can I manage without these"? ?

l will have to take a closer look at them, cheers!

By the way, how are you getting on with the Astro sketching book you recently acquired? I looked at this and it is on my list... ☺️

Cheers!

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22 hours ago, Smithysteve said:

They look two very interesting books Pete ?

Your reviews whet the appetite and make me think, " how can I manage without these"? ?

l will have to take a closer look at them, cheers!

By the way, how are you getting on with the Astro sketching book you recently acquired? I looked at this and it is on my list... ☺️

Cheers!

You can manage without them, but would certainly be missing out. You'll love both books Steve. The Observers Guide has about 4 big pages on M42 and it's neighbourhood which got me thinking back to your brilliant Trapezium observing report. So far I've only glanced at the astro sketching book, but it certainly looks very thorough. A lot of my reading time this holiday has been spent on a fantastic steampunk novel called Clockwork Angels. It is a bit out of the ordinary but I'm enjoying it so much I've just ordered the sequel Clockwork Lives :)

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18 hours ago, Sunny Phil said:

I liked the trilogy by Stuart Clark about the scientists from Newton to Einstein.

That sounds interesting Phil, cheers :)

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