Must read for Astronomy Curious | NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

A Must Buy for anyone interested in Amateur Astronomy | NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe | Terence Dickinson

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	• NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe Terence Dickinson Firefly Books, 1998 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 95 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great book for beginners

Overall I'd say this is a great book for those just getting into astronomy. It has some practical advice on how to choose a telescope, and what to point it at once you've got it.

There are many useful charts including broad views of the sky showing the constellations, more detailed charts with some deep sky objects, and maps of the moon. The charts are not so detailed as to be daunting to the beginner. As you get more comfortable with the sky, you will probably want to supplement this book with a more thorough star atlas. There is a chapter dedicated to viewing the planets including the level of detail you can expect to see.

A great aspect of this book is that in addition to the practical advice about how to find and view objects in the sky, it explains what you are looking and how it fits into our understanding of the universe.

One negative is that some of the images in the book, particularly those of the deep sky objects, are quite a bit better that what a beginner will be able to see in a reasonably priced telescope. The author is pretty good about explaining this in the text, but if you just skim the pictures and point your telescope, you might be a little disappointed with what you see.

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Must read for Astronomy Curious

An absolutely essential book for anyone interested in Astronomy. Well written, beautiful pictures, easy to read and understand. Highly recommended.

A Must Buy for anyone interested in Amateur Astronomy

Hands down one of the best books for someone who wants to learn about the heavens. Very easy to read and extremely helpful for newbies and those that need a refresher to Astronomy!

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Very good but not perfect

Overall an excellent book. It has a great overview of astronomy, and some good guides in what to look for in a telescope and what to look at in a telescope once you have it. Then there are whole sky star maps, and maps broken down to smaller areas. It's got plenty of targets for binoculars and small scopes. So if you're just getting started and have binoculars, but no scope yet, this is a great book. Let me emphasize (as the book does) that a department store telescope is likely worse than a $20 binocular, because it will lead to more frustration than it is worth.

I do wish that the charts maybe had finder views of a few objects as well, perhaps in the bottom margin. A second important thing would be to warn users about what they CAN'T see from an urban or suburban location. You might think that magnitude 7-8 objects would be just visible, but many aren't. Many things that are easy from a dark sky site are very hard or impossible from a city. It doesn't emphasize this enough for beginners who don't have the experience to know this.
Other things to buy might be a plansiphere. Also a more detailed atlas like the Bright Star Atlas, The Cambridge Star Atlas, or for even more detail, the Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. Keep in mind that the more detail you see, the more confusing it can be. And that's another strong point of this book. The charts in here are very easy to understand and non-threatening, perfect for beginners. And lastly, if you do get a telescope, Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them is a great book too. It has very detailed directions for finding everything in there. So if you can't find some of the objects in here, Turn left at Orion will probably help.

I also want to mention that the spiral binding works great for the star maps to keep the book easily open and flat.

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nightwatch guide

I have found this book to be a great help. I have always been interested in astronomy, but I have only recently taken to the outside to view the stars and planets from my own backyard. There is great information in this book. I had already had binoculars, but have used to it to help pick a future telescope. It gives a lot of info on brightness and star charts and explained everything in simple terms. I purchased others but this book is by far the best.

With 250,000 copies in print since its initial publication in 1983, NightWatch has become a standard reference guide for stargazers throughout North America.

The new Third Edition expands on that success with a completely revised and updated text, more than 100 new color photos and diagrams and 16 additional pages that cover such! new astronomical pursuits as computerized telescopes, reviews of new telescope designs and accessories, and astronomy on the Internet.

All charts, tables and diagrams have been updated and, in some cases, redesigned for easier use. Improved spacecraft measurements of the distances to the stars (recently released by the European Space Agency) are included in the charts, along with additional observing tips for stargazers using binoculars and telescopes. An expanded chapter on Astrophotography lists the best modern films and cameras for skyshooting.

The new NightWatch is faithful to the "ultra-simplified, no jargon" philosophy of the original, and at the same time, offers substantially more practical information for the novice and intermediate-level amateur astronomer. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada called the first edition "the best of its kind"- the new Third Edition is better still. It is still an abundantly illustrated, wide-sized volume designed for easy reference during many starlit nights.

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