The Kindle Edition is quite a reference. But it is more than this. First, the reference part.
The main point of the book is to show what objects in the sky look like, through 3 and sometimes 4 different views. The first is through a pair of good binoculars. The second is through a refractor telescope of 2.5" to 4" diameter (6 to 10 cm). The third is through a medium sized reflector scope (a 8" to 10" (20 to 25 cm) Dobson in this case). The fourth is what the object looks like through the medium sized scope using a small mm (high magnification) eyepiece. The reference section truly excels in this effort. Showing what the observer will see is so VERY important. One of the challenges in this hobby is trying to figure out whether you are looking at what you 'think' you are looking at! This book helps clarify what it is you should be seeing.
Choosing inexpensive and readily available viewing equipment to show what is being seen, is genius. It will apply to a very large viewing group of amateur astronomers. If you have any type of telescope or plan to obtain one of 10" aperture (lens or mirror diameter) or less, or just using a good pair of binoculars, you want this book! If you have or want to own a larger telescope, this book will still be a good source of lining up your field of view on a sky object in low magnification before you 'jump' to higher magnifications.
But the book is MUCH more than the reference noted above. It is also an excellent beginner's book. The book bypasses the need for observers to learn or know constellations. Facing learning 40 primary or all the 80+ constellations is intimidating to a beginner and puts many of them off the hobby. This knowledge is not needed to enjoy and use this book. In addition, the author explains in two or three chapters, in easy to understand terms, some astronomy basics. The book would be of value to the pre-beginner or beginner even if not yet ready for the reference sections.
The reference material is primarily divided up into four seasonal skies. It is not the way I would have arranged the book, since each season actually overlaps its neighboring season depending upon the time of night and the month of that season. Thus I don't appreciate its arrangement. But I bought and am using the Kindle Edition and find searching the entire book for any word, phrase, or sky object exceedingly easy. I would not reduce my rating due to how the book is organized because of this.
A fundamental approach for easy to understand writing is not introducing new words or terms to mean or stand for a new word or phrase. By this I mean it is poor writing for the beginner to learn about a "manufacturing facility" and keep interchanging or switching (using) words like 'building' or 'plant' or 'company' in place of the word 'facility' in the text. It is the downfall of authors who know the text, are educated, and a bit bored that they can't keep using the same word when they themselves have a larger vocabulary about the subject. But to the person just starting out, it is better to be consistent with the choice of words and maintain a uniform vocabulary. In this book, the author does pull a few 'switches' but not extensively. And again, with the Kindle Edition, it is easy to search all uses of a word until you find its connection to a word or phrase you've been told about previously.
This book, along with NIGHTWATCH is a must for each amateur astronomer, from pre-beginner to intermediate. My only real disappointment is that there is no reference view for a large telescope (e.g., a 14" or 16" reflector). That would encompass (and help) a larger audience, albeit not all that much larger.
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Reviews with images
Excellent! So much info
This book is like sitting at the feet of the authors who share, in plain language, a whole body of knowledge in a kind, yet to-the-point style. All the content is substantive and appropriate for older kids through adults. It’s not a kids book, being aimed at adults, but if you’ve got a kid who is a strong reader and science minded, the reading level is fine. My 10yo and I are enjoying this together but it’s definitely Mama’s book as it’s not for the rougher environment of a kids room. He can refer to it and then take that knowledge to the telescope.Compared to an app or google etc, I’m finding this book has more info that is appropriate to my knowledge (or lack thereof) as I don’t have a physics or even strong science background. With the prerequisite of just liking science and the night sky, the way this book is written helps me bridge that gap and get up to speed so I can understand more of the conversation and share that with my child. It also makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about! Ha. I like to use it in conjunction with the app Star walk.Overall, I highly recommend this book and find it definitely holds its own even in these days of apps and google.
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon Customer
An excellent companion for your star charts
Reviewed in Canada on July 18, 2022
Amazon Customer
Reviewed in Canada on July 18, 2022
This book in my opinion is a perfect balance between the two: it gives you both descriptive information and star charts (for finderscopes, smaller and larger scopes) for only the most interesting objects that can be observed with smaller scopes: double stars, deep sky objects, and a few variable stars etc.
In terms of the content, it has a few pages at the beginning about telescopes, followed by moon maps and how to observe the planets (which includes a Mars map). After that, most of the book is dedicated to the deep sky, organized in seasons and the polar regions. And there are tables of the objects at the end of the book.
As for the things I don't like: 1)The star charts lack scale. Not something important but would definitely be nice to have 2)It would be helpful to have a summary table of the objects in each constellation, not just having a big table of all the constellations at the end of the book.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
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GillyB
Best Book for Beginners- Grandson Loves it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2024Sebastian Waernulf
Essential for beginners
Reviewed in Sweden on September 24, 2023