1.20
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
|
What are some of your favorite astronomy / astro-photography books? I'm about a year into the hobby. On the processing side I have "The Deep Sky Imaging Primer" - it's well researched and seems especially good for Pixinsight users. Just started "Turn Left at Orion" because I read somewhere that it's been a longtime classic and sure enough I'm getting a lot out of it. It's full of clear and practical advice and I've found that it's helping me to trace the sky without an app... I also recently picked up the new edition of Nightwatch... and I like dipping into "Cosmic Queries" once in awhile, in between the other books. There's also a really interesting book on mythology called "Star Lore" that I found at a used book shop. I still need a good comprehensive atlas. I have Stellarium / Sky Safari but I guess it's also nice to have star charts on paper... Any good recs? |
4.02
#...
·
·
2
likes
|
|---|
|
Out of the few AP/astronomy books I have, this is my favorite astrophotography book, which is a sky atlas. https://www.amazon.com/Astrophotography-Sky-Atlas-Charles-Bracken/dp/1517687802/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1FLJOJS0JQVLS&keywords=astrophotography+planner&qid=1704672225&sprefix=astrophotography+planner%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-5 I'm sure there are better ones though, like Uranometria 2000. And this is my favorite astronomy book, which I have learned a lot from: https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Astronomers-Guide-Terence-Dickinson/dp/0228103274/ref=sr_1_1?crid=J5Y71V1IQN1E&keywords=backyard+astronomers+guide&qid=1704674758&sprefix=backyard+astr%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1 |
1.20
#...
·
·
3
likes
|
|---|
| „The Astrophotography Manual“ by Chris Woodhouse |
0.00
#...
·
·
3
likes
|
|---|
Michael Nemetz: I agree with Michael. This is a great book. |
0.00
#...
·
·
4
likes
|
|---|
| Definitely The Deep-sky Imaging Primer by Charles Bracken, it is my go-to astrophotography reference book. |
0.90
#...
·
·
3
likes
|
|---|
|
Bracken’s Astrophotography Sky Atlas is very handy and light with an excellent cross-referenced multi-catalog section after the maps that is extremely useful. Bracken’s Primer second edition is very good too. |
0.90
#...
·
·
3
likes
|
|---|
|
This might not be the sort of thing you're looking for, but three of the most enjoyable and informative books that I've ever read on astronomy are: "The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope" by Ronald Florence "Centennial History of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Vol. 1, The Mount Wilson Observatory" by Allan Sandage "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy" by Kip S. Thorne and Stephen Hawking |
5.38
#...
·
·
4
likes
|
|---|
|
On the Astrophysics side of things: The End of Everything, Astrophysically Speaking by Katie Mack is a fun, mind-bending read. First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time by Emma Chapman - just started this, and enjoying it! The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers by Emily Levesque is less astrophysics and more history & anecdotes from observational astronomers, but also a good read. I am excited about Our Accidental Universe: Stories of Discovery from Asteroids to Aliens by Chris Lintott but it's not out yet, and I haven't read it, but he's fun to listen to. Capturing the Universe: The Most Spectacular Astrophotography from Across the Cosmos by Rhodri Evans and Steven Young is an excellent coffee table book of astrophotography and contains wonderful images, but might be out of print. CS! |
0.90
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
| Mark Bratton's "The complete guide to the Herschel objects", Cambridge University Press. A comprehensive list of all the objects (almost 2500) observed by Sir William Herschel and his sister Caroline in the years 1780-1800, with a lot of photographic pictures. A nearly endless source of inspiration for choosing your night targets.... |
0.90
#...
·
·
3
likes
|
|---|
|
Not a practical book for backyard astronomy, but more of an interest read would be "The Last Stargazers" by Emily Levesque. It is anecdotal and looks at various stories about professional observing throughout the years. I found it a highly enjoyable and learned a lot of interesting things about the world of professional astronomy. I also have been enjoying "100 Stars the Explain the Universe" by Florian Friestetter. Each chapter is 2-3 pages and looks at a different star that is a springboard for examining a topic in astronomy. |
7.53
#...
·
·
2
likes
|
|---|
just ordered the book used for $4. thanks Katelyn  Great recommendation. Book is well written and very interesting from a budding astrophysicist point of view. Really gives insight to getting time on a big telescope. Mike |
|
7.56
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
|
Richard Baum's The Haunted Observatory Dennis Overbye's Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas |
0.00
#...
·
·
2
likes
|
|---|
| Looks like a new addition of The Astro Photography manualis to be released see Amazon |
|
1.20
#...
·
·
4
likes
|
|---|
| There are a lot of great suggestions here. Will definitely start with the new "Astrophotography Manual" when the new edition becomes available, as well as Braken's Sky Atlas. Also can't resist "The Complete Guide to Herschel Objects" for exactly the reason Jean-Pierre described... After I wrap up "Cosmic Queries" it'll be on to the "The Last Stargazers" or "100 Stars that Explain the Universe" - both sound fascinating. Big thanks to all who chimed in. |
0.00
#...
·
·
2
likes
|
|---|
| Another one which I was recently gifted is "The History of our Universe in 21 stars" by Giles Sparrow. The name of the book gives away its subject matter. Each chapter is dedicated to one star and how observations of those stars at different point in time changed the way we looked at the universe and .. in someways ourselves. Very good read. |
0.90
#...
·
|
|---|
| (deleted) |
0.00
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
| Turn Left at Orion is a must IMO, and if you really want a DEEP look at what you are taking images of, I suggest the series Annals of the Deep Sky by Jeff Kanipe and Dennis Webb. These are very deep reads but are written well and will pretty much tell you anything you want to know about the major features of each constellation. Wonderfully done series. |
2.41
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
|
TELESCOPES, EYEPIECES AND ASTROGRAPHS by Gregory Hallock Smith, Roger Ceragioli and Richard Berry MASTERING PIXINSIGHT by Rogelio Bernal Andreo PLANETARY ASTRONOMY by Christoph Pellier "Luna Cognita: A Comprehensive Observer's Handbook of the Known Moon" by Robert Garfinkle Web resource: https://www.telescope-optics.net/ by Vladimir Sacek Now that i think about it, it would be good to create an excel or google sheet of these books! |
0.90
#...
·
·
2
likes
|
|---|
|
- Sky Catalogue 2000.0, volume 2: Double Stars, Variable Stars and Nonstellar Objects (edited by Alan Hirshfeld and Roger W. Sinnott, Sky Publishing Corporation & Cambridge University Press, 1985). Although it's from 1985, this is still a very interesting book for those who want to explore a veritable cornucopia of all sorts of astronomical objects beyond the solar system, and also their coordinates (Epoch 2000.0). This book also has a GLOSSARY OF SELECTED ASTRONOMICAL NAMES (which is, I think, the source of the handy booklet Deep-Sky Name Index 2000.0 by Hugh C. Maddocks, Foxon-Maddocks Associates, 1991). - The Clementine Atlas of the Moon, Revised and Updated Edition (Ben Bussey and Paul Spudis), Cambridge University Press, 2012. Believe it or not, the name of none other than myself is mentioned on page xi (11) of that lunar atlas because I detected a huge number of typographical errors in the first edition of 2004! An uneducated harbour labourer in the city of Ghent-Belgium (me, a blue collar worker) seems to have been the only person in the world who went through all 144 printed LAC charts of the moon to investigate each and every one of the named lunar surface formations, and detected hundreds (!) of typographical errors! - Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, Volume 2: The Stars (Rev. T. W. Webb). Without this book, there would be no Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Although Burnham's three-volume classic is a 'must have', T. W. Webb's C.O.f.C.T. (Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes) (The Stars) is such a pleasure to browse through and... to try to locate Webb's (numerous) double stars and variable stars in Wil Tirion's Uranometria 2000.0 star atlas! (which I did). By the way, a couple of years ago I detected a book called STUDIES IN STARLIGHT, Understanding Our Universe by a certain Charles J. Caes (TAB BOOKS Inc, 1988). Charles J. Caes is not related to me (Danny Caes), but... anyway, I wonder what country might have been the source of the name Caes. |
|
0.90
#...
·
·
1
like
|
|---|
|
For the Dutch and Flemish contributors and visitors of Astrobin: - Elseviers Gids van Sterren en Planeten (Gunther D. Roth) (translation from Tjomme de Vries of the original: BLV Himmelsfuhrer Sterne + Planeten). This was my very first booklet with overview of all 88 constellations on black/yellow charts, with disc shaped astrophotographs made by the legendary Hans Vehrenberg, also printed on yellow paper. |
|
0.90
#...
·
|
|---|
|
And also... that booklet called: - CONSTELLATIONS - A Concise Guide in Color, by Josef Klepesta and Antonin Rukl (Artia / Hamlyn, 1969) (many times reprinted!). Contains eighty eight blue colored charts of all the constellations with... Eugene Delporte's curious looking (stairway shaped) boundaries! This booklet, together with Wil Tirion's SKY-ATLAS 2000.0 and the monthly magazine ASTRONOMY, were my first sources of my search for names and nicknames of astronomical objects beyond the solar system. Especially the last pages of the magazine ASTRONOMY (each month a detailed description of one of the constellations) (by the way, my most remembered one of the many mentioned facts: the existence of the deep orange-red colored variable star S Cephei / SAO 10100, with an excerpt from Burnham's Celestial Handbook: S Cephei is one of the deepest colored stars visible to observers with small and moderate sized telescopes. Its intense shade of red makes it a vivid object in the field of any good instrument. And indeed, in my Orion SkyQuest Dobsonian it looks like the orange-reddish "end" of a distant cigarette at night, or the typical color of those nervous looking (dancing) electric candles (neon bulbs in the shape of candle flames). From ASTRONOMY April 1985: - S Cephei is probably the reddest star viewable through a backyard telescope. The colors of these stars (Mu Cephei / S Cephei) can be compared to cranberry juice: if we assume S's intensity is a pure juice solution, Mu's would equal a partially watered-down mixture, while Betelgeuze's and Antares' would be mostly water with just a touch of juice. This was the spark which ignited my search for Cool Carbon Stars (CCS), such as R Leporis (Hind's Crimson Star), T Lyrae, V Aquilae, RT Capricorni, etc... etc... (really, there are MANY of those CCS's !!!). |
0.00
#...
·
|
|---|
| The Deep Sky Imaging Primer and Turn Left at Orion are great choices for astronomy enthusiasts. |
0.00
#...
·
|
|---|
|
I strongly recommend the "Deep-Sky Companions" serie of books by Stephen James O'Meara. For me, they are the "Bible" for serious amateur astronomers. Perfect scientific and historical documentation, poetic views, beautiful literary style, accurate descriptions to find the objects in the sky - you cannot expect better ! I use these books to comment my astro images (and dream about what I see !), for instance The Messier Objects, The Secret Deep, Hidden Treasures (600 pages!), Southern Gems, The Caldwell Objects. Philippe, from Switzerland |
|
0.90
#...
·
|
|---|
|
Perhaps... those who grew up during the sixties still remember the spacebooks for youngsters with all sorts of curious looking illustrations from George Solonevich in them. His lunar landscapes look'd very strange, as if they were made from a substance which never dried up. His lunar mountains might have been the inspiration for Steven Spielberg to create Roy Neary's (Richard Dreyfuss's) early mini-mountain made from masked potatoes (you know, mr. Neary's visions of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, in C.E.3.K.). George Solonevich was an excellent illustrator, but... his illustrations of space and spaceflight related topics were quite odd. For example: an astronaut jumping over the top of a rocket the size of a building, standing on the lunar surface. A huge monster on the surface of Venus, and two tiny astronauts holding a bazooka aimed at this Cytherean behemoth. P.S.: See also the illustrations from John Polgreen (spaceships and wheel shaped space stations, derived from Chesley Bonestell's and Rolf Klep's classic illustrations for the planned conquest of space, according to Willy Ley). |
0.00
#...
·
|
|---|
Katelyn Beecroft: God, I actually gave up 60% of the way through The Last Stargazers. As interesting as it could've potentially been, she is unfortunately an awful storyteller and each page held my attention about as much as watching paint dry. I wanted to love it, but Levesque just isn't a gifted author. Starborn by Roberto Trotta on the other hand, is proving genuinely enjoyable - despite the rather cringey parallel fiction story about a permanently overcast world [one that I also seem to inhabit most of the time] that he weaves between the cosmo-palaeontology. |
