Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This comprehensive work takes you on a personal tour of the universe using nothing more than a pair of binoculars. More comprehensive than any book currently available, it starts with Earth′s nearest neighbor, the moon, and then goes on to explore each planet in the solar system, asteroids, meteors, comets and the sun. Following this, the reader is whisked away into deep space to explore celestial bodies including stars that are known and many sights less familiar. The final chapter includes a detailed atlas of deep–sky objects visible through binoculars. The appendices include guidance on how to buy, care for and maintain astronomical binoculars, tips and hints on using them, and detailed information on several home–made binocular mounts.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
the west, the Caucasus Mountains to the north, and the Taurus Mountains to the east. No mission from Earth has ever touched its nearly crater-free surface. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
the west, the Caucasus Mountains to the north, and the Taurus Mountains to the east. No mission from Earth has ever touched its nearly crater-free surface. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The first problem with this book is that for the urban or suburban observer with less than giant binoculars, it is too hard to find objects that you will really have any luck with. You have to sort through long lists of 9th-magnitude star clusters to find anything that would really be visible. The second problem is that a large percentage of the objects listed are pretty dim and crummy open clusters, and in most cases it is extremely hard to tell whether you are seeing the cluster or not. The photos are no help, because they are all long photographic exposures taken through telescopes, nothing like what you actually see through binox.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anyone interested in binocular astronomy should consider this book (and Binocular Astronomy by Crossen and Tirion too). The book is available through Amazon with a good discount (20%), but even so, it still costs $28 plus shipping. For a paperback book that's not cheap.
Harrington's book has a good section on the moon, the planets and the sun but the meat of the book is a blast of information on literally a thousand sky objects to see. Organizationally, the information is broken down alphabetically by constellation, with a table listing the objects and key information about them (Type, Right Ascension, Declination, Magnitude, etc.). I would have liked to have had distance too. Following each table was a brief (maybe too brief) description of each object. For list-oriented people this works well. I was inspired enough to enter them into an Access database, which was much more work than I thought it would be, and I'm not sure how useful it will turn out to be. The sheer magnitude of the list is what sets this book apart. I look at binocular astronomy as a lifelong pursuit but looking at the length of the list makes me think I'd better get started quickly. I'm running out of time!
In short, Harrington's book is a solid wealth of information but it doesn't have the same warm and fuzzy feeling of Crossen's Binocular Astronomy. It's more like a cookbook. However, if you're really interested in binocular astronomy, you'll probably want both books. If you only get one, get Crossen's book (see my review of that book too).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book gave great text descriptions but I think it needed more illustrations and/or photographs showing what a beginning astronomer can expect to see while using binoculars. The book is also practically useless when it comes to helping you find some deep sky objects. I had to use computer software in conjunction with this book in order to find many things.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great into to observing
If someone was to ask me what their first astronomy purchase should be, I'd say a pair of 7x50 binoculars, a comfy lawn chair and this book.
Published on 20 Oct 1998
THIS BOOK IS USELESS, BORING, AND INACCURATE!
The main problem with this book is that it doesn't provide much more information that a 50 cent star map would. The illustrations are hard to read and the text is inaccurate. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 1998
Practical tips for the novice stargazers, handy reference
This book is a great way for someone to develop a life-long interest in stargazing. The author has obviously acquired his knowledge first-hand, and passes along practical advice... Read more
Published on 28 July 1998
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Science & Nature > Astronomy & Cosmology > Astronomy > Star Gazing
- Books > Science & Nature > Astronomy & Cosmology > Astronomy > Stars & Interstellar Matter
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Popular Maths
- Books > Science & Nature > Physics
- Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Physics
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
