Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars
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From the reviews: “This volume is so crammed with information that the index is a very welcome addition. … This provides you with a rich background about objects you can see … . It … deals with the constellations, giving charts, photos and informative text describing the binocular delights within.” (Mark Parrish, Sky at Night Magazine, April, 2010) “Book such as this , subtitled ‘250+ wonderful sky objects to see and explore’ , will attract the attention of many a skygazer. … I expect that many potential readers will wonder, as I did, how much of this material is truly necessary in a book supposedly aimed at users of 10 × 50 binoculars. … It is undoubtedly an impressive achievement … . As if to underline this, the book ends with a list of basic objects for beginners … .” (Ian Ridpath, The Observatory, Vol. 130, August, 2010)
Review
From the reviews: "This volume is so crammed with information that the index is a very welcome addition. ! This provides you with a rich background about objects you can see ! . It ! deals with the constellations, giving charts, photos and informative text describing the binocular delights within." (Mark Parrish, Sky at Night Magazine, April, 2010) "Book such as this , subtitled '250+ wonderful sky objects to see and explore' , will attract the attention of many a skygazer. ! I expect that many potential readers will wonder, as I did, how much of this material is truly necessary in a book supposedly aimed at users of 10 A - 50 binoculars. ! It is undoubtedly an impressive achievement ! . As if to underline this, the book ends with a list of basic objects for beginners ! ." (Ian Ridpath, The Observatory, Vol. 130, August, 2010)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! This book and a pair of binoculars is enough to start stargazing, so it is excellent book for all beginners. Charts of constellations are clear and show stars up to 5th magnitude. There are more than 250 described objects which you can see and explore with binoculars. Each object is accompanied with detailed instructions how to find it and with detailed finder chart, which shows stars up to 9th magnitude. The book is full of excellent images, taken by amateur astronomers. As such, it is a real treasure for everyone, from beginners to experienced amateur astronomers.
An extra bonus for all beginners is the first part of the book, which contains a brief introduction in basic astronomy and astrophysics. So, in one book you get an intro to astronomy AND a complete guide on how to start and what to observe. You don't need to buy a telescope (of course, it doesn't hurt if you already have one) - this book shows that with just a pair of binoculars there are plenty of interesting objects to see up there (if you already have a telescope, you can see them even better).
The book is worth every penny.
An extra bonus for all beginners is the first part of the book, which contains a brief introduction in basic astronomy and astrophysics. So, in one book you get an intro to astronomy AND a complete guide on how to start and what to observe. You don't need to buy a telescope (of course, it doesn't hurt if you already have one) - this book shows that with just a pair of binoculars there are plenty of interesting objects to see up there (if you already have a telescope, you can see them even better).
The book is worth every penny.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
All binocular astronomy books are great. This one is one of the best. Lots of detailed info... a bit dry, and another point ... I think alpha, beta, gamma (greek) symbols are worth repeating in the text... However, my verdict is positive on the whole even if I have not yet read it cover to cover...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A perfect handbook for binocular astronomers
4 Feb 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let me start this review by stating, that this is not my first book on binocular astronomy, as I have already read the Binocular Astronomy by Crossen&Tirion, Touring the Universe with binoculars by Harrington, Sky Vistas by Crossen@Rhemann and Binocular Astronomy by Tonkin. Rather than comparing the book to the mentioned above, I would like to highlight the most important advantage of this title: it is dedicated to observation by means of a small binocular, around the parameters of 10x50 (magnitude x lens diameter) something, that may be found in almost every household or simply bought for a small amount of money. The book, in my opinion, achieves two goals: introduces the core basics of modern astronomy and astrophysics in a very comprehensvie way, and allows a complete beginner to start his own observations by means of handheld binoculars. This sums up to a much desired situation in which the observer knows the basics about the stars and nebulae he is observing and, thanks to the methodological explanations found in book is capable of finding around 250 intersting celestial objects. I hgighly recommend the title not only to binocular astronomy amateurs, as the objects described should be easily found in small telescopes and the amount of useful knowledge on modern astronomy as well as its origin should be approved of by any amateur of night observations, maybe excluding the planet observing orietned people (as the book focuses on Deep Sky objects).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book, poor Kindle version
13 Oct 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Content of this book is excellent, if you want to use binoculars for stargazing. It contains very practical tips about binoculars and accessories, even how to build simple heater, which will protect binoculars against dew. But first of all, it's full of very useful sky maps with descriptions, prepared for observation with very popular 10x50 binoculars. This book will be my guide for astronomical observations for a long time, a companion in learning the sky.
BUT: Kindle version is very poor - sky maps have low resolution, while they contain lots of detail, like very small symbols. Most of times you can't even read description of the objects, like Messier objects. If you don't have good planetarium software, which can show you same maps, you won't have a clue. Well, even a good planetarium software will not substitute sky maps from the book, because they were designed for observations with binoculars and contain objects visible through binoculars, not objects, which are visible through telescopes only. Even if you read the book on computer (not Kindle device), the sky maps are still hardly usable due to low resolution and high jpeg-like distortions caused by compression.
That's a pity, because I would like to keep a valuable book like this one on my Kindle forever, as ultimate reference for astronomy, always accessible.
BUT: Kindle version is very poor - sky maps have low resolution, while they contain lots of detail, like very small symbols. Most of times you can't even read description of the objects, like Messier objects. If you don't have good planetarium software, which can show you same maps, you won't have a clue. Well, even a good planetarium software will not substitute sky maps from the book, because they were designed for observations with binoculars and contain objects visible through binoculars, not objects, which are visible through telescopes only. Even if you read the book on computer (not Kindle device), the sky maps are still hardly usable due to low resolution and high jpeg-like distortions caused by compression.
That's a pity, because I would like to keep a valuable book like this one on my Kindle forever, as ultimate reference for astronomy, always accessible.
Great book, lots of information and well written.
21 Dec 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
When I buy a book I first look at the worst reviews. I then look to see if there is any part of the book available online for me to look at, ('look inside' via Amazon, or Google books) and I compare the rational complaints with what I can see. If there are a lot of bad reviews and they seem like rational reviews, then I look for another book.
I like books that have more pages, rather then less, just for the sake of trying to get the most for my money, but it's important that the pages aren't just full of filler or blank space. "Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars" comes in at 518 pages, its only poor review of two stars seems to me to be based on the Kindle version of the book and problems with that format. There are only two reviews, not counting mine.
This book is packed with information. It's divided into two parts. Part one contains information about binoculars, celestial mechanics, suns, nonstellar objects, space and time and preparing for observation sessions. My favourite part explains distances in the universe. This is the best explanation I've read, seen or heard that brings home just how large the spaces are between anything and everything. To be honest, I found all of the first part to be interesting, much of it very interesting to read. I learned a lot in the first part of this book and I'll have to read it again to be sure I pick it all up.
The second part deals with the constellations, where you can find them and what is in them. Most of them have multiple charts, at least one with the lines of the constellation, then the majority have charts of smaller areas of the charts that show one or more spots of interest to someone with binoculars. I would have preferred as many charts as possible had the lines of the constellations drawn in, even if it was just small parts of the lines. It took a while for me to figure out the positions of the smaller area charts in relation to the larger, but I understand this is normal.
The book could be improved with glossy paper (for better pictures) but I don't think it would make that much of a difference for a substantial increase in price. As it was, I got this book at a pretty good price.
I also purchased Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook (19th ed) which has 16 good quality maps of a decent size. I also downloaded the free planetarium software Stellarium which is excellent for seeing whats going to be where at what time and date.
I like books that have more pages, rather then less, just for the sake of trying to get the most for my money, but it's important that the pages aren't just full of filler or blank space. "Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars" comes in at 518 pages, its only poor review of two stars seems to me to be based on the Kindle version of the book and problems with that format. There are only two reviews, not counting mine.
This book is packed with information. It's divided into two parts. Part one contains information about binoculars, celestial mechanics, suns, nonstellar objects, space and time and preparing for observation sessions. My favourite part explains distances in the universe. This is the best explanation I've read, seen or heard that brings home just how large the spaces are between anything and everything. To be honest, I found all of the first part to be interesting, much of it very interesting to read. I learned a lot in the first part of this book and I'll have to read it again to be sure I pick it all up.
The second part deals with the constellations, where you can find them and what is in them. Most of them have multiple charts, at least one with the lines of the constellation, then the majority have charts of smaller areas of the charts that show one or more spots of interest to someone with binoculars. I would have preferred as many charts as possible had the lines of the constellations drawn in, even if it was just small parts of the lines. It took a while for me to figure out the positions of the smaller area charts in relation to the larger, but I understand this is normal.
The book could be improved with glossy paper (for better pictures) but I don't think it would make that much of a difference for a substantial increase in price. As it was, I got this book at a pretty good price.
I also purchased Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook (19th ed) which has 16 good quality maps of a decent size. I also downloaded the free planetarium software Stellarium which is excellent for seeing whats going to be where at what time and date.
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