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This document was uploaded by our user. The uploader already confirmed that they had the permission to publish Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother at the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory), dividing his time between Tucson, Arizona and Castel Gandolfo, Italy. He studies the origin and evolution of moons and asteroids in our solar system and uses a 3.5'' catadioptic and an 8'' Dobsonian. He has been awarded the 2014 Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public. Turn left at Orion. A hundred night sky objects to see in a small telescope and how to find them. Third edition. One thing that I find extremely helpful is a music stand to hold star maps, books like LTAO, tablet running SkySafari, etc. Someday the scopes can be talked to and they will go where wanted to find what can be seen. But, by then, why bother to look? Let the scope tell you what can be seen and push out a super DVD, color corrected, blown up to gigantic screen size as you sit and impatiently for the scope to get on with it, there are those other 55 tonight and you have only 19 minutes more. The scope knows the sky conditions, the temp, does autofocus, knows what you had for dinner, and it knows if your toenails need to be trimmed.
TLAO is great for star hopping. The detailed instructions of where to start and how to hop to the object really helped me when I got my first manual mount. The diagrams can help confirm you are actually on the subject you were looking for if you've never seen it before. I take it out to the scope when star hopping. I'd say I use it more as a guide and reference than an interesting book to read but I'd be lost without it when it comes to star hopping. A small telescope, no toenails involved, can show one million stars. There are thousands of double stars for a small telescope. Some people never go much further than the Moon. The Cosmos sparks wonder and some feel the need for powerful gadgets as an equalizer, as a hurry-up offense. The Cosmos need not put you on the defensive, you need not run at it. Why does it need to be a contest, a game like football? Into the stands you go or can you realize how important you are with the small telescope? Spectator or in the field of endeavors? This book is great when combined with WiFi and SkySafari Plus (or Pro). You use a "pinch" technique to open up your on-screen path to GoTo the additional objects from the primary. If accurately aligned (I use Starsense) you don't need to fiddle with HC slews as GoTo each is precise. However SkySafari descriptions tend to illustrate Hubble type images; when "Turn left at Orion" highlights exactly what you are actually likely to see in various scopes. It completely transformed my expectation, but is perhaps of higher value to those with larger scopes (6" and above) as many of the objects will be tiny blurred smoky blobs in lesser scopes (as they are in reality). Most owners love it. I have the book and tried to read through it from cover to cover but I just can't do it. I lose interest. How exactly do those of you that love this book use it?You don't need an ideal sky to engage in this love of the night sky. The perfect night with the star-crammed firmament is usually only read about. The authors mostly observed with a three-inch scope 15 miles from Manhattan. You will be outdoors observing in an environment not scripted or canned for you. It is a hobby, don't forget. Don't torture yourself; don't burden yourself with the seriousness of your intent. It isn't necessary to find useful work to do with your telescope. If it is work, is someone going to pay you? After delving into how to use a telescope, the book teaches how to locate specific objects in the night sky, and how to use a telescope to see the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. It even talks about how to locate and utilize geostationary satellites. It is kind of expensive, but I am constantly referring to it both in writing up my notes from a night's observations and to create a list of what I want to view before I go out. One of the nice things about it is that it has photos of all the Messier objects, so you known what you'll be looking at/for. I can’t rate this book enough. It is helping me make the best of my telescope, and has helped me see wonders of our universe that have taken my breath away. A must have for beginners, and a great way to pass the time if your waiting on a long delivery time for your telescope. I have both the first and second editions. The 2nd is spiral-bound (good), but HUGE, even larger than coffee table-sized books (not so good, unless one has a large table to put it on while observing). I typically recommend the first edition, if one can find it, although that is likely because that's the one I first got and used. The second is updated and expanded, including far more southern sky objects, and is definitely worthwhile in its own right.
B.A. and M.A. at MIT, Ph.D. at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, all in planetary science. After postdoctoral research and teaching at Harvard College Observatory and MIT, in 1983 he joined the US Peace Corps to serve in Kenya for two years, teaching astronomy and physics. After his return he took a position as Assistant Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. In Turn Left at Orion, Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis are of the opinion that amateur astronomy is not made up of GOTO telescopes and CCD apparatus. With GOTO scopes, a computer finds the celestial object for you by knowing where the object is and by how much to move the telescope until the object is seen in the eyepiece of the scope. You are a low-level operator, you sit in the stands, and the computer plays the game. No virtues are instilled. A CCD (charged coupled device) digitizes an image of the astronomical beauty and you, again as an operator, see what it sees for you. A machine in each case is doing it for you.
Latest 5th Edition!
You see the Moon, planets, and others as they appear in a small telescope of 50-70 mm or 2 to 3 inches in diameter. In its Contents - How Do You Get To Albireo?, Moon, Planets, Seasonal Stellar Objects, The Southern Hemisphere, How to Run a Telescope, Where Do You Go From Here?- are to be found certainly most of what you need to know to get started and to keep going in amateur astronomy as a hobby. Your post has me wondering if you are confused, and your info is flat out incorrect as mentioned by others. Only two looks in 6 years is not giving this book a fair shake, but that's just my opinion and to eachtheir own as you found what works best for you. TURN LEFT" (not the unrelated "Turn right" incarnation) embraces close to 500 celestial objects. It takes the approach of identifying a primary object such as the Orion Nebula (M42) then hops to other stuff in its locality; like M43; NGC 1980; NGC1981; the Trapesium; multiple star systems, Sigma Orionis, Striven 761; then examines doubles and individual stars. It's pretty comprehensive and ideal way of exploring the treasures of specific constellations. The authors' directions are not difficult to understand, for example, to find a triple star named Beta Monocerotis in the constellation called Monoceros - "Find Orion, high above the southern horizon, and find the very bright red star, Betelgeuse...Then, from Orion, turn left and follow the stars in Orion's belt which point to the southeast towards a dazzling blue star, Sirius...A little less than halfway between Sirius and Betelgeuse you'll find two faint stars, lying in an east-west line. Aim for the one to the east, the one away from Orion. That's Beta Monocerotis."
In the US in the 1960s there then flared a national discussion filled with concern that Americans were becoming spectators as opposed to participants. They were not participating in sports, that was the touchstone of the matter. Huge football stadiums would fill on Saturdays for the watchers of the collegiate struggles. There were thousands and thousands across the land who only watched and did not do more. The poor devils could only idly observe and see what was before them. It wasn't as real as the doing of the sport; the leisure activity was commended for the values it instilled. There are sketches to show what you can expect to see in the telescope and good directions on how to find the things you want to see. Turn Left at Orion : Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them Ultimately it is just not the book for me, if others like it then fine and that is good for them. But I still suggest that people have a look at it first rather then assume that because people say you have to have it then you go out and buy it regardless.
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Best astronomy ebook or pdf (non-hard copy) - Beginners Forum (No Astrophotography) - Cloudy Nights Being new to Astronomy about 4 years ago I have done a lot of research into books that will help me. Also living in the middle of nowhere I can't physically see most of these book before I buy, thus my research. Mostly written for the northern hemisphere observer, 'Turn left at Orion', is set out through the seasons. What I like most about this work is the size of the star maps. These maps are set out from naked eye view, then to spotter scope image, and finally a scope eyepiece view. It really is written and set out for the amateur astronomer with binoculars or a 3 inch refracting scope in mind, and is an excellent aid to go star hopping and locate the feint fuzzies of galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.
Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother at the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory) dividing his time between Tucson, Arizona and Castel Gandolfo, Italy. He studied the origin and evolution of moons and asteroids in our solar system. His telescope is a 3.5” catadioptic. My copy is gathering dust. I find that the monthly night sky suits me more and I buy that each time it appears as a new/next edition - about every two years. What a wonderful book for some introductory education on viewing the night sky! I must say I learned a great deal and will continue to reference this book during my nocturnal adventures gazing into the heavens. In general I'm not a fan of books like this. They tend to not do a good job at what they try to teach but this one is an exception. I think it will help make the night sky much more accessible to newcomers to amateur astronomy.I closed this book out with some beautiful viewing this morning around 4am, where the chilly 24 degree F temps made for a crystal clear sky. A great way to celebrate the finale of this book. Turn Left at Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope â and How to Find Them Turn Left at Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope ? and How to Find Them There is no CCD in Turn Left at Orion. The telescope you own, up to four inches in aperture, is guided by your hands and you see your way about the marvels of the night sky via the finderscope attached to your telescope proper. In this book the authors show you how to know where to find and where to look for whatever you can find within the range of the light gathering capabilities of your scope as you direct it to your eye. There are lots of astronomical objects to see, say, two thousand readily available out there per night but 1,900 could very well be boring. So what's to see as you go for doubles, galaxies, variables, nebulae, clusters, the Moon, and the planets? Follow their directions for the sky, finderscope, and in your eyepiece. There is also timely information about each class of objects and many single objects have extended accounts of their history and appearance. Current astronomical knowledge is brought in as appropriate.