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. 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: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them Praise for previous editions:‘Turn Left at Orion is an essential guide for both beginners and more experienced amateur astronomers who will find much inside to reinvigorate their passion for the stars. The diagrams are simple, clear and functional, and the text eloquently captures the excitement of observing. Stargazing has never been made so easy, and if you buy just one book on observational astronomy, make sure it's this one.' Keith Cooper, Editor, Astronomy Now

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.One thing that I find extremely helpful is a music stand to hold star maps, books like LTAO, tablet running SkySafari, etc. Getting to Beta is not difficult. Other celestial objects that the authors have selected for you are somewhat more difficult to locate and some are easier to find. Currently in amateur astronomy, there is a divide that is getting larger with every new computer-driven scope that comes on the market. They do the finding for you. These scopes are usually referred to as GOTOs. To GO-TO or not to GO-TO? This matter was mentioned earlier but it does bear amplification as the entire nature of amateur astronomy is changing. Received this last week and working my way through. Since then, my knowledge of DSOs and their home constellations has improved dramatically. So you are at a remove from the stars. Less patient are you to wait for the stars to reveal themselves to you,to see faintly what you had not seen before. Once it was that the lumpy patch of light becomes pretty, pleasing, charming. Tiny, grainy clouds of stars or hazy fields of light can become an awesome immensity of grandeur and delicacy. Superb powdery clusters of stars can be seen in bold sweeps across rich star zones. The colors of the stars can be red, yellow, blue, cream, gray, bronze, gold, tawny, lilac, green, and white. The glittering remote glorious regions contain a lifetime of visual pleasantries.

It gives very clear and concise instructions about finding different stars, constellations and other astronomical sights. Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope – and How to Find Them Authors:Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis You can on this job, if you insist in getting into such a state, be as emotional as you want. "No detector matches the human eye in capturing subtlety and emotion. No computer guider can give you the serendipity of the things seen on the way to the things sought."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. 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. 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. The book covers some basic information about telescopes and some of the things you should consider while using them, including a nice section about the two major types of reflecting telescopes, and an even better section that explains some basic math for determining resolution, magnification, focal ration, and field of view. The importance of those numbers is briefly explained, as well as the easiest ways to determine them for your particular set-up.

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. Never understood the reason behind showing you what the view should be like through the eyepiece. Simply none seem to match the reality. What scope 70mm or 200mm both these days are small and common. One person recently started with a 12" reflector. I can see the idea behind it but the reality just did not seem to correspond. Throw in that these days there are 50 degree plossl's up to 100 degree ES eypieces. 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. Anyway of the dozen or so books I have accumulated, LTAO would certainly beone I'd suggest others should have. It gave me a solid 2 1/2 years worth of astronomy to seek out and taught me so much about the night sky. The funny thing is now that it's "done" I have become a better/improved observer, so at some point I will likely re-observe many of those objects again as I willhave a different experience the next time around. Hi, this is not a pdf, but definitely a good read for a beginner (such as myself) never the less. A practical guide to choosing eyepieces.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. Turn Left at Orion is an essential guide for both beginners and more experienced amateur astronomers who will find much inside to reinvigorate their passion for the stars. The diagrams are simple, clear and functional, and the text eloquently captures the excitement of observing. Stargazing has never been made so easy and if you buy just one book on observational astronomy, make sure it's this one.' Keith Cooper, Editor, Astronomy Now An exceptionally useful text, irrespective of whether you are a novice observer or a seasoned veteran. The changes that have been made to the book are so substantial that even those who own earlier ones will find it refreshingly new. It's not just recommended, it's simply a must have!' Astronomy Now