Many people assume that amateur stargazers must invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars in equipment before they can enjoy the wonders of the night sky. The truth is, though, that all you need is a simple pair of binoculars. This handy, easy-to-follow guide explains how to observe everything from the moon to meteor showers with binoculars and provides safety tips for viewing eclipses. It also includes separate sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall that give advice on what to look for and how to optimize your viewing. Ideal for budding astronomers of all ages, Binocular Stargazing is the perfect way to see the night sky through new eyes.
Binocular Stargazing
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About the Author
Mike D. Reynolds is an astronomy professor and executive director emeritus of the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, as well as the book Falling Stars (0-8117-2755-6). He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is all theory! It is not the book you take with you, it is the book you read to decide what objects you want to hunt for. This book is your pre game, the star chart (NOT INCLUDED) with your highlighted points is your main event. At first I thought this book was useless, and it might be, but I bought it so I figured I better use it, and there is a good 50 pages worth of potentially useful information. In particular he lists things to look for and tell you their location. There is also a good description of the size and brightness of objects so you know what you are getting into. The other 150 pages are just filler information- for example there is a bit on how the eye works! Oh yeah, Its that awesome! (there is a nice bit on the moon though) On the scale of books, if a Five-Star was a book that hovered in the air, held the binoculars to my face and turned my head, and a One-Star was a book that kept spontaneously catching on fire - I guess this would be some where in-between.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Binoculars are popular, and an inexpensive way to get started looking at the sky. A good way to get started, if this appeals then you can move up to better equipment.
23 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The nighttime sky is truly a wonder to behold, and for a young boy just starting a lifetime of discovery, my dad's old binoculars were all I needed. When you read about the latest discovery with the Hubble space telescope, you might think that the only things worth looking at are with the biggest, best, and most expensive equipment, but it simply isn't true. If you are just getting interested in astronomy, you might want to consider Binocular Stargazing by Mike D. Reynolds.
Why start with binoculars? 1. A pair of binoculars of reasonable quality can be bought for under $[...]; a telescope of reasonable quality can cost twice as much, or much more. 2. Binoculars are easier to learn to use than a telescope. 3. Objects are easier to find with a standard pair of binoculars than a telescope, and allows a novice to begin to learn the night sky and navigate from object to object. 4. If you decide that astronomy is not for you, you can always use the binoculars for other things, and 5. Two eyes are simply better than one.
Many amateur astronomers keep a pair of binoculars when out observing. Binoculars can be useful for first examining a part of the sky before an object is located. And when that occasional fireball appears, a pair of binoculars is useful for examining the smoke trail, or train, often left behind--and if you are quick enough, the meteor itself.
Most of us have looked up at the night sky and seen what is commonly called a falling or shooting star. These momentary streaks occur when meteors, objects ranging from the size of dust particles to fist-size masses, enter the earth's atmosphere and are heated to incandescence. Few of these objects survive their encounter with our atmosphere.
What we see on earth is a streak of light that lasts about a half second on average -- generally speaking, the larger the material that enters the atmosphere, the brighter the meteor. Brighter meteors will occasionally leave a smoke trail in their path lasting a few seconds; trails produced by very bright meteors, referred to as fireballs, may last minutes. Fireballs that appear to break up, or produce sound, are called bolides.
One of the most prolific meteor showers known as the Perseids occurs in August. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream. The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14, peaking about August 12. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. To experience the shower in its full, one should observe in the dark of a clear moonless night, from a point far outside any large cities, where stars are not dimmed by light pollution-such as Cherry Springs state park.
If you are looking for a good introduction to the wonderful world of meteors and meteorite collecting, check out Falling Stars, A Guide to Meteors & Meteorites by Mike D. Reynolds. There are a number of good books out there on this subject, but this one is a handy quick reference guide for novices and those interested in learning about the origins of these interesting pieces of rock from space. It gives a brief overview of meteors and comets, descriptions of major meteor showers, major impact craters, and famous meteorite falls, as well as a breakdown of the various types of meteorites.
Backyard astronomy can be easy and fun. I'm going to make myself a big bowl of popcorn, drag my Barcaloungerä into the backyard and catch a FREE midnight show.
Kevin Coolidge wishes for clear skies at www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com
Why start with binoculars? 1. A pair of binoculars of reasonable quality can be bought for under $[...]; a telescope of reasonable quality can cost twice as much, or much more. 2. Binoculars are easier to learn to use than a telescope. 3. Objects are easier to find with a standard pair of binoculars than a telescope, and allows a novice to begin to learn the night sky and navigate from object to object. 4. If you decide that astronomy is not for you, you can always use the binoculars for other things, and 5. Two eyes are simply better than one.
Many amateur astronomers keep a pair of binoculars when out observing. Binoculars can be useful for first examining a part of the sky before an object is located. And when that occasional fireball appears, a pair of binoculars is useful for examining the smoke trail, or train, often left behind--and if you are quick enough, the meteor itself.
Most of us have looked up at the night sky and seen what is commonly called a falling or shooting star. These momentary streaks occur when meteors, objects ranging from the size of dust particles to fist-size masses, enter the earth's atmosphere and are heated to incandescence. Few of these objects survive their encounter with our atmosphere.
What we see on earth is a streak of light that lasts about a half second on average -- generally speaking, the larger the material that enters the atmosphere, the brighter the meteor. Brighter meteors will occasionally leave a smoke trail in their path lasting a few seconds; trails produced by very bright meteors, referred to as fireballs, may last minutes. Fireballs that appear to break up, or produce sound, are called bolides.
One of the most prolific meteor showers known as the Perseids occurs in August. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream. The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14, peaking about August 12. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. To experience the shower in its full, one should observe in the dark of a clear moonless night, from a point far outside any large cities, where stars are not dimmed by light pollution-such as Cherry Springs state park.
If you are looking for a good introduction to the wonderful world of meteors and meteorite collecting, check out Falling Stars, A Guide to Meteors & Meteorites by Mike D. Reynolds. There are a number of good books out there on this subject, but this one is a handy quick reference guide for novices and those interested in learning about the origins of these interesting pieces of rock from space. It gives a brief overview of meteors and comets, descriptions of major meteor showers, major impact craters, and famous meteorite falls, as well as a breakdown of the various types of meteorites.
Backyard astronomy can be easy and fun. I'm going to make myself a big bowl of popcorn, drag my Barcaloungerä into the backyard and catch a FREE midnight show.
Kevin Coolidge wishes for clear skies at www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great book!
Purchased this for my 13 year old daughter for Christmas along with the binoculars... great beginner book!
Published on January 7, 2010 by T. Wroten
Good Reference
I purchased this book as a gift for my husband. He was not extremely impressed but did mention that it was a handy book for reference on our frequent camping trips. Read more
Published on February 26, 2008 by J. Loud
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
What telescope should I buy? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
semiregular pulsating, mary eclipse, binocular stargazing, multicoated optics, binocular mounts, next minima, tude range, giant binoculars, arc minutes, binocular viewers, summer objects, binocular objects, roof prism binoculars, open cluster, arc seconds, diffuse nebula, one minima, solar observing, eclipsing binary, seventh magnitude, dark nebula, double stars, roof prisms, prism systems, star observers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Select Objects Overview, Milky Way, Southern Hemisphere, Great Orion Nebula, Northern Hemisphere, Big Dipper, Canes Venatici, Ursa Major, Corona Borealis, Double Cluster, Eta Carina, Great Andromeda Galaxy, Omega Centauri, Big Bear, Canis Major, Gamma Cas-type, Coma Berenices, Orion the Hunter, Spring Objects, Universal Astronomics, Ursa Minor, Baily's Beads, Flying Horse, Leo Minor, Little Bear New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
What telescope should I buy? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
semiregular pulsating, mary eclipse, binocular stargazing, multicoated optics, binocular mounts, next minima, tude range, giant binoculars, arc minutes, binocular viewers, summer objects, binocular objects, roof prism binoculars, open cluster, arc seconds, diffuse nebula, one minima, solar observing, eclipsing binary, seventh magnitude, dark nebula, double stars, roof prisms, prism systems, star observers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Select Objects Overview, Milky Way, Southern Hemisphere, Great Orion Nebula, Northern Hemisphere, Big Dipper, Canes Venatici, Ursa Major, Corona Borealis, Double Cluster, Eta Carina, Great Andromeda Galaxy, Omega Centauri, Big Bear, Canis Major, Gamma Cas-type, Coma Berenices, Orion the Hunter, Spring Objects, Universal Astronomics, Ursa Minor, Baily's Beads, Flying Horse, Leo Minor, Little Bear New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 55
books:
See all 55 books this book cites
- Astronomical Calendar by Guy V. Ottewell in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Stars and Planets by Patrick Moore in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Night Sky (Collins Wild Guide) (Collins Wild Guides) by Storm Dunlop in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Night Sky (Exploring the Universe (Raintree Steck-Vaughn)) by Robin Kerrod in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Choosing, Buying, and Using Telescopes and Accessories by Philip S. Harrington in Back Matter
See all 55 books this book cites
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