Customer Reviews

Spherical Astronomy

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I am only aware of a few books on the subject of spherical astronomy (which might be summarized as the science of pointing a telescope at an astronomical target). There is the voluminous and technical Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac published by the US Naval Observatory in cooperation with the British Royal Observatory, the dated Textbook on Spherical Astronomy by W. M. Smart first published in 1931, and this book. The first book is not a good introduction to the subject, although it would be considered the authoritative reference by practitioners. The second book is getting quite long in the tooth, although it has gone through at least six editions including one revision by the author of the current book. Then there is this book, which covers the subject using thoroughly modern notation and covers both general and special relativity as they affect the pointing of telescopes, which are missing from W. M. Smart's book. Furthermore, I find the author does very well at explaining the subject at the level of an advanced undergraduate (with the exception of the coverage of general relativity, which requires more background in physics).

So if you are interested in learning how to point a telescope, or you want to understand the derivations of the formulas in the "Explanatory Supplement", this is the book for you.