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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
A very well written "motivator"., December 4, 2003
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
I have had a lifelong interest in astronomy;in fact it was ranked very high as a possible career choice when I was (a LOT) younger. After reading this book , it left me wishing that it had been available sooner. It stands alone in a field filled with "guidebooks" , for it assists both the rank beginner and the old duffers in finding some of the most beautiful and interesting objects in the heavens.Let me state that this is not a children's book. It is not overly technical , but assumes that the individual using it is somewhat equipped for the hobby (obsession?) with at least a pair of binoculars , and probably is able to buy or obtain access to a small "backyard" telescope. For a properly equipped individual, this is a real "guided tour" that certainly stimulates the appetite for "more". The book is divided into sections that the author describes as "near space" and "deep space". Near space consisting of the Moon and other Solar System objects ; planets , the Sun , comets , etc. , and deep space being all extra-solar system objects , such as double stars , nebulae , star clusters , and galaxies. For me , the book was a great re-motivator. I found that I had never really "lost interest" -my interest was simply dormant , and for my part I must give Phil Harrington alot of credit. This is a soft cover book , so it accompanies me outside ; I make notes in the margins and have come to regard it as a friend come over to help me find new objects , an re-find things I could find many years ago and had forgotten. I rated the book on the following points: content (information)-5 stars; readability-5 stars ; clarity of instructions-5 stars. It isn't a glitzy "coffee table" book ; it was meant to be used. So--5 stars all the way!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
The best text for those newly introduced to the skies, June 16, 2004
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
I am a serial hobbyist. I pick up a new hobby about once every year (and keep most of my old ones) and this year it's astronomy. With any new hobbies I check out maybe a dozen books from the library to read about the subject straight from the firehose. By then I know what books I'd like to keep."Sky Watch" is as important to me as my telescope! My telescope does not have the computerized automatic finder so I have to search for galaxies I'd like to see. This book has all my favorites listed and it's well drawn diagrams get me there in a hurry. The book is very similar to "Turn Left at Orion", which appears to be the most popular in the category (and deservedly so.) "Turn Left's" diagrams assume more familiarity with the constellations so you can stumble a little bit, but it's "naked eye/telescope" views help you zero in on smaller object if the telescope's optical rotation of the view confuses you. I believe "Sky Watch's" diagrams are easier to read and navigate, and will get you to the region-of-interest quicker. Buy "Sky Watch" first, use a low-power eyepiece when seeking, and put in a high power eyepiece when you've found it. Use "Turn Left" when you need to hop from star to star using a high-power eyepiece. Using this book as your guide, you will quickly develop an "astronomer's head" for finding your favorite celestial objects, and the ability to make good use out of any optics, whether it be binoculars, a basic telescope, or some money-is-no-object major league light-bucket.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Star Watch, Great Finding Charts , Seasonal Window Charts!!, October 1, 2004
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
A well done book (soft cover) with Seasonal Finding Charts, Complete Famed Messier Catalog (110 of the Clusters, Nebula, and Galaxies thru most backyard telescopes)and brighter NGC'S. Even Maps of the Moon's features plenty for the casual observor as myself, Bonus Info on Double Stars, Planets as well !! Beautifully done. Wish I had this book years ago, even if you have the latest goto telescopes is a fantastic aid as lists what to expect to see with binoculars, 3 to 5 inch telescopes, and larger. Does not photograph every item but still enough to wet the appetite. Also a Great Value Book !! Just under 300 pages of pure enjoyment !!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Good book for the beginner, January 11, 2005
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
This is one very well thought out book...but then again it is written by Phil Harrington, an authority on all things astronomy. The book covers everything from observing the moon and planets to deep sky objects. Seeing that it was a spin off from Phil's observing section in Starware, it has all his "at the eyepiece" sketches. What I found particularly helpful were the detailed star maps. Right up there with Turn Left at Orion. Highly recommended for the beginner!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Harrington's Star Watch Shines, August 20, 2005
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
An excellent beginner's book or a back-to-basics guide for expeienced observers, Harrington meticulously lays-out the celestial sphere and ways to find and enjoy it's wonders.
This patient step by step approach not only teaches the fundamentals and skills of stargazing, but calibrates our expectation realistically regrarding what we can expect to see depending on the instrument we use and the local conditions.
Harrington selects for us 125 fascinating objects to observe
using them to develop techniques for finding and viewing.
I would recommend this work as a great primer for neophyte amateur astronomers.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Great book for any amateur astronomer!, August 9, 2004
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
This book is just awesome! It is written in a way where you don't feel that you're reading an Atlas.Two months ago, I was going to buy a GOTO telescope but this book saved me my money. It gave me my hope of finding objects on my own back and I was indeed able to find a lot of deep sky objects easily. I don't even need to take a star chart with me outside when I observe anymore. This book has everything I need. Definitely recommended to anyone who wants to know where deep sky objects are in the sky in a detailed way.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Great Book for observing, December 1, 2004
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
This book is well written and covers all of the basics for someone who is relatively new to learning and viewing the night sky. It has the typical basics, includes star charts and B&W photos and sketches of objects, and arranges objects by season which makes it easier to use. The best part about the book is the rating system that Phil uses to let you know what to expect for each object. It covers all the Messier objects, and includes additional objects of interest. Definately worth getting!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Essential tool, September 23, 2007
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
As others have said, this is not a glossy, colorful coffee-table book. In fact, you won't find any color pictures in this book at all. Just lots of black and white text and drawings. And yet, I have found this book to be one of the most useful astronomy guides. Why? Two main reasons.
First of all, the star charts. The author shows you how to "star-hop" from a bright star to an obscure deep sky object, which makes finding it so much easier. He also includes textual directions on how to find the object, step by step, star by star.
Second reason is expectations. As the owner of a 6" telescope, I used to be disappointed when I first started this hobby that the views of deep sky objects weren't as fabulous as I had expected from seeing colorful pictures of nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. Frequently these items seemed like just fuzzy, ghostly grayish images to me. Well, as this book explains, that's how they look to most of us with medium (6" to 8" telescopes). And to the naked eye they will never look as colorful as they do in photographs. This book rates objects by how they would look in binoculars, small telescopes of 3" to 5", and medium telescopes of 6" to 8". He'll also tell you how easy or hard it is to find every object, and what you can expect to see in each type of instrument. He also includes his own sketches of how some of these objects look through his 8" reflector. Often they look not much better than how I see them in my 6" reflector, which is a great comfort.
Excellent book for amateur astronomers - it will tell you exactly how to find the most interesting objects and what to expect to see once you do find them, depending on what instrument you're using.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
NOT for BEGINNERS, February 23, 2008
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
I am sorry to give this book two stars. It is probably a good book, but it is NOT for beginners, so I gave the low stars to get the attention of people who were on the fence or wondering whether it was appropriate for beginners. It is not motivating or engaging at all for real newbies. Not for people who have never cracked a book on astronomy. It is filled with the kind of details that bog down someone trying to gauge investigate interest. I share the sentiments of the other person (so far) who gave it two stars. No photographs. Nothing really basic. I highly recommend NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe. It has all the things this book does not: beautiful photographs, comprehensive but understandable content, and an engaging tone.NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Star Watch (Philip Harrington): A Beginners Review for Beginners, January 29, 2009
This review is from: Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning About over 125 Celestial Objects (Paperback)
Preface and Introduction
If like me you've come across this title as a beginner in astronomy than you probably are interested in getting some equipment and some literature to help you learn more about the night sky. I would even bet you like me got started by simply being amazed at what the starry looks like at night when it's truly dark. No telescope, no binoculars or anything just the awe and amazement.
I really wanted to take a moment and make this post for those who are just like me and just getting started, those who are lost on what equipment to purchase or which books to consider. These two choices alone can be very overwhelming.
No review is any good without some knowledge of the reviewer. My name is Tim and I'm 28 years old. My knowledge of astronomy is very limited where as I can name a few of the more prominent constellations and understand the basics of the Moon. That's really about it. I have always been fascinated with space and enjoy television shows about space. So take this into account when you read my mini-review here. This truly is a beginner speaking and I hope to offer insights that other beginners will find helpful and useful.
About the Book
Star Watch by Philip S. Harrington is a paperback book of 304 pages and measures 9.25-inches by 7.50-inches. Its a nice size book and fits easily in the lap and the hands. The binding seems to be of good quality and the pages are a nice medium weight. The book contains many black-and-white photographs (more on this below) as well as star charts for each season and other various diagrams. It is by design a guide to "Finding, Observing and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects" as the title accurately describes.
Review Topics
I'm going to offer my thoughts on this book in these specific categories: Purpose, Content, Readability, Photographs and Visual Aids, Layout and Overall Thoughts.
Purpose: Does this book meet its objective for the reader?
What I want to discuss here is does this book make good on what it claims to do (help you find and learn about things in space). In my opinion yes it does. Other than knowing a few constellations I don't know much about the sky that I can see. This book helps immensely with that. Star Watch helps you find the objects by naming the constellation to start in and then general "directions" to get to the object. As if someone game you their address, they would give you the house number, street name, city name, then state and so forth. This book does this process in reverse to get you zeroed in on the objective. You will be guided to a constellation, then directed within that constellation to the area of that you are looking for. This book sets out to get you to the objects and does this in a simple to use fashion. I've had good success finding things.
Content: What's covered?
Star Watch covers many objects over 125 and more than that it covers a nice diversity of different types of objects. You will not be just looking at planets, or just the moon. But rather a mix of different space objects. This alone really helps to teach about how diverse space really is. More than little light specs space holds many different and unique things to see and explore and Star Watch will help get you there.
Readability: How is reading the book?
I would like to say that this book is made to be a guide rather than a fun space facts reading book but please don't let this detract from this book at all. In fact I find this book a good balance between a strict guide and fun fact trivia book. If you want a colorful flashy book for the coffee table that showcases the magic about space (but can't take you there) than this book is not for you. However if you wonder what is up there, want to learn about it then actually see it yourself than this book is exactly what you want. Star Watch does a good job of teaching you about what it will help you find and see.
The layout of this book is also a welcome tool for learning. The first few chapters the reader can basically read through in order. They cover the basics and help set the foundation for your viewing sessions. The later parts of the book are set up by seasons, which makes it a valuable tool and more of a reference style reading material. Very helpful here is where you will skip to your particular season and start looking for things.
Each season is divided into Sky Windows and they again go into more detail of the skies. The layout really does work well. Skip to which season you are currently in and then start from there. Star Watch does a good job of telling what you will see and when.
On the other side of that coin Star Watch also contains a catalog of the Messier Objects (object first observed and cataloged by Charles Messier) and a catalog of the planets and constellations. These are strictly reference materials and very helpful.
Photographs and Visual Aids
I really appreciate that Star Watch has used black-and-white photographs. Why? Simple because the view I see through my binoculars is also black-and-white! This really helps me to get an idea of what I should see through my viewing equipment. The star charts are black dots on white background (think a negative of the night sky) but still they are quite readable and useful. Not every object is pictured but every object is given ample descriptive remarks. There are more than enough photographs in this book to help get you going.
Also found in Star Watch are a wide variety of star charts and constellation diagrams. These too work very well and with the photographs help dial the viewer on the destination. I also like the included tables that offer even more information on objects and other neat facts.
This book is much more than text but not a strict visual book either. I am quite pleased with this aspect.
Layout
Like I said above the first few chapters are read in order and serve to ground you on the start of your journey. Other parts of the book offer strict diagrams and other offer season guides to be used with what ever season you are currently in. The layout is quite good and easy to navigate.
What I really like is that each object has its own section and has its own rating on how easy it is to find with both binoculars and telescopes as well as the "wow factor" for how impressive it will look.
This guide is a great balance between guide and fun reading.
Overall Thoughts
This is my very first astronomy book and I must say it's a great introduction to this hobby. Currently I'm strictly a binocular user so I wanted a book that wasn't mostly about telescopes. Admit it when you think astronomy you think telescopes, so do a lot of authors. But Star Watch is great because it breaks things down for the binocular user, the small telescope user and the large telescope user and lays out what each one of those will see. If anything this book makes it more tempting to get a telescope too, but I would recommend binoculars first.
This book is a great companion of my binoculars. Binoculars are by their design more suited for sweeping the sky in search of objects. That alone makes binoculars the best choice for the beginners who like me are learning the sky. While you may get more magnification with a telescope, binoculars will help you learn the sky faster and easier because you can sweep the heavens far easier.
Also binoculars offer a wide field of view that make them great for the star clusters and Nebula that Star Watch will point you to. I highly recommend this book and a decent pair of binoculars. Later when you get a telescope this book will move right along with you (not every single object is viewable with binoculars).
Star Watch by Philip Harrington and binoculars has been my first step into astronomy and it has been a great one. I highly recommend this book to compliment you binoculars especially, but this book is also just as valuable to you folks with your first telescope. Either way Star Watch will get you out there and guide you to amazing things. Great for the beginner and a title that I'm sure will grow with you as your skills improve. Highly recommended!
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