31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book for City Dwelling Amatuer Astronomers!, February 16, 2007
This review is from: The Urban Astronomer's Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)
Living in the South Florida Peninsula, you get used to light pollution. In 2005, I purchased my first "real" telescope and soon learned how badly light polluted South Florida really is. Although a trip to a dark sky site is only 60 miles away, I live in the suburbs outside of Miami and wanted to take advantage of my decent sized back yard. My sky's limiting magnitude is around 4, the sky towards the north is a grayish white haze where only Polaris is visible and the big dipper if high enough in the sky. The rest of the sky is a little better but after 2 years of limited success in searching for DSOs, I decided to look for help.
The Urban Astronomer's Guide may be the help I require. The book is well written and easy to follow. This book was written where beginners as well as intermediate amateur astronomers would find it interesting.
Part I of the book entitled: Telescopes and Techniques covers everything from the why one would want to observe from the city to the writers experience with types of telescopes and needed techniques to beat the light pollution blues. Mr. Mollise explains the advantages in large and short focal length telescopes and which objects benefit from either type. The author discusses in great detail the differences between the different types of Light-Pollution Reduction Filters, eyepieces, finders, computer software, print atlases, etc.
The book discuses techniques which experienced amateurs may be familiar with but beginners and intermediates may have heard have but not understand completely. Things like the use of averted vision, "jiggling" the telescope to tease out details in faint objects. Dark Adaptation is discussed and it's importance, all invaluable lessons that every amateur astronomer should learn.
Part II of the book entitled: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos is what makes this book a keeper. This section of the book goes over examples of objects that are perfect for city observation. The four chapters as you might imagine are broken up by season, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each season gives 4 lists of objects that the Author feels are viewable for the given season and time. An example of such a tour is Spring's Tour 1. Objects included in this tour are M94, M51, M106, M63, M81, M82, M101, M97, M3 and the Double Star Cor Caroli.
Each object is discussed in detail with the author's notes from his personal journal. Mr. Mollise discusses the use of filters that can enhance a particular object, magnification that should be used to view certain objects, and what you should expect to see at the eyepiece. The author also includes his personal illustrations of objects he's included in his journals, which gives you a good idea of what you should be able to see in the eyepiece. The illustrations are very good and to me are much more useful than the Hubble type images commonly seen in astronomy books.
The only thing I found a little odd about this book would be the inclusion of such difficult to see objects as M1 and M51. The author even writes: "Sadly, I have to admit that in the city it (M51) is something of a dud." He also writes: "you have to be satisfied just to say you've seen it (M1)." These are just two of several objects the author himself confesses are extremely challenging, if not impossible to view from a light-polluted location. Why not focus on objects that are less challenging? Maybe have one object at the end of each tour that might be a challenge.
This is not to say the book does not reward the reader with some surprisingly easy to see objects. I was recently treated to a "hidden treasure" in the open cluster M46. As it turns out there is a small planetary nebulae (NGC2438) within this semi-impressive cluster that makes M46 a showpiece object in my opinion. If not for this book, I may not have spent much more than 10 minutes viewing M46. I now find myself going back to it time after time just as I do with M42 and M45.
Overall the book is a good read. This book in written for beginner's with some experience and can be useful to intermediate amateurs who might not be getting the most from their telescopes due to light pollution issues within the Urban setting. Part II in particular I've found invaluable and it will definitely keep me coming back for more.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Repeat read value, July 3, 2006
This review is from: The Urban Astronomer's Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)
This is an excellent book for anyone who lives in light polluted skies (OK, this includes EVERYONE EAST of the Mississippi river, and a good part of the rest of the civilized world).
Rod's approach and writing style, make this a good book for amateur astronomer's of all levels.
The first half of the book is filled with tips, and ideas, and how-to's that are worth the price of the book alone, all designed to help everyone get the most out of their skies no matter how much light pollution they have. Nothing will make the light pollution go away, so Rod's book is the perfect inspiration for those of us who feel like giving up when we look up and see so few stars from our urban or suburban locations.
The second half holds the key to making this an outstanding book for generations to come, because Rod goes into detail with personal observation's and descriptions about a large number of objects that those of us with "darkness-challenged" skies will still be able to enjoy. All of this gives Rod's book a very high repeat read value, since Rod covers objects for all seasons, and his Southern wit, charm, and humor combine to make this a 5 stars book.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispenisble definitive guide for citybound deep-sky enthusiasts!, September 1, 2006
This review is from: The Urban Astronomer's Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)
This is a work that has been long overdue. A book on urban astronomy that focuses soley on deep-sky objects, and practical recommendations for how to view them, equipment and techniques. A most comprehensive list, more than any other book of its kind. But by no means the only things that can be seen, there are more than in this book (as I have discovered). But by showing what you can see, you can try for more.
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