Customer Reviews

Visual Astronomy Under Dark Skies: A New Approach to Observing Deep Space

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I found the title of the book to be misleading. A better title would have been "Using Video Astronomy Equipment in the Desert." The author is certainly keen on using image intensifiers (night vision eyepieces) and video cameras attached to his scope. Had I known what the book was really about; I wouldn't have purchased it.

The other reviewer is correct, the title of this book is woefully misleading. By "visual" the author appears to mean live electronic imaging as opposed to time-exposure images.

In particular, this book is about using the Collins I3 image intensifier, by itself and in conjunction with a Stellacam II. I've never seen any mention of the I3 image intensifier, so if you have this gadget the book is probably one you should have.

There's a little on the Stellacam II, but really you would do better with Deep-Sky Video Astronomy (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) Here it's exclusively paired with the I3.

The author includes a lot of other general information about packing up for a trip to a dark site and includes photos (captured via Stellacam) of what you can see with his giant Dobsonian. But the writing style is pretty wordy and the photos are not very exciting.

So I rate this as a kind of niche book, not something for the general reader.

For more on this technology, see the Collins website at [...], as of Jan. 2012 they're showing a price tag of $3000 for the I3 image intensifier!