Touring the Universe through Binoculars: A Complete Astronomer's Guidebook (Wiley Science Editions) (Paperback)

~ Philip S. Harrington (Author) "the west, the Caucasus Mountains to the north, and the Taurus Mountains to the east. No mission from Earth has ever touched its nearly crater-free..." (more)
Key Phrases: triangular asterism, spectroscopic film, larger binoculars, Object Typ, Period Comments, Milky Way (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Many works for amateur astronomers emphasize the use of telescopes, but this book shows the wealth of astronomical work that can be done with binoculars. Relegating technical details on binoculars to appendixes, Harrington, a freelance astronomy writer, introduces the reader to the solar system, stars, galaxies, and nebulae in general. He then provides a constellation-by-constellation survey, providing data on the most view-worthy deep-sky objects visible through binoculars. Throughout the book, the author carefully and consistently notes the capabilities and limitations of binoculars. Strongly recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

This comprehensive work takes you on a personal tour of the universe using nothing more than a pair of binoculars. More comprehensive than any book currently available, it starts with Earth's nearest neighbor, the moon, and then goes on to explore each planet in the solar system, asteroids, meteors, comets and the sun. Following this, the reader is whisked away into deep space to explore celestial bodies including stars that are known and many sights less familiar. The final chapter includes a detailed atlas of deep-sky objects visible through binoculars. The appendices include guidance on how to buy, care for and maintain astronomical binoculars, tips and hints on using them, and detailed information on several home-made binocular mounts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 4, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471513377
• ISBN-13: 978-0471513377
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #333,542 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Reference and Observing Guide, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

Touring the Universe Through Binoculars remains the single most authoritative source for people who want to view the night sky with binoculars. Sure, there are other books on the subject, but Touring the Universe stands apart for its thorough survey of the binocular sky. This book lists objects that the other books miss entirely (and that the authors probably don't even know exist!).

But readers should keep in mind that Touring the Universe is really aimed more toward seasoned amateur astronomers. Those new to astronomy may find some of the discussion a little beyond them, at least at this point. But you will certainly grow into the book if you stick with the hobby. And thanks to the flowing words from the author, that's an enjoyable task.

Readers should also be aware that the book does not have any star charts. That means you will need to get either a star atlas like Sky Atlas 2000 or the author's companion CD-ROM (which Amazon does not offer, but Sky Publishing and Orion Telescope Center do). It's great software even without the book!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have large binos, don't miss this book, June 14, 2000

By	Erhan A. Ozturk (Ankara, Turkey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book covers +1000 deep sky objects plus solar system objects for binoculars. It includes many faint objects that can be seen with ordinary binos under very favourable conditions so the observers with large binoculars can use this book better. Although there are +1000 objects given in the book, most of them are not explained but rather their basic data like coordinates and magnitude are given. It does not have maps so you need an atlas with this book. However; this book is very useful with its tabulated data and constellation-based organisation. You cannot find any other complete and well prepared list and data of objects visible in binoculars. The author also groups Messier objects into 4 difficulty groups which is helpful for inexperienced observers.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Guidebook for Binocular Astronomers, January 19, 1999

By	[e-mail] (California) - See all my reviews

Anyone interested in binocular astronomy should consider this book (and Binocular Astronomy by Crossen and Tirion too). The book is available through Amazon with a good discount (20%), but even so, it still costs $28 plus shipping. For a paperback book that's not cheap.

Harrington's book has a good section on the moon, the planets and the sun but the meat of the book is a blast of information on literally a thousand sky objects to see. Organizationally, the information is broken down alphabetically by constellation, with a table listing the objects and key information about them (Type, Right Ascension, Declination, Magnitude, etc.). I would have liked to have had distance too. Following each table was a brief (maybe too brief) description of each object. For list-oriented people this works well. I was inspired enough to enter them into an Access database, which was much more work than I thought it would be, and I'm not sure how useful it will turn out to be. The sheer magnitude of the list is what sets this book apart. I look at binocular astronomy as a lifelong pursuit but looking at the length of the list makes me think I'd better get started quickly. I'm running out of time!

In short, Harrington's book is a solid wealth of information but it doesn't have the same warm and fuzzy feeling of Crossen's Binocular Astronomy. It's more like a cookbook. However, if you're really interested in binocular astronomy, you'll probably want both books. If you only get one, get Crossen's book (see my review of that book too).