Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomers Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects
- Category: Reference
- Author: Leslie C. Peltier, Philip S.Harrington
- Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
- Pages: 316
- ISBN: 9781630261696
- Year: 2003
Hits: 3081
Lent status: Available
Review
The night sky is alive with wonders, especially for those who know what to look for. Star Watch is a complete beginners guide to finding and observing celestial objects. Readers learn to identify things like the surface features on the Moon, the banded cloud tops of Jupiter, and other objects in our solar system, as well as learn how to locate star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, including the entire Messier catalog -- a primary goal for every serious beginner. For each object, Harrington provides a "Sky Window" finder chart and concise directions for locating it, as well as a description and often a photo or drawing of what the object looks like through different types of instruments. He also provides guidance on the best magnifications to use, tips on specific features to look for, and physical descriptions of each object, including size, distance, and structure, as well as scientific explanations of what you are looking at.