Deep-sky observing - that is looking at the stars, nebulae and galaxies - is easily the most popular field for amateur astronomers. The big problem faced by non-professional observers is what to look at - what is visible at a particular time of year.…
Getting started in amateur astronomy can be frustrating. Without a helpful friend to lend advice, choosing a telescope, learning the buzzwords, or viewing the deep sky season by season can seem daunting. Now amateur astronomers can turn to The Guide…
Getting started in amateur astronomy can be frustrating. Without a helpful friend to lend advice, choosing a telescope, learning the buzzwords, or viewing the deep sky season by season can seem daunting. Now amateur astronomers can turn to The Guide…
While there are guides to the visible sky, this is the first book to encompass the most important stars known in the universe at a level accessible to the layperson. The noted astronomer James Kaler takes us on a tour of the 100 most interesting…
Steve O'Meara has been called "the best visual planetary observer of modern times." The first to spot Comet Halley on its return in 1985, the first to determine the rotation period of Uranus, he now turns his amazing visual skills to the deep…
The bright galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae catalogued in the late 1700s by the famous comet hunter Charles Messier are still the most widely observed celestial wonders in the sky. The second edition of Stephen James O'Meara's acclaimed observing…
mateur astronomers today are exceptionally fortunate to be living in an era when high quality, and very large, optics are so affordable. In the first half of the 20th century the telescope deluxe for the amateur was the 6-inch refractor. However,…
Amateur astronomers today are exceptionally fortunate to be living in an era when high quality, and very large, optics are so affordable. In the first half of the 20th century the telescope deluxe for the amateur was the 6-inch refractor. However,…
From the Author’s Foreword
For most of my observing life the faint outlines of the Milky Way were obscured by light pollution at my home observatory in Pennsylvania. From time to time I would venture forth to truly dark observing sites like the Texas…