A Stargazing Program for Beginners: A Pocket Field Guide

Astronomer's Pocket Field Guide

by Jamie Carter

Sets out a simple month-by-month program to reveal all of the night sky's biggest and most beautiful secrets in just one year – and with only a few hours of stargazing each month
 By investing just an hour a week and $50 in binoculars, it’s possible to learn a few simple techniques and quickly gain a real insight into the night sky's ever-changing patterns – and what they tell us about Earth, the seasons and ourselves. Searching more for a learned appreciation of nature and our exact place within the cosmos than academic scientific knowledge, science and travel writer Jamie Carter takes the reader on a 12 month tour of the night sky's incredible annual rhythms that say so much about Earth. During the journey he learns about the celestial mechanics at work in the skies above that are – to the beginner – almost beyond belief. As well as the vital constellations and clusters, and the weird and wonderful nebulas, he searches out “dark sky destinations” across the globe that help increase knowledge and give a new perspective on familiar night sky sights. On the journey he witnesses a solar eclipse and grapples with star-charts, binoculars, smartphone apps, telescopes, spots satellites and attempts basic astro-photography.  By year's end, the reader will be able to glance at the night sky from anywhere on the planet and tell what direction he or she is facing, what time it is, where all the planets are and even where the Galactic Center Point is. 

Genres: Astronomy, Science, Reference, Nonfiction

435 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2015

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice month to month introduction to what you can see in the northern hemisphere throughout an entire year. Also includes items that can been seen in the south and a lot of resources. Start out with what we can see by just your eyes, then moving into binocular range and finally involving telescopes.

[ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent read at all levels. A lot of information and good humor. A good book for intermediate stargazers that already started stargazing but lack more information and time.

[Aprilleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be difficult to use as a reference book, but it's not intended to be so that's fine. The layout is pretty simple. The first 12 of 15 chapters covers those things you could see using a $50 pair of binoculars during the month in question (starting with January, of course). Some observations will benefit from a telescope, but for the most part that isn't necessary. The idea is that you work your way through each chapter in only a few hours each week. The basics of stargazing and astronomy are sprinkled throughout the chapters in a slow, steady introduction to the night sky. The recommended observations get more complex as you work through the chapters, but nothing outside the range of a beginner. It's genius. Just make sure you read the preface so you understand why the book's organization looks so haphazard if you flip to one of the main chapters to start browsing.

To get full value from this book, you'll need to live in the mid-North latitudes (most of the USA and Europe). Slightly higher or lower latitudes will still be able to use the book, but some things may not be visible from those locations.

The last three chapters cover the Southern sky (the author calls it "upside-down stargazing"), eclipses and auroras (very location-dependent), and finding dark skies. There's a lot to see in the Southern skies, but since most users of this book will likely only get the chance on a short vacation, the author limits himself to a few of the most spectacular sights that are visible year-round. The section on eclipses and auroras talks about how, why, and where they happen, and how to go about locating and observing one. The section on dark skies talks about where to find the darkest skies, how to prepare for a dark sky session and what to bring, and discusses some ancient constellations and star patterns that are difficult to see now because of extensive light pollution. All three of these final chapters involve a fair bit of travelling for the average mid-Nothern latitude stargazer. Despite the unconventional layout, this one is very nicely done.

[Kadri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great starting out with the basics and everything you can see with the naked eye and going through the seasons and different objects to observe or take note of. Very enjoyable and not at all boring read as just an atlas can sometimes be.