Orion Telescope Observer's Guide: 60 Easy Celestial Objects For Beginners

by Richard J. Bartlett

Great Book!

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything the newbie needs except a telescope. Includes star charts and a page dedicated to each astronomical feature. Those pages include a description and three visualization tools to zoom in on the feature.

[Aprilleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice beginner's guide that won't overwhelm even those just starting to dip their toes into this hobby. I personally recommend starting with a binocular-viewing guide before digging into the wonders of the telescope, but for the impatient this is one of the gentlest introductions I've ever seen. The first 38 pages talk about basic telescopes you can purchase from Orion, as well as other equipment you'll probably want, before getting into some helpful tips. The author also spends some time talking about the kinds of objects you can see (deep-sky objects, solar system objects, multiple stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies) and ends with a brief discussion of how to locate things in a star chart. He includes 24 charts (which will not replace a decent planisphere due to quality issues) and observing lists that cover what you can see throughout the year from the mid-Northern latitudes (the USA and Europe). From pages 67-132 each of the more than 60 objects curated as being suitable for a beginner are described in some detail, along with small diagrams to help you locate each of them. He includes right angle (R.A.) and declination for those with a GoTo scope or more experience, but also provides some limited information about how to find it the old-fashioned way (for a truly outstanding guide that uses the star-hopping technique see Guy Consolmagno's Turn Left at Orion). He provides a few pages of a simple log and ends with lists of objects by constellation, some useful planetary data, a complete list of the constellations (including those not visible from the mid-Northern latitudes), and a brief glossary. Your skills will outgrow this one quickly, but you'll have some fun while you're doing it.