Turn Left At Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them

The Kindle Edition is quite a reference. But it is more than this. First, the reference part. The main point of the book is to show what objects in the sky look like, through 3 and sometimes 4 different views. The first is through a pair of good binoculars. The second is through a refractor telescope of 2.5" to 4" diameter (6 to 10 cm). The third is through a medium sized reflector scope (a 8" to 10" (20 to 25 cm) Dobson in this case). The fourth is what the object looks like through the medium sized scope using a small mm (high magnification) eyepiece. The reference section truly excels in this effort. Showing what the observer will see is so VERY important. One of the challenges in this hobby is trying to figure out whether you are looking at what you 'think' you are looking at! This book helps clarify what it is you should be seeing. Choosing inexpensive and readily available viewing equipment to show what is being seen, is genius. It will apply to a very large viewing group of amateur astronomers. If you have any type of telescope or plan to obtain one of 10" aperture (lens or mirror diameter) or less, or just using a good pair of binoculars, you want this book! If you have or want to own a larger telescope, this book will still be a good source of lining up your field of view on a sky object in low magnification before you 'jump' to higher magnifications. But the book is MUCH more than the reference noted above. It is also an excellent beginner's book. The book bypasses the need for observers to learn or know constellations. Facing learning 40 primary or all the 80+ constellations is intimidating to a beginner and puts many of them off the hobby. This knowledge is not needed to enjoy and use this book. In addition, the author explains in two or three chapters, in easy to understand terms, some astronomy basics. The book would be of value to the pre-beginner or beginner even if not yet ready for the reference sections. The reference material is primarily divided up into four seasonal skies. It is not the way I would have arranged the book, since each season actually overlaps its neighboring season depending upon the time of night and the month of that season. Thus I don't appreciate its arrangement. But I bought and am using the Kindle Edition and find searching the entire book for any word, phrase, or sky object exceedingly easy. I would not reduce my rating due to how the book is organized because of this. A fundamental approach for easy to understand writing is not introducing new words or terms to mean or stand for a new word or phrase. By this I mean it is poor writing for the beginner to learn about a "manufacturing facility" and keep interchanging or switching (using) words like 'building' or 'plant' or 'company' in place of the word 'facility' in the text. It is the downfall of authors who know the text, are educated, and a bit bored that they can't keep using the same word when they themselves have a larger vocabulary about the subject. But to the person just starting out, it is better to be consistent with the choice of words and maintain a uniform vocabulary. In this book, the author does pull a few 'switches' but not extensively. And again, with the Kindle Edition, it is easy to search all uses of a word until you find its connection to a word or phrase you've been told about previously. This book, along with NIGHTWATCH is a must for each amateur astronomer, from pre-beginner to intermediate. My only real disappointment is that there is no reference view for a large telescope (e.g., a 14" or 16" reflector). That would encompass (and help) a larger audience, albeit not all that much larger.

I have been an amateur astronomer for over 40 years. I am on our local club board and do public outreach. Heard about the book and decided it would help with my outreach with beginners (I never read it, but it has a great reputation in our club). I was pleasantly surprised because it exceeded my expectations. It covers basics really well. Going into appropriate details on telescopes, the night sky, and what to see. Sections are divided up into seasons, and it gives the best highlights for each constellation. Now, if you decided to stay as a casual observe, it may be the only book you need. If you decide to do more advanced work, you will buy more books and software. Now, here is the kicker. Even if you become a skilled astronomer, this book will remain useful. It is a great highlight summary of what to see in the sky, especially the showcase items. I find it as an easy reference if I want to do no fuss observing with a small telescope on my suburban balcony. On more in depth observations (like all nighters in the High Sierra with my 14in Dob), it is handy as an initial look at parts of the sky as an overview (though I use an advanced software sky atlas as a primary source). On cloudy days, I find myself casually flipping thru it too. It is excellent for beginners, and may continue to be useful if you advance.

Great book. I wish I had heard about it 40 years ago when it came out originally. Enormous amount of information for the price. Easy to use. A lot of common sense items for stargazers. Reflects wealth of experience in observing. It has been updated over the years. A lot of practical advice.

The content is excellent and presented in a format that will satisfy all observers from beginner to seasoned veteran. I have this edition and the previous one. This is where the rating was held at a four instead of a five. The spiral bound binding is not anywhere near as sturdy as the previous edition's hard back binding. The cover on this new version will be torn up or fall apart from constant use under dewy skies. I understand the usefulness of spiral bound books so they can be opened completely, but this one needs its cover to be beefed up in my opinion.

If you are just getting started in astronomy at any level, this is the book for you. I am heavily involved with an astronomy club in my area, and do a lot of public outreach astronomy. And over the years, I have seen a lot of different entry level astronomy books. Of what I have seen, this is the all-around best. It might be a little more expensive than some, but IMHO, it is worth every cent. What makes this book so good? Its great introductory text, which gives a brief but comprehensive overview of what it takes to enjoy the hobby of astronomy. It covers all sorts of viewing-- naked eye, binocular and telescope astronomy. The 'other' best part though, is the star charts. A wide variety of objects to look at, grouped by season, are presented. what sets this catalog apart from many others is the wide variety of objects presented. There are naked eye beginner objects and objects that will challenge even a moderately experienced observer. A selection of southern sky objects is presented as well. There is also a detailed guide to observing the moon, perhaps the best I have seen outside of a book specializing on the moon. Lastly, the book is spiral bound, so it will lie flat on a table while you are observing. Now in its fourth edition, the authors have striven to keep this book up to date. Long story short, I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

観測をするとき、何を見たらよいのか、とてもうまくまとめてあり、初心者にとって、大変良い本です。

I bought this on the strength of the reviews here as I am considering getting into astronomy and might buy myself a telescope. Opening this book I immediately felt drawn in by the friendly style, engaging text and loved the layout. I quickly found myself armed with a working understanding of some ideas that had evaded comprehension previously and couldn't wait to get started. From the infectious enthusiasm of the author I went straight outside with my bird watching binoculars and immediately found the Andromeda Galaxy, a smudge in the sky, billions of stars in a galaxy like our own Milky Way, easy to find when you know where to look, and also when you know what it is going to look like. That's how easy it is to get started with this book. Pick it up, and ten minutes later you are doing astronomy. I am looking forward to exploring the sky, now that I have an authoritative guide. Perfect gift for the scientifically curious. Should be given out free to every 10 year old child at school. When I can afford it I will probably be getting a 200mm Newtonian reflector with an equatorial mount that can be upgraded with a motorised mount and a finding computer added. There are fabulous images in books and online from big telescopes that show the hearts of galaxies in beautiful detail. These can be compared with images in this book of what you will actually see through binoculars or a telescope together with instructions on how to find them.

For identifying Sky objects.

Alles perfect, prachtig boek, dank u.

evitez la version digital, c'est en tant que atlas papier ou on vois tout sa valeur