Product Description

On a clear, starry night, the jewelled beauty and unimaginable immensity of our Universe is awe-inspiring. Star-gazing with binoculars is rewarding and may begin a lifelong hobby! Patrick Moore has painstakingly researched Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars to describe how to use binoculars for astronomical observation. He explains basic astronomy and the selection of binoculars, then discusses the stars, clusters, nebulae and galaxies that await the observer. The sky seen from northern and southern hemispheres is charted season by season, with detailed maps of all the constellations. The reader can also observe the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and meteors. With many beautiful illustrations, this handbook will be helpful and encouraging to casual observers and those cultivating a more serious interest. The enjoyment of amateur astronomy is now available to everybody.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1229041 in Books
• Published on: 1996-02-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
‘… a useful beginner’s guide to the binocular sky.’ Sky and Telescope ‘Binocular astronomy is currently enjoying something of a renaissance, so it is a pleasure to see this new edition of Patrick Moore’s super book, which helped usher in the new era when it was originally published in 1987. Since then, this has been the introduction to the night sky that I’ve recommended more than any other … If you know of someone whose enthusiasm for the night sky has been inspired, perhaps by recent views of Comet Hyakutake, I can think of no better gift than a pair of binoculars and a copy of this excellent book.’ Brian Kelly, The Observatory

‘This book would be a good buy for someone new to astronomy as it covers all aspects of observational work at a fairly basic level and would continue to be a useful information source for many years to come.’ Linda Roberton, Astronomy Now

‘This is the third edition of this useful book ... It is written in Patrick Moore’s well-known, easy-to-read, personal style ... This book is a good general introduction to the night sky using binoculars and it should encourage the reader to go and look for themselves.’ Alan Dowdell, Webb Society Reviews

Customer Reviews

Poor value for money
I'm new to amateur astronomy and wrestled with this book for about a week to the point of extreme frustration. What the author glaringly omits is how the beginner should navigate their way around the night sky and instead he provides poor sky charts followed by moderately detailed constellation maps. Not wanting to give up so easily I decided to purchase "Nightwatch: a Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe" by Terence Dickenson (ring bound) which is a superb book for the beginner and shows Moore's book for what it is - a bad field guide with some interesting textual content. Dickenson teaches the beginner to navigate using obvious constellations as signposts and my first night out with the book was extremely productive. Save your money and buy Dickenson's book instead.

Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars.
I have to agree with other reviewers Nightwatch is by far the better book, don't waste your money on Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars buy Nightwatch instead. Nightwatch also spells out what can be seen with binoculars. The layout and stucture is miles better.

Worth the money, but not very accessible
I got this, as it was recommended by a local astronomy club.
Initially I found it quite difficult for the same reasons commented on by other reviewers. However with the help of a lot of astronomy software which I downloaded free from the web, which produced more easily understandable star maps ( which importantly were accurate to the day of the observation ) I was able to get started.

Once I had cracked the first half dozen constellations, the contents of Moores book clicked with me and I found it a valuable source of extra and more detailed information.
However I would criticise the book from teh perspective that it does not really start at the very begining and the constellation charts are too busy ordetailed for the very beginner making them confusing. Although I think this book is good, I would not recommend it alone for the absolute beginner.