Product Description

Many people dream about exploring the heavens with a telescope but are often disappointed because they do not know how to use one properly. This guide reveals what to expect from a telescope and how to choose the right one, and gives explanations of how they work, and how to progress from first-time user to hobby observer. It gives practical help for setting up and using any telescope, and provides lists of objects to look at with different sizes of telescope, from both town and country, including the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, asteroids, stars, clusters, variable stars, double stars, novae and supernovae, nebulae and galaxies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #324071 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From the Author
I am preparing an update of this book during 2002 and welcome readers' suggestions or comments. Please visit the book's website, where you can find more information about buying and choosing a telescope.
Robin Scagell

Customer Reviews

I returned an expensive present once I read this book...
Did you know that a 'spotter' scope with fantastic zoom capabilities may not be the best telescope for viewing the stars? I didn't until I read this book - so I returned an expensive gift and reinvested the refund in something more suitable. You can save yourself hundreds (and possibly thousands) of pounds reading this short, handy book before buying a telescope.

As well as some easy to understand basics about telescopes, Scagell provides excellent case studies of what type of telescope are suited to particular owners, based on budget, where you live and how you think you might use it. Do you really need expensive and complex computerised tracking? Do you plan to use your telescope to take photos? What accessories do you need right away, and which are 'nice to have' and worth waiting for? Are you prepared to compromise on portability and maybe buy - or even build - something that may give better stargazing than a flashy, more expensive and more temperamental alternative?

One of the best pieces of advice (and difficult to swallow, if you've already been browsing telescope catalogues!) is that you may just be better off with binoculars to start with.

Scagell backs all of this advice with great stuff on what to look for when you finally find the telescope that's right for you: finding your way around the constellations, gazing at the moon, planets, satellites, etc, etc.

This is a great foundation for a backyard astronomer. For the price of a couple of astronomy magazines, you may well prevent a once-cherished telescope gathering dust under the bed because it was never meant to do the job you wanted it to do.

Just what I was looking for
A book pact with enthusiasm for the subject, and being new to astronomy it has given me all the info I need to buy a telescope (which I now have) and launched me into this wonderful world, Buy it before you buy a telescope.

If you want to learn to use a telescope,get this book
If you want to learn constellations, how to use a telescope to the best of it's ability, or you are looking to buy binoculars or a telescope, don't bother with other books, just buy this one. It is very useful for both someone who has never touched a telescope and those who are a little more seasoned.