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

Product Information

Praise for previous editions:‘Turn Left at Orion is an essential guide for both beginners and more experienced amateur astronomers who will find much inside to reinvigorate their passion for the stars. The diagrams are simple, clear and functional, and the text eloquently captures the excitement of observing. Stargazing has never been made so easy, and if you buy just one book on observational astronomy, make sure it's this one.' Keith Cooper, Editor, Astronomy Now I have the book and tried to read through it from cover to cover but I just can't do it. I lose interest. How exactly do those of you that love this book use it? Received this last week and working my way through. Since then, my knowledge of DSOs and their home constellations has improved dramatically. Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother at the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory), dividing his time between Tucson, Arizona and Castel Gandolfo, Italy. He studies the origin and evolution of moons and asteroids in our solar system and uses a 3.5'' catadioptic and an 8'' Dobsonian. He has been awarded the 2014 Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public. Turn Left at Orion : Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them

Your post has me wondering if you are confused, and your info is flat out incorrect as mentioned by others. Only two looks in 6 years is not giving this book a fair shake, but that's just my opinion and to eachtheir own as you found what works best for you. Turn Left at Orion : A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - And How to Find Them One thing that I find extremely helpful is a music stand to hold star maps, books like LTAO, tablet running SkySafari, etc. Ultimately it is just not the book for me, if others like it then fine and that is good for them. But I still suggest that people have a look at it first rather then assume that because people say you have to have it then you go out and buy it regardless.TLAO is great for star hopping. The detailed instructions of where to start and how to hop to the object really helped me when I got my first manual mount. The diagrams can help confirm you are actually on the subject you were looking for if you've never seen it before. I take it out to the scope when star hopping. I'd say I use it more as a guide and reference than an interesting book to read but I'd be lost without it when it comes to star hopping. Another shout-out for Turn Left at Orion. It revolutionized my star hopping, enabling me to find scores of objects I had not been able to before (both in the book and beyond). It also contains solid scientific information behind what you're seeing so, in that regard, it's a good introduction to the field of astronomy, too!

You don't need an ideal sky to engage in this love of the night sky. The perfect night with the star-crammed firmament is usually only read about. The authors mostly observed with a three-inch scope 15 miles from Manhattan. You will be outdoors observing in an environment not scripted or canned for you. It is a hobby, don't forget. Don't torture yourself; don't burden yourself with the seriousness of your intent. It isn't necessary to find useful work to do with your telescope. If it is work, is someone going to pay you? Turn left at Orion. A hundred night sky objects to see in a small telescope and how to find them. Third edition. Turn Left At Orion: Hundreds Of Night Sky Objects To See In A Home Telescope, And How To Find Them [PDF]

Praise for previous editions:‘This is quite possibly the most inviting guidebook ever written to help people with binoculars and small telescopes find, view, understand, and most of all, enjoy everything in the night sky from the Moon and planets to distant star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. And if you think it's only for beginners, think again - every telescope owner should have a copy.' Dennis Di Cicco, Senior Editor, Sky & Telescope Hi, this is not a pdf, but definitely a good read for a beginner (such as myself) never the less. A practical guide to choosing eyepieces. There are sketches to show what you can expect to see in the telescope and good directions on how to find the things you want to see.

Best astronomy ebook or pdf (non-hard copy) - Beginners Forum (No Astrophotography) - Cloudy NightsIt is kind of expensive, but I am constantly referring to it both in writing up my notes from a night's observations and to create a list of what I want to view before I go out. One of the nice things about it is that it has photos of all the Messier objects, so you known what you'll be looking at/for. A small telescope, no toenails involved, can show one million stars. There are thousands of double stars for a small telescope. Some people never go much further than the Moon. The Cosmos sparks wonder and some feel the need for powerful gadgets as an equalizer, as a hurry-up offense. The Cosmos need not put you on the defensive, you need not run at it. Why does it need to be a contest, a game like football? Into the stands you go or can you realize how important you are with the small telescope? Spectator or in the field of endeavors? Anyway of the dozen or so books I have accumulated, LTAO would certainly beone I'd suggest others should have. It gave me a solid 2 1/2 years worth of astronomy to seek out and taught me so much about the night sky. The funny thing is now that it's "done" I have become a better/improved observer, so at some point I will likely re-observe many of those objects again as I willhave a different experience the next time around. I wanted to know if anyone has recommendations for a really good pdf or ebook for new comer to astronomy, star hopping and telescopes? I just don't like hard cover/physical books. Would like something electronic. Free is a nice bonus too. Turn Left at Orion is an essential guide for both beginners and more experienced amateur astronomers who will find much inside to reinvigorate their passion for the stars. The diagrams are simple, clear and functional, and the text eloquently captures the excitement of observing. Stargazing has never been made so easy and if you buy just one book on observational astronomy, make sure it's this one.' Keith Cooper, Editor, Astronomy Now

B.A. and M.A. at MIT, Ph.D. at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, all in planetary science. After postdoctoral research and teaching at Harvard College Observatory and MIT, in 1983 he joined the US Peace Corps to serve in Kenya for two years, teaching astronomy and physics. After his return he took a position as Assistant Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The authors' directions are not difficult to understand, for example, to find a triple star named Beta Monocerotis in the constellation called Monoceros - "Find Orion, high above the southern horizon, and find the very bright red star, Betelgeuse...Then, from Orion, turn left and follow the stars in Orion's belt which point to the southeast towards a dazzling blue star, Sirius...A little less than halfway between Sirius and Betelgeuse you'll find two faint stars, lying in an east-west line. Aim for the one to the east, the one away from Orion. That's Beta Monocerotis." Once seen, whatever it is, are you done? How about a different filter? A different altitude or attitude? Different eyepieces, different magnification, collimation, new seasons, new hours of the night, differing temperature, the mud of spring or the frost of autumn, and a differing time of your life? You ultimately see with your mind. How have you changed? What you see will then change. The secrets of the starry night change too. After delving into how to use a telescope, the book teaches how to locate specific objects in the night sky, and how to use a telescope to see the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. It even talks about how to locate and utilize geostationary satellites. Getting to Beta is not difficult. Other celestial objects that the authors have selected for you are somewhat more difficult to locate and some are easier to find. Currently in amateur astronomy, there is a divide that is getting larger with every new computer-driven scope that comes on the market. They do the finding for you. These scopes are usually referred to as GOTOs. To GO-TO or not to GO-TO? This matter was mentioned earlier but it does bear amplification as the entire nature of amateur astronomy is changing.If one were giving an autodidact a telescope, they should also give them this book. There is only a chapter's worth of true reading -- maybe 15% of the book -- but much of that is the information that unfortunately didn't come with the telescope itself. The remainder of the book has very practical astronomical targets--organized by season so you are looking for objects high in the sky--along with very practical approaches on how to actually see them through your eyepiece. Diagrams are also provided that illustrate how they might appear depending on what type of instrument you are using. I would recommend this for any new owner of any decent telescope who is without access to a decent astronomy community to learn from--particularly if they've been frustrated by a few unsuccessful first attempts and are getting discouraged. Don't give up; get this book instead. In Turn Left at Orion, Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis are of the opinion that amateur astronomy is not made up of GOTO telescopes and CCD apparatus. With GOTO scopes, a computer finds the celestial object for you by knowing where the object is and by how much to move the telescope until the object is seen in the eyepiece of the scope. You are a low-level operator, you sit in the stands, and the computer plays the game. No virtues are instilled. A CCD (charged coupled device) digitizes an image of the astronomical beauty and you, again as an operator, see what it sees for you. A machine in each case is doing it for you. Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope – and How to Find Them Authors:Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis The example pictures are excellent for both encouragement ("wow, I'll be able to see all that?") and for helping one find the objects.