Star Maps for Beginners: 50th Anniversary Edition
February 15, 2011 by Actaphysica
Filed under Mathematical Physics Book Reviews
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You might want to wait for the next edition.,
I was disappointed with this book for two reasons. I wanted help locating the planets, but the 50th anniversary edition is obsolete. The book contains charts showing which constellations the planets could be found in for 1992 — 1997, but I bought the book in 1998! The charts also don’t include Uranus and Neptune. These two shortcomings limit the value of this book for anyone who uses it, but primarily for the beginning amateur astronomer who might not have enough interest to seek another source.
I did find the star charts to be very easy to use on my first-ever attempt to use a star chart to find constellations. For about an hour, I preferred these charts to the more conventional (and more cluttered) monthly charts from Sky & Telescope Magazine. I quickly learned to appreciate the extra detail in the magazine’s chart and felt as if I had “graduated” to a “real” star chart. Perhaps, if I were younger, I would feel differently.
I appreciated s! ome of the other aspects of the book. It has a very understandable description of star magnitude and brightness ratio. It also has an interesting section on Meteors. I also enjoyed the brief history of ancient star maps and the origins of the constellation names.
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Expect to Wear Out Your Copy,
My tattered copy sitting on the shelf as I write this attests to it’s value. I’m no major astronomer in any sense of the word, but a major part of what I DO know about the night sky was gleaned from its pages. It is what the title suggests: “For Beginners”. It refrains from being too technical, the charts for the months of the year are easy to understand and use, and it’s ar less expensive than other books of its kind. If your wish is to begin a hobby in astronomy, or better yet, if you simply are curious as to how to find your way around the night sky, this is a wonderful place to start. You will amaze yourself with what you’ll know after only a few nights with this book. However, please note how up-to-date your copy is when buying it here or elsewhere. Hopefully, it will be as much a joy to you as it has been for me these past six years.
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The most dog-eared sky reference book I have,
It’s true, it doesn’t show where the planets are but for identifying constellations and stars, any time from about 6 pm to about 5 am, you can’t beat this book. I write a What’s Up In the Sky weekly column and I’d be lost without this book. It gives basic information, delineates the differences in the seasons, skywise, and throws in some mythology also. The chart, telling which sky map corresponds to the time of night is invalueable. I can’t imagine looking at the sky without this book.
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