Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky

I bought it used for $6.92, "Condition: Used - Very Good" from ThriftBooks-Baltimore. Of course, that affects my opinion. But the 1st 2 "Hacks" I read were worth the price. I read part of it online & that was so good I decided to buy the book & at >$7 I'm pretty pleased so far. Being an 'amateur astronomer' (I like to look at the stars, planets, etc) is hard enough w/out some help. I live in a rural area & most people don't seem to be interested in astronomy, the sky & stars, so I'm pretty much on my own. This book & some online resources are the only 'friends' I can go to for advice.I recommend this book, specially at the used price.

I found this book to be a fun read. The authors are clearly passionate about their hobby and write with a style that is engaging, unpretentious and clear. This book is targeted towards beginners who are new to the hobby. I especially enjoyed the front chapters dealing with topics such as observing site etiquette, what to wear and what to bring. The beginner will certainly benefit from reading this and learn not to commit the faux pas of driving up to a star party with headlights blazing. There is also useful and clear introductory information such as finding constellations, star hopping, reading star atlases and observing tips and skills. The authors are clearly very skewed towards Dobsonians and this book reflects this bent. A bulk of the book is devoted to these instruments such as cleaning the mirror, center spotting a mirror, collimation and improving the Dob. This is great if you have one but not too great if you have chosen to start out with an equatorially mounted telescope or a SCT. There is consequently no information on polar alignment and the more rigorous drift alignment. There is also scant/no information on attainable basic astrophotography techniques that are accessible to an amateur with a tracking mount, such as planetary webcaming and guided deep sky photography with a short focal length scope or a mounted 35mm camera. I would encourage those with these pursuits in mind to consider other options besides a Dob before making a choice. All in all, this is a useful book and a welcomed addition to bookstore shelves. There are so many over-colorful over-graphic introductory astronomy books that are of little value to the serious beginner, and thus this book is entirely relevant.

If you are getting started in amateur astronomy, buy this book first. It's not everything you need--eventually you will probably want a good star atlas, a pair of binoculars, a telescope, planetarium software, and so on. But don't worry, this book will help you decide what else you need, how soon you need it, and what sort to purchase.When I was 12 I got my hands on a telescope catalog and it really captured my imagination, but all of the telescopes were well out of my price range. So my early enthusiasm died on the vine. But I was operating under a common misconception: that if you want to be an amateur astronomer, the first thing you need is a telescope.In fact, the first thing you need is a love of and interest in the cosmos as it is revealed in the night sky. If you are not willing to go outside and spend some time learning the constellations and observing some of the brighter objects with binoculars, you probably have no business springing for a telescope anyway. Buy this book instead. It's a lot cheapter, and it will teach you how to use sky maps and planispheres, how to predict what will be visible and when, and how best to observe the various objects you might be interested in, from the moon and planets to star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies. You'll make better decisions about what other gear to buy once you have some idea of what you'll point that gear _at_.With a title like "Astronomy Hacks" I expected this book to be mostly a collection of advanced tips for seasoned stargazers. But in fact the book covers everything from your first serious look at the night sky to fine-tuning the performance of a telescope and how to plan and run a Messier marathon (an attempt to view all 110 Messier objects in one night). I'm glad I picked it up, and I'm glad I picked it up early in the redevelopment of my interest in astronomy. It saved me a lot of time, money, and frustration. I can't recommend it highly enough.

If you're just starting out, using an inexpensive Chinese or Taiwanese Dobson scope, this is the book you're looking for. If you own a Starmaster, Obsession, etc., this book is of less interest. It is primarily a collection of very useful and concise collection of tidbits of information that are scattered all over the place. My main objection to the book is the almost total concentration on Orion products. I own six telescopes, including a number of Orion products and am SVD 8 myself, but I don't consider Orion products to all be that great or even cost effective. Their products are usually acceptable. Some of their products are good values, but in general, with some exceptions, I avoid Orion. You can often buy equivalent products for less elsewhere. The only exception seems to be when the hacks get to eyepieces. Now they advocate eyepieces that may cost almost as much as the telescope, especially if the scope is fast. I understand the point, but it seems contradictory (cheap scope with an expensive eyepiece).I don't want to give the impression that I think this is a less than useful book. It is very useful. Just note, as the authors often do, that, while trying to be fair, their personal preferences are woven into the fabric of the book. It should appeal to the widest possible entry level readership who more often than not buys Orion (or equivalent) equipment.

This is a comprehensive, well written and eminently practical guide to amateur astronomy observational techniques. Basically a book of tips and advice (“hacks”) - it can be usefully read cover to cover or dipped in at random for serendipitous learning. If I were to recommend one practical guide for the beginner it would be this book. Heeding the advice in this book will certainly aid and even shorten your learning curve. But it’s extremely useful for the more experienced observer as well. I find myself turning to this book again and again. Definitely recommended.

A few good ideas for beginners, and the book does get better as it goes in, but much of the content is obvious or presented better in other books. Some of the safety advice betrays its US origins and is, frankly, nuts (e.g. if going to a dark sky site take a gun for self defence!). Some of the information is simply wrong. The authors say red LED light, regardless of brightness, does not affect dark adaptation (wrong, based on some very superficial analysis) and that binoculars with BK7 prisms can be identified by looking at the exit pupil for igniting (also wrong, this is caused by undersized prisms, which are, alas, not uncommon in BAK4 prisms also). There is also rather old fashioned assumption that US and Japanese equipment is always good, while the Chinese lag behind at the bargain basement end of the market (Chinese optics do tend to be less expensive, but with a few exceptions they are broadly comparable in terms of quality). On balance, has some okay content, but not great.

Very good and informative book. Happy to have it.

un libro diverso pieno di consigli utili per chi ama osservare il cielo, consigli che non ho mai trovato su altri libri

good ideas