Reddit Reddit reviews NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

We found 9 Reddit comments about NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
UniverseNight WatchAstrologyTerence DickinsonThird Edition
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9 Reddit comments about NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe:

u/sutherlandan · 6 pointsr/Astronomy

I've been into the hobby for 6 months or so. Bought myself an 8" dobsonian reflector, and a couple higher quality lenses for it. I have been keeping a journal of my progress, but I am just doing simple writeups of my findings and the conditions/location of any given night of observing.

I bought a couple books that have been a big help in navigating the night sky.. one is the a sky chart by Celestron:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000665V8


The other is called "night watch" and is a complete beginners guide to the night sky/astronomy and has also been very helpful, and I highly recommend it -

http://www.amazon.ca/NightWatch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/1552093026


I downloaded a quite powerful app for my iPhone called "GoSkyWatch" and I'd say it's been by biggest ally. It utilizes gps as well as accellerometer/gyro functionality, so by simply holding my phone up it shows me exactly what I'm looking at, and also locates what I need to find.

I've gotten out around a dozen times so far, and am finally getting into a groove and knocking off lots of deep space objects. Of all the galaxies/nebula/clusters I've found... I still gotta say nothing quite affects me like locking onto Saturn and seeing it drift through my field of view. After that though, the first time I saw M81 and M82 galaxies in the same field blew me away, and M31 Andromeda galaxy is always a pleasure. Really looking forward to winter months and getting a chance to look around Orion and it's hidden gems within.

u/icecreamfiend · 4 pointsr/Astronomy

Nightwatch as u\zobmiegeezus said. Thinking about getting more starcharts soon, but this one has helped a lot with the basics and made me realize how fulfilling observing can be.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/Astronomy

A great starter book is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson

http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/1552093026

It can teach you to memorize the sky starting with the big dipper. Just by using the big dipper you can find your way to other constellations and major stars.

It has sky maps, future eclipse dates and whatnot, a guide to telescopes and binoculars as well as info about all the planets and the universe.

Really good book

u/rbrumble · 2 pointsr/space

I'd recommend Night Watch by Terrence Dickinson

http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/1552093026

I'm a member of my local astronomy group, and this book is in pretty much everyone's library. It's spiral bound with big pages, meant to be used outdoors to familiarize the beginner with the night sky.

u/SaganAgain · 2 pointsr/Astronomy

2 good books to get you set:

  1. 'Nightwatch' by Terence Dickinson :
    This will get you oriented with everything astronomy.

    http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/1552093026

  2. 'Turn Left at Orion' :
    This book will show you how to actually find nebulae, double stars, and galaxies in the night sky. It will also show you what each looks like through the eyepiece of an amateur telescope.

    http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundred-Telescope/dp/0521781906

    *You can probably find the e-book version of each of these online if you look. But then again, having a physical book in front of you is 10x better.



  3. Software

    Stellarium :
    Pretty much a software planetarium thats free. All you have to do is type in your location and it'll show you exactly whats in your sky at the moment. Three useful keyboard buttons: 'pg up' = zoom in, 'pg down' = zoom out, 'n' = shows deep sky object locations.

    http://www.stellarium.org/

    Last but not least:
    Try to get yourself a used dobsonian telescope (8 inch or 6 inch). You can definitely get one for $200 used. Its a good investment b/c its something that lasts a lifetime and it retains its value extremely well. Remember astronomy is about actually seeing and experiencing the sky, and not just learning about it from a book.

    Hope you get hooked on astronomy like I did last year.
u/troytop · 1 pointr/Astronomy

I'd highly recommend getting hold of "NightWatch" by Terence Dickinson. An excellent book with annotated star charts which note what can be seen with various types of equipment under various conditions. Lots of great advice to a beginning astronomer.



u/raging_radish · 1 pointr/toronto

Looking at stars is pointless, they'll still just be points of light. The interesting things are planets, nebulae, clusters, galaxies and the occasional comet.

Do you have access to a decent pair of binoculars? If so, they will serve nicely for observing a lot of objects in a dark sky location. Even just kicking back in a lawn chair and scanning the Milky Way reveals thousands of stars you can't see with the naked eye.

One thing you won't need binoculars for is M31, visible to the naked eye and in the eastern sky that time of year - but you have to know where to look. A good book for the basics is Terence Dickinson's Nightwatch and it's actually easier to become familiar with the sky in the city since only the brightest starts are visible and the constellations are more easily recognized. Once you've got that down, 'star hopping' is easy.

Also, check out Sky and Telescope's Sky at a Glance for the lowdown on the weeks ahead.

Good luck and happy hunting.

u/frid · 1 pointr/Astronomy

Another great book is Terry Dickinson's Nightwatch.

u/MathPolice · 1 pointr/Astronomy

Some links from last time this was asked

Since you are in Kenya, make sure to get the equatorial version of the planisphere and the downloadable starmaps. Also, some of Turn Left at Orion will not be relevant to you since you can't see the very northernmost stars, but it's probably still worth getting.

Also here's some more from another time this was asked

Also Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson may be useful.

And Heavens Above can help you find satellites and the International Space Station.