The first and second edition of Night Watch sold more than 600,000 copies, making it the most wanted stargazing guide for the last 20 years. The key features are the section of star charts that are loved by backyard astronomers everywhere. Each edition has outsold the previous one because of thorough revisions and additional new material.

Night Watch has been acclaimed as the best general interest introduction to astronomy. The third edition of Nightwatch continues to be the best handbook for the beginning astronomer. Terence Dickinson will cover all the problems beginners face. He discusses light pollution, how to choose binoculars and telescopes, how to pronounce the names of stars and constellations, telescope mounts, averted vision, and why the harvest moon looks especially bright. Most of the lovely photographs in the book were taken by amateurs, which gives the section on astrophotography a particularly inspirational gleam.

The fourth edition (hard cover) and (Spiral bound) has revisions in every chapter, including: – The famous charts, ideal for stargazers using a small telescope or binoculars – A complete update of the equipment section, including computerized telescopes – An enlarged photography section, including how-to instructions for using the new generation of digital cameras for astronomical photography, both with and without a telescope – The tables of future solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions and planet locations, updated through 2018.
This edition includes for the first time star charts for use in the southern hemisphere. There are also dozens of new photographs throughout the book that show the latest thrilling discoveries made by current space observatories and probes.

The next planet in out series is Venus.  There is no one who is credited with the discovery of Venus. Venus is the brightest of the five planets that can be seen in the night sky without the use of a telescope. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus and Earth are almost the same size, have about the same mass, and have a similar composition. They are also neighboring planets. However, Venus has an atmosphere that is about 100 times thicker than Earth’s and has surface temperatures that are extremely hot. Venus rotates backwards compared to Earth and the other planets. Read the rest of this entry »

It is always better to protect your Telescope Optics than to clean them. Cleaning optics can reduce the light collecting power by accidently scratching or removing the enhanced coatings placed on them. A mirror or lens will eventually get dirty and dusty.
The best way to protect your mirrors or lenses is to use a good fitting dust caps. Dust caps should be used on the eyepieces as they have enhanced coatings on the lenses as well. If you own a open tubed reflector like a Newtonian, it’s best to put a dust cover over the end of the tube where the main mirror is as well. This main mirror cover can double as a cover to block stray light from getting in around where the mirror is attached to the tube as most reflectors have gaps where the mirror is bolted in to allow air flow.
Keep a telescope inside when not in use. That will preserve the reflective coatings for longer and prevent any rusting. Aluminium coatings last about 8-10 years when they are kept dry and clean. Any moisture on the telescope or its caps should be wiped dry before fitting and putting away. Do not wipe the mirrors or lenses dry if they have dew on them, but let them dry naturally. Any water marks which may appear on mirrors through condensation and dust can be removed by firstly removing the mirror and pouring distilled water over them. The distilled water will not leave any water marks.
Refractor and binocular lenses are more forgiving than mirrored surfaces. But it is quite easy to remove or scratch the coloured enhanced coatings on binoculars and refractors just by wiping with a soft cloth too hard. A quick check of the optics manual will give suggestions to removing any unusual marks or dirt without removing the enhanced coatings. Otherwise a rub with a soft cloth is the only cure, but try using a soft brush first (camel hair) or a “Lens Pen”. A Lens Pen has a soft brush at one end and at the other end a special device for getting into corners and removing dirt or sand. A good dust cloth is also an option.

Here is a nice dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. The AstroMaster Series produce bright, clear images of the Moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. For views of the brighter deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae, we recommend the larger aperture and light gathering ability of the Newtonian reflectors. But this is a beauty.

The setup is fast and simple, you need no tools. The Starpointer is permanently mounted, and the erect image optic is ideal for terrestrial and Astronomical use. Also included is The Sky®” Level 1 planetarium software with 10,000 object database and enhanced images.

WOW… The all-new Kindle has a new electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader.

The new Kindle also offers 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage to 3,500 books, built-in Wi-Fi, a graphite color option and more—all for only $189, and still with free 3G wireless—no monthly bills or annual contracts. Can’t get any better than that!

For the complete E-Book selection Click here

Prices are for the book plus  wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

Next in the Planet series is Mercury. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It’s orbit around the sun is very elliptical, like a stretched out circle. Mercury’s distance from the sun ranges from 28.6 million miles (46 million km) to 43.4 million miles (69.8 million km). The surface gravity on Mercury is less than the surface gravity on Earth. The surface gravity on Mercury is only about 38% of the surface gravity on Earth, so if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 38 pounds on Mercury. Read the rest of this entry »

In the Astronomical Sketches series on here that my brother provides, here is M64. Coma Berenices is a constellation that contains a great many galaxies that are easily observable with modest amateur telescopes. One of the greatest treasures in the constellation is the Black-eye Galaxy or M64. It is the 64th object on a list compiled by French comet hunter Charles Messier, hence its “name “! This galaxy is noted for a fairly prominent dust band that is visible in telescopes of 6″ aperture or more on a dark night. This particular observation was made with an 8″ Dobsonian telescope with a magnification of 203X and the “Black-eye” dust band is clearly visible. M64 is located some 18 million light years from Earth!

In the planet series n this blog, here is Saturn.  Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system. Saturn is about 75 thousand miles (120,000 km) in diameter and is about ten times the diameter of Earth. Around 764 Earths could fit inside Saturn.

Saturn’s rings most likely formed when comets, asteroids or even moons broke up in orbit around Saturn due to Saturn’s very strong gravity. The pieces of these objects kept colliding with each other and broke into even smaller pieces. These pieces gradually spread around Saturn to form its rings. The rings are about 175,000 miles (282,000 km) across, but only 3,200 feet (~1 km) thick. There are four main groups of rings and three fainter, narrower groups. These groups are separated divisions. Close up views of Saturn’s rings by the Voyager spacecrafts, which flew by them in 1980 and 1981, showed that these seven ring groups are made up of thousands of smaller rings. Read the rest of this entry »