Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Space Science - Astronomy

Examining natural phenomena through the lens of ancient mythology and from the perspective of modern day science, this unique book encourages students to appreciate the magic in both myth and science. This twofold approach helps to clarify the commonality of all human experience with nature, across cultures and throughout time. Eight myths, each from a different cultural background, are accompanied by scientific explanations. By comparing the different explanations for such occurrences as comets, meteors, and eclipses, students will learn to appreciate the similarities in experiences of...

Star Clusters and How to Observe Them is a mine of information for all levels of amateur observers, from beginners to experienced observers. It begins with a detailed yet easily assimilated description of star clusters, how they were formed as our...

In the last few years, cheap webcams have revolutionized amateur astronomy by providing a very inexpensive alternative to purpose-made astronomical CCD cameras, which use refrigerated imaging chips and are thus extremely expensive. Webcams are capable of more advanced work than 'normal' digital cameras because their simple construction makes it easy to remove the webcam's lens, allowing it to be interfaced directly to a telescope. Using a webcam is not difficult but most amateur astronomers who have tried to do this do not achieve the finest results, despite the webcam's potential. There...

This book covers the "why," "how," and "what" of astronomy under light-polluted skies. The prospective city-based observer is told why to observe from home (there are hundreds of spectacular objects to be seen from the average urban site), how to observe the city sky (telescopes, accessories, and moderns techniques), and what to observe. About half of the book is devoted to describing "tours" of the sky, with physical and observational descriptions, at-the-eyepiece drawings, and photographs.

Mercury is one of the more difficult objects for amateur astronomers to observe because of its close proximity to the Sun. For the same reason, it is also one of the most fascinating and strange planets. Mercury is not much larger that our Moon, but orbits the Sun at an average distance of only 58 million km, compared to the Earth's 150 million km. On its sunlit side, Mercury's surface temperature can exceed 450C while the night side freezes at -180C.

Mercury has been the target of professional astronomers through the ages, and then of space probes, the most recent of which...

Since the very beginning of astronomy, people have looked up sky and constructed patterns the constellations out of the almost random scattering of stars in the night sky. The fact that the constellations are still used to day reflects not their historical origins, but their usefulness in identifying bright stars in the rotating dome of the sky. Most people (and all astronomers) are familiar with, for example, the constellation of Orion and can thus easily point to Betelguese and Bellatrix as being Orion s "shoulders." It is the pattern made by the constellation that makes them easy to...

The Series

This new series is aimed at the same people as the Practical Astronomy Series - in general, active amateur astronomers. However, it is also appropriate to a wider audience of astronomically-informed readers. Because optical astronomy is a science that is rather at the mercy of the weather, all amateur astronomers inevitably have periods when observing is impossible. At such times they tend to read books about astronomy and related subjects. The Astronomers' Universe Series begins by assuming an appropriate level of knowledge. Basic information about the distance,...

Nebulae are the places where the stars are born. For amateur astronomers, the many different kinds of nebulae vary from "easy" targets that can be seen with modest equipment under mediocre skies, to more obscure "challenging" objects that require experienced observers, more powerful telescopes and excellent observation conditions.

The concept of this book - and of the series - is to present an up-to-date detailed description and categorisation of nebulae, and then to instruct the reader in the best ways to successfully observe and record the large range of astronomical...

Many lights and other objects in the sky go unrecognised, or at least are little understood by those observing them. Such things range from the commonplace like rainbows and meteors, to the distinctly unusual like the green flash and ball lightning. And there is still a residuum of objects that remain unidentified by the watcher classed generally as UFOs, a description which today has connotations of the mysterious, even of extraterrestrial visitors.

The first part of this book is an identification guide, very much like the "plant identifier" sections found in a good gardening or...

The book will, in jargon-free blow-by-blow terms, describe how to create the best astronomical images you can with the digital camera equipment at your disposal. It will explain the steps we go through to extract results from the raw-and-dirty original imagery, and then transform them into high quality pictures that you could hang on your wall.

The advent of CCDs, and more recently inexpensive webcams, has led to a much greater proportion of amateur astronomers becoming involved in digital imaging. The low price of the new Meade Deep Sky Imager - $299 (2005) suggests that...

Astronomers' Universe Series

The aim of this book is to provide an up-to-date account of active galaxies that is appropriate to the background knowledge of amateur astronomers, but might also be picked-up and read for interest by any reader with a scientific bent.

Active galaxies (including Quasars, QSOs, Radio galaxies, BL Lacs, Blazars, LINERS, ULIRGS, Seyfert galaxies, Starburst galaxies, N galaxies, etc.) are a major field of current astronomical research. Up to a fifth of all research astronomers are working on active galaxies. Huge amounts of time on major...