This book presents the amateur with fine examples of astronomical sketches and step-by-step tutorials in each medium, including pencil, pen and ink, chalks and pastels, painting and computer graphics programs. This unique book can teach almost anyone to create beautiful sketches of celestial objects by following simple, illustrated, step-by-step instructions. Readers can select a chapter related to their preferred class of object, and rapidly learn techniques in several media. Each chapter contains useful information regarding equipment, techniques for preserving and archiving sketches, and suggestions for accurate record keeping.

For anyone artistically inclined, observing the Moon and attempting to sketch or paint it can easily become a passion. The Moon presents a broad array of tone, texture, and form. Capturing this in a painting or sketch at the eyepiece of a telescope – or even with binoculars – develops observational skills, leaves a record of the observation, and can also be a delightful and rewarding pastime. However, the choice of media available is extensive (acrylic paint, oils, pen, charcoal, etc., and even computer art programs), and there is no existing text that fully explains all lunar sketching and painting techniques in each respective medium. This beautiful and graphically rich book fulfills this requirement. It presents detailed step-by-step instructions, in the form of illustrated tutorials for every major medium employed to represent the Moon. It also provides practical advice on how to sketch outdoors at night (not ideal conditions for an artist!). This is easily the most extensive book on the subject of lunar art for amateur astronomers, particularly those observing through a telescope. The diverse features of the lunar surface will attract and entice readers to review the number of different media presented, exciting and inspiring them with the possibilities of learning to depict all of the fascinating aspects of Earth's very own satellite.

From the authors of Sketching the Moon comes a comprehensive guide filled with richly illustrated, detailed drawing tutorials that cover a variety of solar phenomena. Explanations of what to expect visually from white light, Hydrogen-alpha and Calcium K filters are provided for those new to solar observing, along with essential tips on equipment, observing techniques and the practicalities of drawing at the eyepiece. Time-honored, traditional methods and media are described in tandem with innovative techniques developed and shared by contemporary astronomical sketchers. For the technically minded, detailed descriptions are given on how to use image manipulation software to bring your sketches to life through animation. The Sun is the most visually dynamic object in our solar system and offers compelling, spectacular views. Knotted magnetic field lines give rise to powerful eruptions and form the intricate sunspots and arching prominences that make our nearest star one of the most exciting, yet challenging, astronomical objects to sketch. Facilitated by the availability of affordable dedicated solar telescopes and filters, the Sun has become an increasingly popular target amongst astronomical sketchers. The use of narrowband solar filters provides a wonderful opportunity to capture views of the Sun that have, until recently, been largely inaccessible. You’ll discover easy to follow, step-by-step instructions geared toward your specific interests, be it technical sketching and contributing to science, personal study, or even fun solar outreach activities that help children learn through art. By using Solar Sketching as a reference, drawing the Sun has never been easier.

Over the last 15 years or so there has been a huge increase in the popularity of astrophotography with the advent of digital SLR cameras and CCD imagers. These have enabled astronomers to take many images and, indeed, check images as they scan the skies. Processing techniques using computer software have also made ‘developing’ these images more accessible to those of us who are ‘chemically challenged!’ And let’s face it – some of the pictures you see these days in magazines, books, and on popular web forums are, frankly, amazing! So, why bother looking through the eyepiece you ask? Well, for one thing, setting up the equipment is quicker. You just take your ‘scope out of the garage or, if you’re lucky enough to own one, open the roof of your observatory, align the ‘scope and off you go. If you have an equatorial mount, you’ll still need to roughly polar align, but this really takes only a few moments. The ‘imager’ would most likely need to spend more time setting up. This would include very accurate polar alignment (for equatorial mounts), then finding a guide star using his or her finder, checking the software is functioning properly, and c- tinuous monitoring to make sure the alignment is absolutely precise throu- out the imaging run. That said, an imager with a snug ‘obsy’ at the end of the garden will have a quicker time setting up, but then again so will the ‘visual’ observer.

The celebrated annual for sky-watchers and stargazers, including references and a variety of fascinating articles. The Yearbook of Astronomy series is known for its comprehensive jargon-free monthly sky notes and authoritative sky charts that enable backyard astronomers and sky-gazers everywhere to plan their viewing of the year’s eclipses, comets, meteor showers, and minor planets, as well as detailing the phases of the moon and visibility and locations of the planets throughout the year. Every annual edition also includes a variety of entertaining and informative articles. Among the wide-ranging articles in this edition are: 200 Years of the Royal Astronomical Society The Naming of Stars Astronomical Sketching Dark Matter and Galaxies Eclipsing Binaries The First Known Black Hole A Perspective on the Aboriginal View of the World, and more First appearing in 1962, shortly after the dawning of the Space Age, Yearbook of Astronomy continues to be essential reading for any sky-watcher or stargazer, amateur and professional alike, who wants to expand their knowledge of the universe and its wonders.

The second edition of Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars (2004) is the definitive book for those who are serious about this fascinating aspect of astronomy. It deals with equipment (you can start modestly with commercial or even home-made instruments), observing methods using binoculars upwards to advanced instrumentation and techniques, including speckle interferometry. The astronomy of double stars, including orbital calculation, is given its own section. This second edition of this popular book contains a significant amount of completely new material, inspired by the work done by observers – particularly in the USA – since the first edition was published. This includes the use of the Internet to carry out astrometry (precise astronomical measurement) using existing survey plates and films. The new edition contains an excellent guide to sketching double stars, a topic not previously covered. In addition, there is information about how to image double stars of unequal brightness, always a difficult matter but now somewhat easier because of advances in hardware and image-processing software. Nearly all of the chapters and tables have been updated. The CD-ROM that accompanied the first edition of Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars is replaced by access to the Springer Extras web site. The extra information includes the complete Washington Double Star and Tycho-2 Catalogs. There is an extensive database of astrometric, double-and multiple-star formation, including positions, orbits, separations, and magnitudes, and a software suite that implements many of the calculations and equations featured in the book.

The Compendium of Practical Astronomy is unique. The practical astronomer, whether student, novice or accomplished amateur, will find this handbook the most comprehensive, up-to-date and detailed single guide to the subject available. It is based on Roth’s celebrated German language handbook for amateur astronomers, which first appeared over 40 years ago.

In the 1960's, American amateur astronomer, John Dobson, designed a revolutionary kind of astronomical telescope featuring a lightweight large-aperture reflecting system on a simple mounting, using the then-revolutionary material called teflon. The design combines simplicity and portability with large-aperture prowess. Thirty years later Dobsonians remain supreme for visually observing faint deep-sky objects and are one of the best-selling large telescopes in the USA and Europe. This popularity is reflected in the recent increase of companies now heavily marketing Dobsonians, in particular, Meade (the "Lightbridge" range), Orion USA (XT Intelliscope series), and Skywatcher (Skyliner and Flextube models). This book is the ultimate guide to buying and using commercial Dobsonians, both 'Econo' and 'Primo' models, with in-depth accounts for the various models (plus accessories) on the market and descriptions of the many innovations that amateurs have made to optimize their telescopes' performance.

Faint Objects and How to Observe Them is for visual observers who are equipped with a 10-inch or larger astronomical telescope and who want to "go deep" with their observing. It provides a guide to some of the most distant, dim, and rarely observed objects in the sky, supported by background information on surveys and objects lists - some familiar, such as Caldwell, and some not so familiar. This book not only provides a wealth of experience compiled from several sources, but it also gives an historical background to surveys whose names may or may not be familiar to most amateur astronomers. Finally, it includes a listing of the many galaxy clusters out there, from "nearby" ones such as Stefan's Quintet to some of the most distant groups observable through the largest telescopes.

Today we are all familiar with the iconic pictures of the nebulae produced by the Hubble Space Telescope’s digital cameras. But there was a time, before the successful application of photography to the heavens, in which scientists had to rely on handmade drawings of these mysterious phenomena. Observing by Hand sheds entirely new light on the ways in which the production and reception of handdrawn images of the nebulae in the nineteenth century contributed to astronomical observation. Omar W. Nasim investigates hundreds of unpublished observing books and paper records from six nineteenth-century observers of the nebulae: Sir John Herschel; William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse; William Lassell; Ebenezer Porter Mason; Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel; and George Phillips Bond. Nasim focuses on the ways in which these observers created and employed their drawings in data-driven procedures, from their choices of artistic materials and techniques to their practices and scientific observation. He examines the ways in which the act of drawing complemented the acts of seeing and knowing, as well as the ways that making pictures was connected to the production of scientific knowledge. An impeccably researched, carefully crafted, and beautifully illustrated piece of historical work, Observing by Hand will delight historians of science, art, and the book, as well as astronomers and philosophers.