The Total Skywatcher's Manual: 275+ Skills and Tricks for Exploring Stars, Planets & Beyond

by Astronomical Society of the Pacific

For stargazers, comet-spotters and planet-seekers looking to enhance your deep sky knowledge and observations—this is your quintessential guide. The Total Skywatcher’s Manual will help you choose the best telescope, identify constellations and objects in the night sky, search for extraterrestrial phenomena, plan star parties, capture beautiful space imagery and much more. With high-quality design, intricate detail, and a durable flexicover—this manual is the perfect gift!

With fully illustrated star charts, gorgeous astrophotography and step-by-step project instruction, this family friendly book is the only guide you’ll ever need to navigate the nightsky. Learn about the phases of the moon, how to conduct your own deep-sky observations, how the universe is expanding, our search for life on other planets, meteors vs. meteorites, sunspots and solar flares, best eclipse-viewing techniques—everything you need to know to appreciate the wonder of our universe. 

Based in San Francisco, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has a 125-year history of providing resources, tools, and information to astronomy enthusiasts, including amateur astronomers, families, and science educators (K-16). Join the ASP on this journey through the nightsky and beyond.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Reference, Space, Nature

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 2015

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book. Unlike several other astronomy guides that take a chaptered approach, this book is a wide smattering of astro knowledge, skills, techniques to enjoy looking up. Advanced tips and skills are intertwined with the simpler ones, which makes for an enjoyable read for a seasoned astro-veteran, such as myself. The only drawback was in the specific star charts. Although interesting facts were paired with them, they were not situated in a larger context. They lacked consistent orientation or legends to find your place. If you wanted to find them, then I would advise returning to the northern or souther sky charts. Also why not just call it "The Total Skywatcher's Manual; 298..." rather than 275+?

This is not the sort of guide I would hand to someone as a comprehensive guide so much as I would say, "Here. Skim, this. It's fun. You might pick up something new".

[Beth Hartnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this book while researching sky charts in advance of a trip to the southern hemisphere...and thoroughly enjoyed the various tips and tricks shared in this outstanding book. I'm on a quest to see the "green flash!"

[Aprilleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this book is organized. Instead of chapters that try to group all the “”skills and tricks” on a particular topic together, the book is organized into three sections: Naked-Eye Astronomy Tips, Telescopes & Other Tools, and Advanced Techniques. Thankfully, it also has an excellent index because it can be a little intimidating trying to comb through the table of contents to find the tip you want. It does, however, make it easy to read because the tips are organized from beginner level up and tend to be quite short. They are roughly organized into subject groups, as well, with three of the four tips about lunar eclipses being grouped together (the fourth is an advanced tip using astrophotography).

The tips aren’t all about improving your viewing or how to choose equipment. Many are short bits about different astronomy topics. For example, the first one is an overview of the universe from the Earth to the entire visible universe, and another one in the middle of the book briefly discusses a dozen historical skywatchers from Thales to Tycho Brahe. It was a fun book to read through and I found myself making notes in several areas because this copy belongs to the library and I have to give it back. There were also some great projects including things like making a planisphere, making a star clock, and building an observing chair. Several of these projects use ancient techniques to learn about the universe. There’s way too much great stuff in here to do any real justice to it.

[hala]

Bought this in Aug 2020 for an astronomy class, kinda skim read it, but not really so i don’t feel right marking it as “read”. At least not yet

[Carolin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely have I seen such a thoughtfully created book. The joy the creators have for watching the night sky is infectious.

[Vance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely done introduction to star gazing. Should be digestible for most ages, well presented with numerous very short segments (ranging from a paragraph to occasionally, a full page at most) that are complemented by compelling photographs and instructive illustrations.

Only complaint is that about halfway through the story line graduates to using a telescope and remains there. That is my bad as this tack is not disguised in the description on the jacket. However, for someone more interested in viewing while on the go with nothing beyond binoculars, it made getting through the galaxy a bit challenging. If you are serious on embarking upon scanning the heavens, including purchasing a telescope, this should prove a valuable resource.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many cool facts, cool projects, helpful lessons, and more. Love the format too. The way it is set up is way easier than just chapters, allows for simpler searching for specific topics or tips.

Absolutely love this book and will be digging back into its pages often. ^_^

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information but not laid out very logically.