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Astronomer's Observing Guides
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto and How to Observe Them
This book is for two groups of those who want to study the remote planets with amateur astronomical equipment, and those who are just interested in learning about our knowledge of the remote planets. The Remote Planets, and How to Observe them is unique in that it gives a completely up-to-date summary of our current knowledge of the remote planets, and also explains how amateur astronomers can contribute to our knowledge of the remote planets. Readers are given some inspiring examples of people who, with modest commercially-made equipment, have made important contributions to our scientific knowledge. The observational section goes into great detail, including optical and CCD photometry, occultation measurements, imaging (including stacking and enhancement techniques) and polarization measurements. There are finder charts (from 2010 to 2026), complete with two sets of star-magnitudes in an appendix (one set of magnitudes are for photoelectric photometry and the other set is for visual photometry)
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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June 13, 2011
The first half of this book was phenomenal. Though there was no narrative, no plot and no protagonist, it was one of the more unique and enjoyable books on planetary science I've read.
The writing style is staccato and dry to the point where the whole book could just be one long bullet list of facts about the ice giants and Pluto-Charon. But, oh, what a collection of bullets!
To be clear, this book has no personality. It's just fact after fact of "what we know" about the outer planets (mostly from Voyager 2 measurements) and still manages to be interesting as hell.
Uranus' rings are x, y and z. Titania's surface has a density of such-and-such. Neptune may have a thin cloud layer at an altitude of so-and-so.
It reads more like a (good) textbook or a (interesting) lecture than anything else but it is well organized and a good way to bring yourself up to speed on the few measurements we have of the outer planets.
The second half of the book is a primer on how to observe the planets with a telescope but it's neither clear or encouraging for the average reader. There are some nice tips regarding shopping for a telescope but the objects to be observed are just too difficult for the amateur astronomer to resolve.
Also, all of the really interesting aspects of the planets discussed earlier in the book, like atmospheric composition and magnetic properties, need a nine-figure space probe to be measured. So it's a bit of a tease when he says to make sure to buy a dew guard for your 60mm refractor.
Since the content in this book was so curt anyway this observation section didn't really detract from any sort of flow, though it was definitely not necessary to include it.
I was also a little disappointed that there was no mention of the theory that Uranus and Neptune may have formed in the inner solar system and migrated to their present locations. That's awesome!
Not for the faint of heart, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and How to Observe Them delivered exactly what the cover promised.
The writing style is staccato and dry to the point where the whole book could just be one long bullet list of facts about the ice giants and Pluto-Charon. But, oh, what a collection of bullets!
To be clear, this book has no personality. It's just fact after fact of "what we know" about the outer planets (mostly from Voyager 2 measurements) and still manages to be interesting as hell.
Uranus' rings are x, y and z. Titania's surface has a density of such-and-such. Neptune may have a thin cloud layer at an altitude of so-and-so.
It reads more like a (good) textbook or a (interesting) lecture than anything else but it is well organized and a good way to bring yourself up to speed on the few measurements we have of the outer planets.
The second half of the book is a primer on how to observe the planets with a telescope but it's neither clear or encouraging for the average reader. There are some nice tips regarding shopping for a telescope but the objects to be observed are just too difficult for the amateur astronomer to resolve.
Also, all of the really interesting aspects of the planets discussed earlier in the book, like atmospheric composition and magnetic properties, need a nine-figure space probe to be measured. So it's a bit of a tease when he says to make sure to buy a dew guard for your 60mm refractor.
Since the content in this book was so curt anyway this observation section didn't really detract from any sort of flow, though it was definitely not necessary to include it.
I was also a little disappointed that there was no mention of the theory that Uranus and Neptune may have formed in the inner solar system and migrated to their present locations. That's awesome!
Not for the faint of heart, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and How to Observe Them delivered exactly what the cover promised.
Displaying 1 of 1 review