The Practical Astronomer

by Will Gater, Anton Vamplew

A complete introduction to observing and understanding the night sky, this book takes you from the very basics of stargazing through to the skills you need to become an accomplished amateur astronomer.

This beginner's guide explains and demystifies the night sky, teaching you to recognize and identify its features, from constellations to comets.

Practical advice begins with observation with the naked eye. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions also show you how to set up and use binoculars and telescopes, and how to take your own pictures of the night sky.

Clear star charts show the major constellations and how to navigate between them. A detailed atlas shows the night sky month by month as it appears around the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Astronomy, Reference, Space

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[kia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief science book about the the basic details of the stars and how to make stargazing most effective. It fuelled my childhood curiosity without a doubt, but I wished there were more details to the book.

Still a good pastime read.

[Agatha Palencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesante y completo libro para iniciación a la astronomía de observación. Reconocimiento de constelaciones y ubicación de objetos de cielo profundo. Repaso básico al sistema solar y tipos de telescopios y binoculares. Lectura imprescindible y comprensión fácil en inglés.

[bat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kocham tę książkę, naprawdę. Najwspanialszy przewodnik po astronomii jaki kiedykolwiek czytałam. Są tu zawarte wszystkie najważniejsze informacje dla amatorów i nawet ukazano tu kilkadziesiąt gwiazdozbiorów wraz z mapami nieba! Cudaczna i idealna na początek dla osoby chcąca się zaznajomić z astronomią. Napisana w sposób przyjwmny i przejrzysty. Cud, miód i gwiazdeczki.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a lot of information in this small book, it is a combination of this too-small size (length and width) and overly-complex picture designs that make this unappealing. I love astronomy and have read many books on this subject. The page aesthetic design took too much precedence over readability. Too many fonts, too much color, text that wraps around pictures. It makes the book very appealing when you open it up and skim it in a book store or library. But when you try to READ the book at home, the incredible amount of broken text makes this feel like I'm reading artistic tweets. There is no flow.

I really need to stop looking at the DK series of books. They tackle many nonfiction topics with a very consistent style:
- Content 4.5/5
- Lots of graphics/pictures 4/5 (overly complex usually)
- Readability 1/5

[Stephen Huntley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fabulous book for those picking up on astronomy. I've been through many similar books and this one tops the lot. Clear, thorough, concise, with brilliant use of illustrations and pictures and it's also written in a style that is easy to read and understand.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another quality DK book. Looked through it with my 5-year-old and wished I'd had something like this when I was a kid to help me stargaze better.

[Damla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich liebe wunderschöne Aufnahmen des Weltraums! In „praktische Astronomie” erklären Anton Vamplew und Will Gater die Grundlagen zu Galaxien, ersten Sternen und Nebeln. Den Schwerpunkt legen sie darauf, wie man sich am Nachthimmel orientieren kann und geben Tipps zur Beobachtung von Sternen und Planeten. Zusätzlich gibt es Informationen zur Ausrüstung (Unterschied Ferngläser und Teleskope), worauf man achten sollte und wie man diese aufbaut und einstellt.

Dieses Handbuch zeigt nicht nur schöne Fotos vom All, sondern gibt wirklich praktische Informationen, die man nutzen kann, um endlich selbst schöne Fotos vom Mond, Planeten und den Sternen zu machen. Es werden zum Beispiel auch Goto-Teleskope erklärt: man gibt einfach ein, was man sehen will (zum Beispiel den Jupiter) und das Teleskop richtet sich automatisch aus!

Im sehr ausführlichen Kapitel zu Sternbildern werden diese einzeln erklärt, auch welche Sterne man mit bloßem Auge sehen kann und für welche man ein Fernrohr oder Teleskop benötigt. Am Ende des Handbuches gibt es noch monatliche Sternkarten für die nördliche und südliche Hemisphäre. Ein rundum gelungenes Handbuch für Einsteiger und alle, die am Himmel zusätzlich zu Cassiopeia und Orion noch mehr erkennen möchten.

[Jacklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book was splendid. The book has everything in it, and it gives us so much knowledge about space. The Author did something else different than the other Space books I read. He did not just focused on one thing for each page, and that's incredible! And why did the Author do this? He wanted the Readers to enjoy the story. The Author made Extraordinary Vocabulary such as, 'Altitude, Focuser, Phonton and Zodiac. I love it, once I see those words I have to go in the back from the book where the Glossary is just to see where it is.

[Jelantik · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai acheté ce livre parce que j'ai eu un télescope pour mon anniversaire.

J'aime ce livre car il y a beaucoup de belles photos en couleurs et l'explication est assez simple pour une débutante comme moi ^_^

[Nan Suphaphorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, this is my first book about "astronomy" that I had.
This book is very useful and it is so easy for someone (like me) who have never had any experiences about astronomy before to be so easily to understand. I have hardback one ^_^

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

The charts at the ending of the book are too good. Thanks to Dave for lending this book to us.
It is a book fit for beginners.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful; might buy it depending on how other books check out.

[Marlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great.

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like the evolution taught in this book, and it didn't explain some things in a way that I understood very well.

[Ashley Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

My oldest is in love

[Ραδάμανθυς Φωτόπουλος · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for begginer amateur astronomers and space enthusiasts.

[Mary Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good introduction to the subject. Very useful for someone with their first telescope!

[Parag Kulkarni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly handy book for astronomers. With great images, its also a magnet for children to learn more about the deep sky objects. Nice one to keep