Turn Left At Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - and How to Find Them

The Kindle Edition is quite a reference. But it is more than this. First, the reference part. The main point of the book is to show what objects in the sky look like, through 3 and sometimes 4 different views. The first is through a pair of good binoculars. The second is through a refractor telescope of 2.5" to 4" diameter (6 to 10 cm). The third is through a medium sized reflector scope (a 8" to 10" (20 to 25 cm) Dobson in this case). The fourth is what the object looks like through the medium sized scope using a small mm (high magnification) eyepiece. The reference section truly excels in this effort. Showing what the observer will see is so VERY important. One of the challenges in this hobby is trying to figure out whether you are looking at what you 'think' you are looking at! This book helps clarify what it is you should be seeing. Choosing inexpensive and readily available viewing equipment to show what is being seen, is genius. It will apply to a very large viewing group of amateur astronomers. If you have any type of telescope or plan to obtain one of 10" aperture (lens or mirror diameter) or less, or just using a good pair of binoculars, you want this book! If you have or want to own a larger telescope, this book will still be a good source of lining up your field of view on a sky object in low magnification before you 'jump' to higher magnifications. But the book is MUCH more than the reference noted above. It is also an excellent beginner's book. The book bypasses the need for observers to learn or know constellations. Facing learning 40 primary or all the 80+ constellations is intimidating to a beginner and puts many of them off the hobby. This knowledge is not needed to enjoy and use this book. In addition, the author explains in two or three chapters, in easy to understand terms, some astronomy basics. The book would be of value to the pre-beginner or beginner even if not yet ready for the reference sections. The reference material is primarily divided up into four seasonal skies. It is not the way I would have arranged the book, since each season actually overlaps its neighboring season depending upon the time of night and the month of that season. Thus I don't appreciate its arrangement. But I bought and am using the Kindle Edition and find searching the entire book for any word, phrase, or sky object exceedingly easy. I would not reduce my rating due to how the book is organized because of this. A fundamental approach for easy to understand writing is not introducing new words or terms to mean or stand for a new word or phrase. By this I mean it is poor writing for the beginner to learn about a "manufacturing facility" and keep interchanging or switching (using) words like 'building' or 'plant' or 'company' in place of the word 'facility' in the text. It is the downfall of authors who know the text, are educated, and a bit bored that they can't keep using the same word when they themselves have a larger vocabulary about the subject. But to the person just starting out, it is better to be consistent with the choice of words and maintain a uniform vocabulary. In this book, the author does pull a few 'switches' but not extensively. And again, with the Kindle Edition, it is easy to search all uses of a word until you find its connection to a word or phrase you've been told about previously. This book, along with NIGHTWATCH is a must for each amateur astronomer, from pre-beginner to intermediate. My only real disappointment is that there is no reference view for a large telescope (e.g., a 14" or 16" reflector). That would encompass (and help) a larger audience, albeit not all that much larger.

I have been an amateur astronomer for over 40 years. I am on our local club board and do public outreach. Heard about the book and decided it would help with my outreach with beginners (I never read it, but it has a great reputation in our club). I was pleasantly surprised because it exceeded my expectations. It covers basics really well. Going into appropriate details on telescopes, the night sky, and what to see. Sections are divided up into seasons, and it gives the best highlights for each constellation. Now, if you decided to stay as a casual observe, it may be the only book you need. If you decide to do more advanced work, you will buy more books and software. Now, here is the kicker. Even if you become a skilled astronomer, this book will remain useful. It is a great highlight summary of what to see in the sky, especially the showcase items. I find it as an easy reference if I want to do no fuss observing with a small telescope on my suburban balcony. On more in depth observations (like all nighters in the High Sierra with my 14in Dob), it is handy as an initial look at parts of the sky as an overview (though I use an advanced software sky atlas as a primary source). On cloudy days, I find myself casually flipping thru it too. It is excellent for beginners, and may continue to be useful if you advance.

This is an *excellent* book for beginner astronomers. It explains what you would see in a smaller telescope and gives you many targets to aim your scope at and how to find them.

The content of the book is fantastic! I have the tiniest little telescope and I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to use it to see much beyond the moon and brighter planets, but this book has opened up a world of possibilities for me. Last night I went out and was able to locate and "split" several double stars, and if I have clear skies tonight or tomorrow night, I'll be looking for some galaxies and star clusters. There are tips for observing with binoculars, small scopes, or slightly larger scopes and the pictures showing what things will actually look like in the eyepiece of each are really helpful. I expect to get a lot of use out of this with my little low budget set up as well as with any future larger telescope I may acquire. All of that having been said, I have a couple of issues with the construction of the book itself. First off, it's spiral bound, allowing it to lay flat, which is nice, but the cover is thin and flimsy and the way that it wraps around the outside of the rings makes it even more flimsy. I expect it to tear in fairly short order. Second, my copy got put together with some pages out of order. Pages 91 through 108 are stuck between pages 70 and 71. This would be a 5 star book if not for the poor cover design and page errors. I still highly recommend it for anyone getting started in astronomy though. The info and presentation can't be beat.

Great book. I wish I had heard about it 40 years ago when it came out originally. Enormous amount of information for the price. Easy to use. A lot of common sense items for stargazers. Reflects wealth of experience in observing. It has been updated over the years. A lot of practical advice.

This book is like sitting at the feet of the authors who share, in plain language, a whole body of knowledge in a kind, yet to-the-point style. All the content is substantive and appropriate for older kids through adults. It’s not a kids book, being aimed at adults, but if you’ve got a kid who is a strong reader and science minded, the reading level is fine. My 10yo and I are enjoying this together but it’s definitely Mama’s book as it’s not for the rougher environment of a kids room. He can refer to it and then take that knowledge to the telescope. Compared to an app or google etc, I’m finding this book has more info that is appropriate to my knowledge (or lack thereof) as I don’t have a physics or even strong science background. With the prerequisite of just liking science and the night sky, the way this book is written helps me bridge that gap and get up to speed so I can understand more of the conversation and share that with my child. It also makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about! Ha. I like to use it in conjunction with the app Star walk. Overall, I highly recommend this book and find it definitely holds its own even in these days of apps and google.

I decided to take up astronomy a bit late in life. My father had been an amateur astronomer when I was young, but I was busy being young and paid only cursory attention. After macular degeneration robbed my dad of his vision (he was in his nineties!) , I decided to make it my business to begin to study again. This book is for a patient beginner. It has helped to organize my observing sessions and is much easier to use than a traditional star atlas. I love it! It is a big book. I also love that. My father recently passed away at age 95. Dad is now in a place where he can see all of the deep sky wonders he toiled to find with a tiny telescope. He can now see it all! I will never be the astronomer that he was, but I have taken up his work. I am 66 and if I can do it, so can many others. There is a lot of great information in this book and it is all very practical. Practical is a key word meaning..."you can see it, find it, and here is what to expect" type of information. And, it includes info on what you can see with your eyes and binoculars, too.

Great book

観測をするとき、何を見たらよいのか、とてもうまくまとめてあり、初心者にとって、大変良い本です。

For identifying Sky objects.

Alles perfect, prachtig boek, dank u.

evitez la version digital, c'est en tant que atlas papier ou on vois tout sa valeur

This is an ideal book for anyone who is a practical amateur astronomer or even as a general read as to what's in the night sky. Drom Double Stars to Galaxies to Nebulae and planets, this well written, large format, book with line drawings on each page of what you can see through a back garden telescope. It also helps that the pages are spiral-bound, so using it outside with the telescope makes things easier. I would certainly recomend this book to anyone who has an interest as to what is in the night sky throughout the year.