I know this question has been asked and answered many times and I apologize. But a friend asked me for some titles of good astronomy books. She wants to get a gift for a friend who just got a scope. I would label him as a definate amatuer, so I was thinking of some basic getting started books.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait. :wink:

I'm also finding Star Watch by Philip S. Harrington very helpful for locating and identifying the Messier Objects.

I've found the The Backyard Astronomer's Guide and Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe to be very good.

For a person who just got a scope, both of the aforementioned Nightwatch and Backyard are both very good, but if I could recommend just one book it would be Turn Left at Orion.

Turn Left provides simple help in finding about 100 of the best objects for a small telescope, and it provides sketches of what the object looks like in a 4 inch scope. These sketches are more useful to a new scope user than photographs which were taken over an extended exposure.

Check in your local library and see if they have a copy of any of the three if you want to verify our recommendations.

I second Nightwatch. Very good introduction, plus it has a miniature version of the whole "powers of ten" thing. Good book.

Agreed about Nightwatch. Also, when folks ask me about books to help learn the constellations, I send them to H.A. Rey's classic, "The Stars: A New Way to See Them."

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If the person wants to learn constellations, I agree.

The advantage of Turn Left at Orion is that it is based off of just a few bright stars. For a beginner who wants to point a telescope at something, and also read a brief discussion of what the object is, it is just perfect.

Thank you all, for your recommendations. I have wanted to get Turn Left myself but keep forgetting the title before I get it/ask for it. As for "Bad Astronomy", my opinion is that every single person in the world should read this book regardless of whether they consider themselves interested in Astronomy. I bought 7 copies last year and gave them out as gifts. I'm getting another one for a neighbor of mine in his first year of college. He just took a beginning astronomy course and seemed excited about it.

Thanks again. I'll pass on the info. ( and maybe get one or two myself)

Edit: to thank Hamlet for the links.

Just a couple of weeks ago, from Sam's Club I purchased "Skywatching" and "Advanced Skywatching" for my 12 year old daughter. These are excellent books with plenty of sky maps and star locations.

These are hard bound books with very good quality pages and costed under $8 per book.

My daughter used the book to locate the star Sirius and was thrilled to see the bright star that she identified herself.

Blind watcher of the sky. Excellent book.

As a lot of other people have suggested, I would highly recomend The Backyard Astronomer's Guide and Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson. Those two books are my astronomical bibles.

I remember when BA was just starting out answering questions and so on... I was still in grad school myself, and working on the second edition of my first book. I had been writing my own web page for a year or so and somebody told me to check out BA... now that my sixth book is just published, I still read BA... you never know what he's going to say, AND it's a perfect place for me to send folks who ask "THOSE" questions...

Anyway, back to books. I have to second and third the suggestion of Nightwatch. That book gives you just about everything you need to know to get started in backyard astronomy and skywatching, in a very approachable way. I still get it out from time to time to look something up, even though I have many, many other skywatching books, star charts (including the Millennium Star Atlas), and other tomes. It's can be a quick "grab and look" kinda book for those times when I want to look something up quickly or a reference for basic telescope stuff when I want to do a little research.

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Hello

I asked this same question myself a few months ago. At any rate I picked up "Seeing in the Dark" by Timothy Ferris, on a BABB recomendation, and it's a good book. It's more of a history of astronomy, areas of study, and experiences in astronomy book, but it's definately a good read for a beginner. It actually increased my interest in astronomy more

~Atticus05

By sheer coincidence, I just received Ferris' book as a gift. I remembered this thread thought, "I think someone mentioned this book." so I dug up the thread. Looks very interesting. Thanks again for all the suggestions. They were for a friend, but the next time I'm in market for an astronomy book, I've got plenty of list.

Some books I have found interesting include a few Ferris books: "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" and i think it's called the Whole Shebang but i'm not sure. i have found The Complete Idiots Guide to Astronomy very helpful and Astronomy for Dummies (they're very similar, but they're both helpful in their own little ways)
I'm in the process of reading The Elegant Universe...even though its not really astronomy per se, it's still a very interesting, simple view on the fundementals of the universe.
happy hunting!

(edit: forgot an 's')

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Practical Skywatching and The New Astronomer are both very basic and straightforward, and they both have a lot of great pictures, charts, and maps. The New Astronomer I think is geared more towards beginners and a younger audience.

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