Cataclysmic Cosmic Events and How to Observe Them (Astronomers' Observing Guides) - Softcover

Mobberley, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0387799451 ISBN 13: 9780387799452

Publisher: Springer, 2008

Synopsis

In the Victorian era – or for non-British readers, the mid-to-late nineteenth century – amateur astronomy tended to center on Solar System objects. The Moon and planets, as well as bright comets, were the key objects of interest. The brighter variable stars were monitored, but photography was in its infancy and digital imaging lay a century in the future. Today, at the start of the twenty-first century, amateurs are better equipped than any professionals of the mid-twentieth century, let alone the nineteenth. An amateur equipped with a 30-cm telescope and a CCD camera can easily image objects below magnitude 20 and, from very dark sites, 22 or 23. Such limits would have been within the realm of the 100- and 200-inch reflectors on Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar in the 1950s, but no other observatories. However, even those telescopes took hours to reach such limits, and then the photographic plates had to be developed, fixed, and examined by eye. In the modern era digital images can be obtained in minutes and analyzed ‘on the fly’ while more images are being downloaded. Developments can be e-mailed to other interested amateurs in real time, during an observing session, so that when a cataclysmic event takes place amateurs worldwide know about it. As recently as the 1980s, even professional astronomers could only dream of such instantaneous communication and proc- sing ability.

About this title

About the Author

Martin Mobberley has a BSc Honours degree in Electronic Engineering from Brunel University, and is a former British Astronomical Association President and Goodacre Medallist. He a prolific writer, and is the author of Astronomical Equipment for Amateurs (Springer, 1998) and The New Amateur Astronomer (Springer, 2004); Lunar & Planetary Webcam User’s Guide (Springer, 2006); Supernovae and How to Observe them (NYP), and Total Eclipses and How to Observe them (NYP). He has contributed chapters to three other Springer Practical Astronomy Series Books. He has published many papers in Astronomy Now, The Journal of the British Astronomical Association, The Astronomer, and Sky & Telescope.

From the Back Cover

ASTRONOMERS’ OBSERVING GUIDES provide up-to-date information for amateur astronomers who want to know all about what it is they are observing. This is the basis of the first part of the book. The second part details observing techniques for practical astronomers, working with a range of different instruments.

This book invites you to observe the most spectacular, high-energy events taking place in the cosmos. Even though these events may occur hundreds, thousands, millions or even billions of light-years away, you can witness them using the naked eye, binoculars, or telescopes. The book covers cataclysmic variable stars (CV’s), novae and dwarf novae, recurrent novae, solar flares, flare stars and prominences as well as the more distant supernovae, hypernovae, blazars, quasars, and gamma ray bursters. There are also sections on photometry, equipment, and software as well as many valuable observing tips based on the author’s own experience viewing these events.

For the amateur astronomer who is ready to leave the confines of the Solar System and look out into deep space, this book offers a variety of exciting challenges and suggestions enabling you to contribute real scientific data on high energy outbursts and cataclysmic cosmic events with just your backyard telescope and a bit of know-how.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0387799451
• ISBN 13: 9780387799452
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256