Exploring the Solar System with Binoculars: A Beginner's Guide to the Sun, Moon, and Planets - Softcover

O'Meara, Stephen James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521741289 ISBN 13: 9780521741286

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Synopsis

In this journey of discovery, Stephen James O'Meara shows you how to observe our Solar System's wonders with ease, using nothing more than the unaided eye and inexpensive handheld binoculars. The guide presents a new way to identify and appreciate the wonders of the Solar System in detail, such as lunar and solar eclipses, sunspots, the Moon's craters, the planets, meteors, and comets. It is a unique observing guide for all amateur astronomers, proving you don't need big and expensive equipment to enjoy astronomy from your own backyard. You will learn a variety of skills, including how to find Venus in the daytime, how to identify faint features in bright comets, how to increase your chances of seeing an abundant meteor shower, and how to track the changing aspects of the planets and their moons. A must for Solar System explorers everywhere!

Listen to a Podcast interview by EarthSky: About Steve O'Meara: Stephen James O'Meara, award-winning visual observer, is columnist and contributing editor for Astronomy magazine and former Eye on the Sky columnist for Sky & Telescope. He is the recipient of the prestigious Caroline Herschel Award, the Lone Stargazer Award, as well as the Omega Centauri Award for "his efforts in advancing astronomy through observation, writing, and promotion, and for sharing his love of the sky." The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O'Meara in his honor. As the first to sight Halley's Comet on its return in 1985, his remarkable skills continually reset the standard of quality for other visual observers. For more exciting titles by O'Meara, please visit http://cambridge.org/us/astronomy/omeara/.

About this title

Book Description

Stephen James O'Meara shows readers how to observe our Solar System's wonders with ease and clarity, using nothing more than the unaided eye and inexpensive, handheld binoculars. This unique observing guide for amateur astronomers covers lunar and solar eclipses, sunspots, the Moon's craters, the planets, meteors, comets, and more.

About the Author

Stephen James O'Meara has spent much of his career on the editorial staff of Sky & Telescope, and is a columnist and contributing editor for Astronomy magazine. He is an award-winning visual observer. His remarkable skills continually reset the standard of quality for other visual observers, and he was the first to sight Halley's Comet on its return in 1985. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O'Meara in his honor. Steve is the recipient of the prestigious Lone Stargazer Award (2001) and the Omega Centauri Award (1994) for 'his efforts in advancing astronomy through observation, writing, and promotion, and for sharing his love of the sky'. He has also been awarded the Caroline Herschel Award for his pre-Voyager visual discovery of the spokes in Saturn's B-ring and for being the first to determine visually the rotation period of Uranus. Steve is also a contract videographer for National Geographic Digital Motion, and a contract photographer for National Geographic Image Collection.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0521741289
• ISBN 13: 9780521741286
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 166