Observing Variable Stars (Paperback)

Paperback. Observing variable stars is one of the major contributions amateurastronomers make to science. There are 36,000 variable stars listed inthe General Catalogue of Variable Stars, so it is clearly impossible forthe limited number of professional observatories to target even themajority of them. That's where amateur astronomers come in - thousands ofthem turning their telescopes to the sky every night. Variable starobserving is the most popular of "real science" activities for amateurs,and Gerry Good's book provides everything needed. The first part of thebook provides a highly detailed account of the various classes of variablestar, with examples, illustrations and physical descriptions. The secondsection covers practical aspects of observing, everything from preparationand planning, through observing techniques, to data management andreduction. Observing variable stars is one of the major contributions amateur astronomers make to science. There are 36,000 variable stars listed in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars, so it is clearly impossible for the limited number of professional observatories to target even the majority of them. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…