This book is intended for amateur astronomers who are readers of Sky and Telescope magazine or similar astronomy periodicals - or are at least at the same level of knowledge and enthusiasm. It begins with teaching astronomers to use their most important astronomy tool, their eyes. Then it discusses how to select the right telescope. Subsequent chapters take the readers on a tour of the solar system as they have never viewed it before... through their own eyes. The book brings the challenge and fun back to a hobby that goes stale far too quickly for too many budding amateur astronomers. It takes complex subject matter and makes it easy and entertaining to read. Written by a jet pilot instructor and amateur astronomer each chapter includes a series of observing challenges that will entertain and push the reader to continually higher levels of achievement.

Autorentext

Michael Borgia is a jet pilot instructor for Flight Safety International, and in his spare time a member of Delmarva Stargazers Astronomy Club. He has been an amateur astronomer for 30 years since his childhood. He believes that he has been in every situation, asked every relevant and irrelevant question, and experienced every frustration known to amateur astronomy. He is the author of numerous training documents for Flight Safety and American Flyers, including full-length technical training texts.

Klappentext

This book is not for beginners.

Nor is it for experts instead it addresses the needs of practical amateur astronomers who want to make the jump to the new challenges of serious visual observing.

Second Steps in Observational Astronomy begins by teaching you, as an amateur astronomer, to use the most important tool you have: your eyes. Visual observing is very definitely a skill that can be learned. Of course it is important to have your other optical equipment telescope and accessories set up and operating as perfectly as possible. This book describes how.

After these vital preliminaries, subsequent chapters include a series of observing challenges that will entertain you and push your observing skills to continually higher levels of excellence for years to come.

Take a tour of the solar-system as you never viewed it before, then beyond into the realm of deep space using just your own eyes to reveal more detail than you ever thought possible.

Zusammenfassung
For years, the images have blazed through your imagination. They are the magni?cent full-color photographs returned by the Hubble Space Telescope and 1 its sister Great Observatories of the grand depths of the cosmos.From the pillars of creation,considered to be Hubble's signature image, to the incomprehensible depths of the Hubble Deep Fields to the intricate details imaged in the surface and cloud tops of Mars or Jupiter, the power of the Hubble Telescope to turn on the public to science is unparalled in the history of modern culture. They also have spurred new telescope sales to unimagined highs.And after years of watching the heavens through the eyes of NASA, you've decided it's time to see it for yourself. You make the trip to the department store and pick up that shiny new 500×te- scope,set it up and soon you're in business. Unfortunately,the high initial expectations usually give way to disappointment. Instead of seeing the magni?cent swirling clouds of gas in the Orion Nebula,you see a pale green-gray cloud with a couple of nondescript stars lurking nearby.The swirling red, yellow and brown storms of Jupiter are nowhere to be seen; only varying shades of gray in the planet's cloud bands,assuming you can see bands at all! And Mars? After waiting all night for the red planet to rise up over the morning horizon, you are greeted by nothing more than a featureless reddish-orange dot.

Inhalt
The Integrated Observing System. Part I:Your Eyes.- The Integrated Observing System. Part II:Your Equipment.- Putting the Integrated Observing System Together.- First Night Out.- Mysteries of the Moon.- Secrets of the Sun.- Mercury, Venus, and the Inner Solar System.- The Enigmas of Mars, the Red Planet.- Comets and Asteroids, the Cosmic Leftovers of Creation.- Jupiter and Saturn, Kings of Worlds.- The Outer Worlds; Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Beyond.- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Now Knock It Off!).- Faint, Fuzzy Things. Part I:P henomena Galactica.- Faint, Fuzzy Things. Part II:The Island Universes.