Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky
by Barbara Fritchman Thompson, Robert Bruce Thompson
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Book Reviews of Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky
Book Review: Functional amateur astronomy explained
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this book a couple of weeks ago and haven't finished it yet. I am a very amateur astronomer, night gazer really, and a lot of it is for telescopes and stuff that is beyond me at the moment. But there are plenty of parts that are not, and I like the hands-on, real world experience basis that comes through in the writing. I expect to be able to learn enough from this book to take a "step up" in seriousness in this hobby. The book is giving me a good feel as to what I am getting into, how best to spend my dollars to get what I think I want, etc. What it will be like if I ever work up to actually doing a Messier Marathon, that sort of thing. I guess the word "hack" is okay, but its really an all-level "how to do astronomy better" book with a wide variety or advice. If that is what you need, this book is Recommended.Book Review: WOW Get Astronomy Hacks!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Astronomy Hacks is a wonderful book. The authors do a great job of
loading a lot of helpful information in an easy to read and
understandable fashion. The cool thing about this book is that the
"hacks", helpful tips, and modification they describe in the book are
written so that a beginner is able to understand but at the same time is
not too simple for an advanced person.
Together with their experience the authors provide instructions for
useful modifications to your scope, software to help you observe,
planning an observing session, tips for doing the messier marathon,
choosing and buying accessories, and much more.
A must have for the amateur astronomer!
Daniel Herron
Observing Chairman - Atlanta Astronomy club.
Book Review: worth it's weight in gold
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is great. It includes a large number of very practical astronomy tips intertwined in a general introduction into each subject.
Tips include both hardware tips and hacks and also practical observation and stargazing tips.
While I am sure many of the tips will be useful even to seasoned amateurs -its priceless and very useful to beginners.
The authors produced a very lucid and well organized text in which everyone can find something new or useful.
As a beginner who is planning to buy a large dob in the future, this book has actually saved me a fortune just by letting me know what not to buy and how I can save tons of money learning from others' mistakes.
highly recommended !
Book Review: The second book you need for your telescope, after a good observing guide
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered this book. I was amazed at how well thought out the "hacks" were and the authors take the time to explain the why of the "hack" with plenty of detail. Their handling of the different topics are from the perspective of what they found works well, but they take the time to address alternate viewpoints and the relative merits of each (an example is their handling of the red-dot sight vs Telrad vs Rigel Qwikfinder debate, some very useful information there!).
This is a definite "must have" book for any telescope owner (they handle dobs extremely well in this book), and is the second book you need to buy after choosing a good observing guide.
Book Review: A really good resource
Summary: 5 Stars
In a word, wow. I like to actually read all of a book before making comments, and there is a lot of content in this book, so it took me a while to get all the way through it. As someone with a very minimal background and marginal interest in astronomy, I would feel very comfortable using this as my primary guide if I was going to start observing at most any level; I had no trouble following the text, even the technical information and tables looked like I would be able to understand and use them if I had the need to do so. Well written. This strikes me as an essential resource for any neophyte, one that includes useful information for experienced folks as well.