Books M - N

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Mathematical Astronomy Morsels. Meeus. Jean Meeus's latest book explores the frequency of blue moons, planetary groupings, and a great deal more, as only this master of astronomical calculations could. He predicted the May 2000 alignment in an article for Sky & Telescope magazine in December 1961, but without spreading the doomsday concern, of course. He has brought together these and other tidbits from his voluminous writings, spanning nearly half a century, on every sort of celestial configuration, cycle, and curiosity. His wide following in America can now enjoy these penetrating analyses, many of which originally appeared only in Europe. The collection is much more than mere anthology. Each conclusion has been checked, and virtually every numerical result calculated afresh, with all the rigor we have come to expect. I want to order this book now

Messier Card (Unlaminated)This quick-reference sky chart shows the location of all 109 Messier objects on the front and tabulates their coordinates, sizes, and visual magnitudes on the back.

Messier Marathon Field Guide, Pennington. Written for the person who wants to become familiar with the famous list of 110 deep-sky wonders, the Messier objects. The novice soon learns how to find the nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies that every amateur astronomer should know. The observing techniques taught are easy to learn and powerful. A beginner should soon be able to locate 25 to 30 Messier objects on any night of the year. 196 pages Hardcover I want to order this book now
 

Messier Objects: Deep-Sky Companions:O'Meara. Introducing the Messier guide for the modern age! This first book in the Deep-Sky Companions series by noted observer and Sky & Telescope contributor Steve O'Meara provides a fresh perspective on these perennially favorite viewing targets. Along with pages of observing tips for novice stargazers, O'Meara presents the most recent scientific data about each object, accurate drawings done at the eyepiece, new insights on the "missing" Messier objects, and more! 304pp HC
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Meteors, N Bone Glimpsing occasional "shooting stars" is exhilarating. This book helps you learn how to start your own meteor-hunting program. In great detail, Neil Bone teaches you the origins and science of meteors, naked-eye-metor watching, and record keeping. A seasonal calendar of annual meteor showers and their characteristics is also included.. 175 pages
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MILLENIUM STAR ATLAS by Sinnot and Perryman

Does your Star Atlas show Pleiades in this detail.

You asked for it, and here it is...

Hailed as the definitive reference set, the Millennium Star Atlas features 1,548 sky charts based on the European Space Agency's landmark Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues.

Detailed, comprehensive, and complete, this three-volume set shows more than one million stars, three times as many as any other atlas in print. More than 10,000 of the nearest stars are labeled with their distances in light-years, as determined by the Hipparcos satellite. The charts also include the locations, orientations, and aspect ratios of 8,000 galaxies. The generous angular scale and the faint limiting magnitude, corresponding to the survey limit of the Hipparcos satellite at around 11th magnitude, makes star-hopping to deep-sky objects a breeze.

Detailed Description
These subdivided coordinate grids, perfectly matched to the scale of the Millennium Star Atlas, aid in measuring the positions of charted objects or in plotting new objects. They include a series of star dots for estimating magnitudes, and a set of tick marks for estimating double-star separations.


 

Modern Moon  Charles A. Wood  Charles Wood’s Exploring the Moon column in Sky & Telescope delights readers each month. Now Wood brings his insightful and clear prose about our closest celestial neighbor to you in this new book. Drawing on both traditional telescopic observations of the Moon and the modern explorations of the Apollo, Clementine, and Lunar Prospector missions, The Modern Moon: A Personal View is an authoritative guidebook that tells readers both what to look for and why to look. Set up your telescope and let Wood unravel the Moon’s complex past as you gaze at lunar vistas.
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Lunar 100 Card  Charles A. Wood See the Moon as never before with Sky & Telescope columnist and lunar expert Charles A. Wood. This 2-sided card is a handy companion to his ongoing series of articles highlighting the Moon's complex geology. The table on the back provides information about all 100 entries as well as the corresponding chart number from Antonin Rükl’s Atlas of the Moon.
Optional laminated finish protects it against moisture and wear.
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More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels
Like the highly acclaimed Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels discusses a wide range of celestial configurations, cycles, and curiosity that Roger Sinnott observed in his Foreword to the first Morsels were “things almost impossible to find by paging through almanacs or scrolling through time with a computer's planetarium program.” Some of these new subjects have been suggested by readers and friends, while others were inspired by actual (sometimes fictive) astronomical events, such as the so-called brightest Full Moon of December 1999, the recovering of asteroid Albert in May 2000, the long-duration lunar eclipse of July 2000, or the coming perhelic oppositions of Mars in August 2003. Altogether 75 different subjects are covered under six categories: The Moon, Eclipses and Occultations, Planetary Motions, Planetary Phenomena, On the Celestial Sphere, and Varia.
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N

The New CCD Astronomy  Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy is the #1 source of information about CCD astrophotography. It contains everything you need to know to become proficient at CCD imaging. Hundreds of detailed illustrations show you how to select equipment, take pictures, and process your images with a variety of software.
This book cover everything you need to know: How a CCD camera works; How to achieve critical focus; How to choose the right equipment (mount, telescope, and CCD camera); How to autoguide, and more.
You'll also learn the secrets of color imaging, the art of noise reduction, many image processing techniques, and specialized techniques for planets, nebulae, galaxies, etc.
Free with purchase: a one-year subscription to the New CCD Astronomy web site, including: a complete online version of the book; additional fully-illustrated tutorials; discussion groups moderated by the author; searchable database of CCD imaging targets; and a number of free software tools to improve your CCD imaging results.

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The New Astro Zone System for Astro Imaging - Ron Wodaski  with additional content by Russell Croman

Photoshop is a powerful tool, but it's also very complicated. The Zone System not only shows you how to process your images in Photoshop, it gives you a complete system for astro image processing. The book is in full color on every page, and it includes a DVD with video training, free software, and other goodies.

The Zone System grew out of the CCD Imaging Camps I held for the last several years in New Mexico. It is based on painstaking research into how Photoshop works - and why it works the way it does. You won't just learn some useful ways to use Curves; you'll learn the type of curve to use, the correct way to integrate Curves and Levels, and more. The most important thing you'll learn, however, is how to take the guesswork out of processing astronomical images.

The Zone System book is based on:

    * Watching students learn how to work with Photoshop at the Camps
    * Breaking down the steps in Photoshop to their fundamentals
    * Putting the steps back together in a way that makes sense for astro image processing
    * Showing how to process an image from end to end
    * Developing new ideas on color, signal to noise ratio, and other topics

But the biggest idea that brings everything together is the Zone System itself. By breaking the image down into manageable zones, you learn how to get the most out of any image you process. For a breakdown of the zones, please check out the sample pages.  Note: The sample pages skip around a bit, to show different features of the book. They are not a complete chapter or section!

The sample pages include a preview of the Zone System, and highlights from a Photoshop tutorial.

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New Perspectives on Newtonian Collimation Vic Menard and Tippy D'Auria   Collimating a telescope is the process by which all the optics and related elements are brought on axis so that incoming starlight ends up in the right place. This guide is packed with advice about Newtonian telescope collimation. Also included are procedures for Schmidt-Cassegrains, conventional Cassegrains, and mirror star diagonals.
 


 

Night Sky Observers Guide ,G. Kepple and G Sanner. This impressive two volume guide totals nearly 1000 pages of observational information for users of medium to large aperture telescopes. For most of the 3000 deep-sky objects covered, there is a brief discription as seen through two or more telescopes apertures such as 8/10", 12/14", 16/18", 20/22" and at different powers. Eyepiece impression sketches are provided for 827 of the objects. Although this book was intended for Northern Latitudes as is evident by the volume names, it is a very useful addition to any astronomers library of observational aids.   Each chapter is devoted to a constellation. The first page is devoted to general comments about the constellation. The second page is a map of the constellation which faces a stellar data table which usually fills the entire page. The remaining pages of each chapter contain photographs, sketches and finding charts - and all of these pages include writen descriptions of objects as seen through different sized instruments.
 

VOLUME 1: Autumn and Winter
Andromeda, Aquarius, Aries, Auriga,Camelopardalis, Cancer, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Columba, Eridanus, Fornax, Gemini, Lacerta, Lepus, Lynx, Monoceros, Orion, Pegasus, Perseus, Pisces, Piscis Austrinus, Puppis, Pyxis, Sculptor, Taurus, and Triangulum.
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VOLUME 2: Spring and Summer
Antlia, Aquila, Bootes, Canes Venatici, Capricornus, Centaurus, Coma Berenices, Corona Australis, Corona Borealis, Corvus, Crater, Cygnus, Delphinus, Draco, Equuleus, Hercules, Hydra, Leo, Leo Minor, Libra, Lupus, Lyra, Microscopium, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Sagittarius, Scorpius, Scutum, Serpens Caput, Serpens Cauda, Sextans, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Virgo, and Vulpecula.
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NEW VOLUME 3: Southern Skies
Apus, Ara, Caelum, Carina, Centaurus (expanded coverage beyond that found in Volume 2), Chamaeleon, Circinus, Crux, Dorado, Grus, Horologium, Hydrus, Indus, Mensa, Musca, Norma, Octans, Pavo, Phoenix, Pictor, Reticulum, Telescopium, Triangulum Australe, Tucana, Vela,Volans plus extensive coverage of The Large Magellanic and Small Magellanic Clouds.

About the Authors

George Robert Kepple and Glen Sanner have been lifelong amateur astronomers. George, until his retirement, worked in the steel industry as a grinding machine operator. Glen is a retired pharmacist. Both now reside in Arizona.

Ian Cooper has been observing for over 35 years. He has been president of the Palmerston North Astronomical Society, the Foxton Beach Astronomical Society, and VP of the Phoenix Astronomical Society with over 600 members. He was the founding member of the Taran¬ski Active Astronomer’s Group and coordinator of the Aurora-Solar Section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. He was a former civil engineering construction surveyor and project manager and is cur¬rently a contract estimator for the local city council.

Jenni Kay serves as the Southern Hemisphere Secretary and editor of the Southern Sky Section for the Webb Society’s Deep-Sky Observer. She is also the author of a 56 page booklet titled A Visual Atlas of the Magellanic Clouds published by the Webb Society. Her father sparked her interest in astronomy over 15 years ago and her main interest is all types of deep-sky objects. She is also interested in Archaeology and Archaeoastronomy.

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