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Reflector Book Review:
Turn Left at Orion
Category: Observing
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Turn Left at Orion
Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis
Ingram Book Company
ISBN 0-521-482-119
$24.94
Turn Left at Orion is a user
friendly guidebook for finding objects in the night
sky with relative ease. The authors offer nearly 100
of the best star clusters, galaxies and nebulae, as
well as variable and double stars to observe.
The book touches on the Moon and some
of the more prominent craters visible during each of
its phases. It also briefly talks about how to observe
the planets, and contains a chart listing when you can
see them through the year 2000.
Turn Left at Orion is designed
for those with smaller telescopes (3-inch to 4-inch)
or those who want the fun of finding objects quickly,
rather than spending hours on "techno babble" instructions
and not finding a thing.
The main attraction of this book comes
from finder charts that are easy to use. Along with
the charts, the observer is given detailed instructions
on where to point and how to move the telescope, and
what he should see in both the finderscope and eyepiece
fields of view. This is all enhanced by sketches of
the object you are looking for.
For extras, there are comments on
what the observer is seeing, as well as footnotes about
particular points of interest and current astronomical
information known about the object.
Turn Left at Orion has all
the qualifications of a good beginners guidebook. It
makes observing deep-sky objects easier, and most of
the objects listed can be seen from the city. More importantly,
it makes observing FUN!
Kathy Anderson
(From The Eyepiece, newsletter of
the Neville Public Museum Astronomical Society, Green
Bay, WI, March 1995)
Reviewed in the May 1995 issue.
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