Product Description
This second edition has been entirely restructured and almost doubled in size, in order to improve clarity and account for the great progress achieved in the field over the last 15 years.
"This is not a handbook for observers. It is a broader reference for students, active researchers, and anyone who wants a detailed look at the tools of modern astronomy..." -PHYSICS TODAY ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

takes you to the frontiers
Astronomy is going through exciting times, as new and better instrumentation and methods gives us greater insight into the universe. This book helps explain what some of the advances are. It gives basic material about radiation, photometry and the like. There is an important explanation of how the atmosphere has traditionally limited the resolution of images (at least in the visible spectrum) due to turbulence. Which leads the book into some of the attractions of space-based telescopes.

But the book also goes into how ground based telescopes are overcoming the atmospheric barrier. Using adaptive optics in "smart" telescopes. This lets them cancel out the effects of turbulence, on the time scale of that turbulence. Very impressive. We can push to the instrinsic limits of the optics.

The book takes you to the frontiers of modern astronomy. ... Read more

Product Description
Author has brought together the experience of small telescope users to provide an insightful look into just what is possible. Written for newcomers to astronomy and experts. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not what it say's on the tin.
Another collection essays by a number of people that purports to be "by" Stephen Tonkin. "Edited by", and inexpertly at that, would be more accurate. Please don't buy this book.

Interesting Book
This book has some interesting and intriguing ideas for owners of any telescope, not just ones that are 5 inches or less, as suggested by the book.I own an 8 inch Celestron Nexstar 8se, and I found the techniques for observation as suggested in the book to be very useful.

Ten telescope essays plus one
This book is a collection of essays on experiences using small telescopes for observing the heavens. The discussions range from 60mm refractors thru 5 in. "go to" scopes, including a home made 4 in. Newtownian. There is also a short essay on radio astronomy which seems out of place in this text. This book would have been served by better organization. Some of the essays have good insights on observing with these small telescopes, but it pays to look through all the essays, even for those not dealing with the specific telescope one owns or is interested in.This book was published with beginners in mind, but the organization of the book may leave a beginner confused. This is a bit below the average of books in the "Practical Astronomy" series, but a good starting point for owners of telescopes 5 in. in diameter and smaller. The "Radio Telescope" essay, though out of place in this text, gives an insight into non-visual astronomy open to the amatuer astronomer. ... Read more

Product Description
The meeting marked an opportunity to look back on a successful decade of results from the ROSAT, ASCA, RXTE and BeppoSAX missions. The two topics covered at the meeting were: (1) x-ray binaries and (2) AGN and the x-ray background. X-ray binaries provide a natural laboratory for probing the extreme environments of black holes and neutron stars. The meeting was organized jointly by ITESRE/CNR and NASA/GSFC, with support from ASI. The meeting itself proved to be very timely and gave an excellent summary of the past discoveries as well as the science challenges awaiting the new missions that would dominate the first decade of the 21st century. ... Read more

Product Description
In making the invisible universe visible, radio telescopes allow astronomers to see through our local universe of nearby stars to view a distant universe. Radio astronomy has provided tremendous insights into the composition, physical characteristics, and evolution of objects in the universe and revealed completely new, unanticipated phenomena. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has greatly contributed to this scientific revolution. The book traces the story of radio astronomy from its accidental beginnings in the 1930s to the present, describes the development of NRAO instrumentation, and focuses on the considerable contributions made by the scientists using the NRAO instruments. This unique insight into the evolution of a truly modern science is written in a style that anyone with an interest in astronomy can understand and enjoy, and also provides technical information that professionals in astronomy, computer science, and electrical engineering will find useful. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent!
I have the book and have taken the class with Dr. Malphrus.Both were extremely "Ben"eficial to my physics eduacation.This book is interesting on both the historical and scientific level.An excellent view into an evolving science.

Go Doc Malphrus!
We haven't really read the book but we're students of his and we love him. He's an awesome guy. GO DOC!

A comprehensive guide to the beginnings of radio astronomy.
This book offers an excellent look into the history and making of the science we now know as radio astronomy.Dr. Malphrus' book is also easy to understand, you need not be a physics major to make sense of the science he discusses.A great book for a interesting look into the once invisibleworld of radio astronomy. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by two prominent figures in radio astronomy, this well-established, graduate-level textbook is a thorough and up-to-date introduction to radio telescopes and techniques. It is an invaluable overview for students and researchers turning to radio astronomy for the first time. The first half of the book describes how radio telescopes work - from basic antennas and single aperture dishes through to full aperture-synthesis arrays. It includes reference material on the fundamentals of astrophysics and observing techniques. The second half of the book reviews radio observations of our galaxy, stars, pulsars, radio galaxies, quasars, and the cosmic microwave background. This third edition describes the applications of fundamental techniques to newly developing radio telescopes, including ATA, LOFAR, MWA, SKA, and ALMA, which all require an understanding of aspects specific to radio astronomy. Two entirely new chapters now cover cosmology, from the fundamental concepts to the most recent results of WMAP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Intro to Radio Astronomy
A comprehensive and modern text book on the subject , I found it well presented and feel it should appeal to both astronomy students as well as radio astronomy amateurs .

Hard Read
In a graduate course that I was taking on Radio Astronomy, this book was often criticized by the students. In short, it was a difficult book to wade through.If my education had included more study of the Greek alphabet, maybe the long recitations of formulae would not have made this the book you can't pick up. I'm just going to assume that all the math you would want is right here but you don't get to see them in action. It is pretty clearly a course textbook but there are no problems to solve and no attempt to work through examples.

I do want to make a strong plug for the 3 appendices. One is a good introduction to Fourier transforms (27 formulae in 8 pages without any examples worked out - typical for this book); the second discusses celestial coordinates, distances and time; the third is the best 7 page history of radio astronomy that you will find.

Very poor editing and writing style, many errors...
Well, I got to say, this does pass the test of a pretty good introduction to the subject for someone with a good technical background.What others have said stands.That said, the careful reader with be constantly annoyed with the flagrant basic errors of math and language that frequent this text.Where the heck were the editors and proof-readers for this thing?Very often equations are written that are just flat out wrong due to omissions or typos that the reader must deduce.In other cases statements are made in the text I suppose to try to explain a point but in the end just demonstrate that the author's had absolutely no idea what they were talking about since what they state is in fact just plain wrong, oftentimes just plain bad basic math.Finally there is a general sloppiness to the writing style with the frequent use of ambiguous pronouns that often point to the wrong subject or predicate.

Some small examples:

Eq 5.8 is s = s0 + d

(Vectors, little hats over s and s0 to indicate unit vectors, and d is actually the greek letter sigma).

The text following states:

------
where d is a small vector, normal to s0. (It must be normal, since both s and s0 are unit vectors).
------

The parenthetical adds absolutely nothing to the understanding of the problem and is IN FACT WRONG.If s and s0 are unit vectors then d CANNOT be normal to EITHER ONE OF THEM.Basic vector math folks, in fact just a basic understanding of a right triangle.Amazing that the authors went out of their way to make a statement that not only contains no illuminating information but is flat out wrong.Not only that, but no proof-reader or editor noticed this obvious error - this is high-school math here.Other examples such as this are throughout the text.

Another example highlighting the awful writing style:

------
The autocorrelation function is related to the spectrum of f(t); for zero time shift it is simply its square.
------

Try reading that a few times.The first clause is true.The second clause is extremely confusing.I love that "it" and "its" are in the same clause for starters.To top it off "its" refers to f(t) which would be your last guess unless you already knew what they were trying to say.It is plain bad english.Again, numerous examples throughout the text.

I can't really fault the authors to much here.Writing a book is a very hard task and the authors have taken on a very wide subject and as far as information content goes have done a very good job.Unfortunately it reads a bit like some sloppy class notes.Often the most knowledgable folks, and even the best teachers, are not the best writers.It is the job of the editor to bridge the gap here.In this case the editors at Cambridge University Press should be ashamed of themselves.They have let both the authors and their readers down.

Anyway, I guess I'd recommend, but get ready to be confused and annoyed.And not by the subject matter which is actually quite accessible.

Advanced Introduction - Targets Researchers and Graduate Astronomy Students, But Accessible to Others
An Introduction to Radio Astronomy (1997) targets astronomy graduate students and others committed professionally to radio astronomy. The authors - two noted radio astronomers, Bernard F. Burke and Francis Graham-Smith - also hope to interest optical astronomers and others who want to be informed of the principal ideas current in radio astronomy, and may even be thinking of carrying out radio observations that would complement other work in progress.

With a background in geophysics, I did not always find An Introduction to Radio Astronomy to be easy going, but most topics were not out of reach. That is, readers with some background in physics, electrical engineering, and/or signal processing will find substantial familiar ground, including electromagnetics, thermodynamics, Fourier analysis, and spectral analysis. I give five stars to this not-so-easy, self-contained, advanced introduction to radio astronomy.

I found the first six chapters (about 80 pages) to be the most challenging, perhaps due to my limited familiarity with radio telescopes. Key topics included radio telescopes as antenna, signal detection and noise, single-aperture radio telescopes, the two-element interferometer, and aperture synthesis.

Chapter 7 - the absorption, amplification, refraction, and attenuation of radio waves - addresses radiative transfer, astrophysical masers, radio propagation through ionized gas, Faraday rotation of polarized waves, scintillation (radio amplitude variations akin to the optical twinkling of stars), and radio propagation in the earth's atmosphere. Take your time with this chapter as the authors frequently return to these topics.

The remaining nine chapters offer a wide-ranging review of the radio universe and are more immediately accessible to a wider audience. The chapter titles are Galactic Continuum Radiation, The Interstellar Medium (ISM), Galactic Dynamics, Stars, Pulsars, Radio Galaxies and Quasars, Cosmology and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), Cosmology: Discrete Radio Sources and Gravitational Lenses, and The Place of Radio in Astronomy.

Two Suggestions: I strongly urge the reader to stay the course with the first seven chapters as the later chapters require a basic understanding of radio observation methodologies, antenna temperature, radio brightness temperature, non-thermal radiation, 21 centimeter radiation, bremsstrahlung emission spectra, etc.

Also, a reader that is relatively new to radio astronomy will find it helpful to read at an early stage the three appendices:Appendix 1 - a concise review of Fourier transforms, intended as a review, not as a self-tutorial,Appendix 2 - a general overview of celestial coordinates , distance, and time, and Appendix 3 - a fascinating account of the origins of radio astronomy (1932 -1954).

Excellent Advanced Radio Astronomy Text
This book is a great Radio Astronomy text for the undergraduate major or the graduate level.It is a little advanced for most of my students.... ... Read more

Product Description
Charge-coupled Devices (CCDs) have revolutionised astronomy. Even affordable CCD cameras can be ten times a sensitive as photographic film, and they deliver a digitised image that is easy to enhance using a personal computer. David Ratledge has brought together contributions from twelve leading amateurs from around the world, people who are routinely producing astronomical images of a quality that rivals those of professional observatories only of 10 years ago. These experts describe their techniques and solutions, and offer essential tips and advice for anyone who is choosing or using a CCD camera. Now glance through the Colour Gallery at the back of this book to see just what they have done! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

1996
This book has useful information but is outdated. The author talks about his IBM 486 33MHz computer and the amount of time on image download and etc.......

Learn the experiences of other Astronomers
'The Art and Science of CCD Astronomy' gives you the experiences and tips/tricks of those who have used (and are currently using) CCD's as their primary Astrophotography tool.Learn how to do Planetary as well as deepspace photography with just about any CCD on the market today.Somesources for CCD equipment is also included.Great title for the beginner ... Read more

Product Description

Modern astronomical telescopes, along with other advances in technology, have brought the deep sky ? star clusters, nebulae and the galaxies ? within reach of amateur astronomers. And it isn?t even necessary to image many of these deep-sky objects in order to see them; they are within reach of visual observers using modern techniques and enhancement technology.

Customer Reviews (1)

Misleading Title
I found the title of the book to be misleading.A better title would have been "Using Video Astronomy Equipment in the Desert."The author is certainly keen on using image intensifiers (night vision eyepieces) and video cameras attached to his scope.Had I known what the book was really about; I wouldn't have purchased it. ... Read more

Product Description
Telescopes - refractors and reflectors - are the main items of equipment used by almost every amateur astronomer. The purpose of astronomical telescopes is to collect and focus more light than the human eye can, forming an image that can be viewed, photographed, or analysed. Astronomical Equipment for Amateurs makes buying and using both telescopes and their ancillary instruments easy for astronomers of all abilities. It begins by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the basic types of refractors, reflectors, mountings and accessories. Observation techniques are also included, along with the use of filters, (colour, anti-pollution and nebula), types of photography (piggy-back, prime focus and eyepiece projection), and also CCD imaging (including types of CCD camera and their advantages and disadvantages compared to photography). Martin Mobberley provides a fascinating insight into astronomical software. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A perfect complement to Star Ware by Harrington
Mobberley goes into a little more detail concerning mounts, photography and CCD imaging than Harrington. Although the book is biased towards SCT's and it has an english accent, he does an excellent job in his explanationof the practical limits of telescopes and accessories. I found it a perfectcomplement to Harrington's excellent, must have, Star Ware for anyoneconsidering purchasing telescopes and accessories. ... Read more

Product Description
Getting started in amateur astronomy can be frustrating. Without a helpful friend to lend advice, choosing a telescope, learning the buzzwords, or viewing the deep sky season by season can seem daunting.Now amateur astronomers can turn to The Guide to Amateur Astronomy to get started or, if they are more advanced, to learn all the techniques of serious telescopic observing.The authors begin by showing readers how to find their way about the night sky with little or no equipment.For the stargazer who becomes addicted they include a complete catalog of the night sky's most intriguing star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.More advanced projects include astrophotography, telescope construction, planetary observing, comet hunting, variable star recording, and nova discovery.The new edition covers the exciting developments in the world of astro-software for the home computer and the techniques of electronic imaging or charged-coupled devices (CCDs). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Very Good Book
I first saw this book at my local library and this book is very good. There are some out dated items in the book such as cold cameras, but the ccd parts we well written. The book is well written and both authors I feelhave done an excellent job. ... Read more

Product Description
This introduction to basic practical tools, methods and phenomena in quantitative astronomy covers topics across a wide range of areas, from radio to gamma-ray wavelengths. Clear presentations of the topics are accompanied by diagrams and problem sets. Written for undergraduates and graduate students, the book will introduce them to the practice and study of quantitative and analytical astronomy and astrophysics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not very detailed
I was using this book for an undergraduate course in observational astronomy, and I found it almost worthless. Bradt seemingly explains a lot of details, but he derives nothing, often offering numbers that only work in limited cases, or offering general relations, instead of actual equations. I think the book would be far over the head of any casual observer, and I know it was useless for someone looking to actually learn the science behind observational astronomy.

current methods of taking observations
The focus [pun intended] is on observational astronomy. Rather than the astrophysics of exotic objects like black holes. Bradt goes through the electromagnetic spectrum. In various regions of this, like the Xray or the visible, he explains the most common methods of taking observations. This is a function of our current technology.

Though, and this is important to note, the technology is continually improving. Hence the book can also be usefully read as a projection into the near future of logically improved capabilities. Maybe the most exciting of which is better images of extrasolar stars and planetary systems. Especially visible images.

The text is detailed enough to be useful to an undergrad astronomy or physics major. Some elements might be too advanced for a lay reader. ... Read more

Product Description
Light-pollution is the modern scourge of optical astronomy. More and more observing sites are being lost as the glare of city lighting blots out the night sky. Professional astronomical observatories are located far from cities, but amateur astronomers often do not have this luxury. This book considers the two available strategies open to astronomers - get rid of the light pollution by lobbying authorities and standards organisations, and minimize its effects by using the correct instrumentation. The book contains an extensive detailed catalogue of deep-sky and other objects that - despite what one might believe - can be seen from variously light-polluted sites, for practical observers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A comprehensive, useful, much needed book
I recently started to research the subject of light pollution because I live in a fairly rural area that's being developed rapidly. I want to help educate and influence the policy makers and developers, if I can, to make smart choices regarding lighting as they plan their ball fields with stadium lights, their subdivisions, and their various towers.

I went online and discovered that there are more than a million web sites that address the subject of light pollution. More than a million sites! I had information overload big time and didn't know where to start.

Then I discovered Bob Mizon's book, Light Pollution. What a relief! It defines the problem of light pollution and gives us practical guidelines and step-by-step solutions to combat it. We've got to educate ourselves and others about the serious hazards of light pollution and what we can do about it. This book is a great resource for everyone's personal library. -- Kathleen Hawkins, president of winningspirit.com and author of Spirit Incorporated: How to Follow Your Spiritual Path from 9 to 5

Timely book on an important subject
Light pollution is -- or should be -- a concern of astronomers throughout the inhabited regions of the Earth. This is, to my best knowledge, the first book to directly address those concerns in detail.

The book is in three sections plus copious appendices and an index. The first section discusses the physiology of human vision, defines the nature and consequences (not only astronomical) of light pollution, and considers changes in attitude to and technology of lighting. This serves as an excellent introduction to the problem.

The second section shows how astronomy may be continued, despite light pollution, by technological 'fixes', such as light pollution reduction (LPR) filters and CCD imaging. One hundred objects suitable for visual observation from light-polluted skies are suggested and described. Techniques of observation in light-polluted skies are also suggested. It is this section of the book that is most likely to be criticised by those concerned that it may imply that, since astronomy in light-polluted skies is possible, the problem itself is not as great as activists suggest. I would suggest that it is only by showing people
what is visible in these skies that an interest in astronomy can be established and maintained, thus leading to (hopefully) a will to address the problem.

In the final section, the book discusses remedies; briefly these are technological (good lighting), legal (legislation to control poor lighting), and social (educating people as to the problem). The appendices that follow provide good material (including the debunking of common lighting myths) for anyone who wishes to involve him (or her) self in combating this source of aesthetic degradation.

Obviously, this book will be of great use as a 'handbook' for anyone involved in the activities of the Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS) or the International Dark-sky Association (IDA), but its appeal is wider than that. It is also useful for those who undertake astronomy under brightly-lit skies, both as a guide to what may be achieved, but also with suggestions as to how such astronomers may help to have their skies improved. There is a slight UK emphasis, but the book has international appeal.

Shining through the lively style of the very well-written text is the author's passion for astronomy in general and his knowledge gained over many years as co-ordinator of the CfDS. The copious photographs, most of which are in colour, serve to enhance the text.

In short, this is a very good book, which is very readable, covering a subject of importance. Recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
The subject of this history is the science and politics of the establishment, funding, construction and operation of two important American observatories, the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The book is written from the unique perspective of Frank K. Edmondson, a former member of the AURA board of directors. Drawing on oral histories, archival material, as well as the author's personal participation from 1956 to the present, this is a personal account of a period of major innovation in American optical astronomy.Will be of interest to historians and astronomers alike. ... Read more

Product Description
This book, written by two leading astrophysicists, reviewsthe historical observations of supernova explosions in our Galaxy over the past two thousand years and discusses modernobservations of the remnants of these explosions at radioand other wavelengths. ... Read more

Product Description

The Meade LX200 series of telescopes was introduced in 1992 and represented a giant step forward in technology for amateur astronomers - computer control. The LX200 series telescopes were an instant success and have outsold all other astronomical telescopes put together. Steady development has continued to the present day, and LX200s are available in a range of apertures from 8-inch through the giant 16-inch, which is widely installed in university astronomy departments and the smaller public observatories. For anyone considering buying a high-end Meade telescope, the book offers an experienced user's guide to what can actually be achieved with it.

So You Want a Meade LX Telescope also provides detailed discussions about some of the many software packages available to aid optimizing and actually using the scope. The typical results are discussed so readers can know what to expect. Also reviewed are essential accessories such as CCD cameras and the latest Active Optics units.

These extraordinary telescopes are capable of amazing results, but using them and setting them up can be a chore. That's why this book is essential reading for anyone who has bought or upgraded to an LX200 or its top-of-the-range companion, the RCS400 (later re-designated the LX400ACF).

Customer Reviews (2)

so you want to use your computer to run your telescope!
this is certainly a useful and well written text, but it does not live up to its title, does not fill an important need within a brand category such as meade telescopes, and does not recognize the specific categories of amateur and semipro astronomers or the way they approach a telescope. my comments emphasize the disparity between the book's title and contents, and the fact that the contents are in fact highly specialized: they certainly don't tell you how to select a telescope!

the first heading on the first page is "computers and astronomy," and roughly 150 of the book's 230 pages consists of chapters such as "essential software for basic operations," "software adjustment of polar alignment," "autoguiding," "using advanced software" and so forth. another 40 pages is devoted to balancing and polar alignment, the different types of telescopes, generic telescope accessories, updating firmware, telescope retailers and online user groups. i judge only about 30 pages or less than 15% of the book is actually concerned with meade specific products or guidelines for their use.

it's a shame, because the meade user manual appears to have been written by a retired engineer, full of facts but meager with guidance. what is the best way to position the tripod on unpaved soil, or use the gps system, or update location or time information, or autoalign the scope? when autoalignment fails, why does that happen? how should one transport the scope, or store it (batteries left in, or taken out?), care for the optics, or clean dirty optics? how does one ventilate or cool down the scope prior to viewing? what specifically does "advanced coma free" (ACF) optics mean, and how specifically do ACF optics differ from newtonian, cassegrainian or ritchey-chretien optics? what are the best eyepieces to use for different circumstances, and which are the recommended manufacturers? on all these practical and highly important issues, both harris and the manufacturer user guide have nothing at all to offer.

the other drawback is that astronomers come in flavors: the big divide is between the visual observers (with their lifetime checklists of the messier 110 or herschel 400) and the astrophotographers (with their CCD cameras); the visual observers divide further into variable star, near earth object or deep sky observers, to name only three. each group prefers different strategies for organizing their night time viewing, right down to the ways they use star atlases and sky software to plan out the sequence of galactic locations and viewing times for objects they intend to observe and the eyepieces or filters they will use. these activities are all software related: harris says nothing about them. worse, in the 30 pages where he does talk about meade products, he rather annoyingly speaks of the meade LX400 (which he owns) as the "top of the line" scope, and the LX200 as "also very good", omitting the more obvious and important facts that meade no longer makes the LX400 scope, the LX400 actually *must be* computer controlled and, because of its shorter focal length and larger secondary mirror, is better suited for astrophotography than visual observing.

again, this book has quite a lot of useful and well presented information on aligning, collimating and controlling a telescope with computer software and the primarily photographic application of a telescope operated by computer. for any information outside that narrow bailiwick ... you're still stuck with the meade user guide.

Needed this book years ago.
Patrick Moore's book is a great find and I could have used it years ago but even today I find the information and presentation perfect for me as an owner of a Meade 10" LX200GPS.Great book very informative and packed with useful information. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by an accomplished amateur astronomer and available for the first time in North America, this advanced guide is designed to take your evening explorations to new heights. Beginning with an explanation of the fundamental principles of practical astronomy, author North provides essential information on telescope optics, the atmosphere, astrophotography, electronic imaging, and telescope hardware (including how to select equipment and diagnose faulty telescopes). This knowledge is then applied to the full range of celestial bodies accessible by telescope: the solar system, stars and galaxies. For those amateur astronomers who are bored with making simple observations, chapters on photometry, spectroscopy and radio astronomy bring observational astronomy to a level where data of real scientific value can be acquired. This book is a must for any amateur astronomer wanting a new way to look at the sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Advanced is Right
Most of this book is above me and the people in our club.
I hope to grow into it.

A Good Advanced Overview
North's seem to have a penchant for writing overview books, but this example is superior than his more recent "Observing the Moon" overview of that subject.

Many of the things that North deals with in this book - optics, hardware, seeing, astrophotography, stellar objects (Sun, comets, planets, moon, etc) - have been done in other books, but North is able to take them to the next level rather effectively. Somehow he's able to put just the right amount in each chapter this time.

Furthermore, North has been able to include in this book chapters in spectroscopy and radio astronomy that I've not seen in other books of this type.

The only issue I have with the book is that some of his information now seems a bit dated. There is not much that can be done about that in such a fast moving field as Astronomy. Having said that, I think that "Advanced Amateur Astronomy" manages to raise the bar for books of this type.

Recommended.Heck, its on MY Wish List!8-)

Very Good Book
The author covers quite a range of material, in a very easy to read style. He goes into enough depth to make it a very practical book. Cover basic collimation issues, telescope design- a great book for Amateur Telescope Makers.

There's nice number of pointers on astrophotography also. Especially for plaetary/lunar. Some material is perhaps a little dated. Not much on digital image processing, but a good section nonetheless.

Finally he concludes with neat radio telescope projects and how amateurs can do more scientific type work of benefit. ... Read more