Turn Left at Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope – and How to Find Them

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After delving into how to use a telescope, the book teaches how to locate specific objects in the night sky, and how to use a telescope to see the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. It even talks about how to locate and utilize geostationary satellites. An exceptionally useful text, irrespective of whether you are a novice observer or a seasoned veteran. The changes that have been made to the book are so substantial that even those who own earlier ones will find it refreshingly new. It's not just recommended, it's simply a must have!' Astronomy Now Ultimately it is just not the book for me, if others like it then fine and that is good for them. But I still suggest that people have a look at it first rather then assume that because people say you have to have it then you go out and buy it regardless.

The book covers some basic information about telescopes and some of the things you should consider while using them, including a nice section about the two major types of reflecting telescopes, and an even better section that explains some basic math for determining resolution, magnification, focal ration, and field of view. The importance of those numbers is briefly explained, as well as the easiest ways to determine them for your particular set-up. Praise for previous editions:‘Turn Left at Orion is an essential guide for both beginners and more experienced amateur astronomers who will find much inside to reinvigorate their passion for the stars. The diagrams are simple, clear and functional, and the text eloquently captures the excitement of observing. Stargazing has never been made so easy, and if you buy just one book on observational astronomy, make sure it's this one.' Keith Cooper, Editor, Astronomy Now It gives very clear and concise instructions about finding different stars, constellations and other astronomical sights. You see the Moon, planets, and others as they appear in a small telescope of 50-70 mm or 2 to 3 inches in diameter. In its Contents - How Do You Get To Albireo?, Moon, Planets, Seasonal Stellar Objects, The Southern Hemisphere, How to Run a Telescope, Where Do You Go From Here?- are to be found certainly most of what you need to know to get started and to keep going in amateur astronomy as a hobby. The example pictures are excellent for both encouragement ("wow, I'll be able to see all that?") and for helping one find the objects.Praise for previous editions:‘This is quite possibly the most inviting guidebook ever written to help people with binoculars and small telescopes find, view, understand, and most of all, enjoy everything in the night sky from the Moon and planets to distant star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. And if you think it's only for beginners, think again - every telescope owner should have a copy.' Dennis Di Cicco, Senior Editor, Sky & Telescope B.A. and M.A. at MIT, Ph.D. at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, all in planetary science. After postdoctoral research and teaching at Harvard College Observatory and MIT, in 1983 he joined the US Peace Corps to serve in Kenya for two years, teaching astronomy and physics. After his return he took a position as Assistant Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. I can’t rate this book enough. It is helping me make the best of my telescope, and has helped me see wonders of our universe that have taken my breath away. A must have for beginners, and a great way to pass the time if your waiting on a long delivery time for your telescope.

It reminds me of the classic Bugs Bunny phrase where he pops up out a hole in the ground, pulls out a map, and says "I knew I should have taken a left turn at Albuquerque". I have both the first and second editions. The 2nd is spiral-bound (good), but HUGE, even larger than coffee table-sized books (not so good, unless one has a large table to put it on while observing). I typically recommend the first edition, if one can find it, although that is likely because that's the one I first got and used. The second is updated and expanded, including far more southern sky objects, and is definitely worthwhile in its own right. This outstanding book is often recommended in these threads as the best guide to what you might expect to see through telescopes of various types/size. The expectation of many novices is unreasonably high due to magazine "Hubble" sourced images. This book quite rightly lowers that expection, raises confidence and enhances the enjoyment of the amateur telescope. In Turn Left at Orion, Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis are of the opinion that amateur astronomy is not made up of GOTO telescopes and CCD apparatus. With GOTO scopes, a computer finds the celestial object for you by knowing where the object is and by how much to move the telescope until the object is seen in the eyepiece of the scope. You are a low-level operator, you sit in the stands, and the computer plays the game. No virtues are instilled. A CCD (charged coupled device) digitizes an image of the astronomical beauty and you, again as an operator, see what it sees for you. A machine in each case is doing it for you. I wanted to know if anyone has recommendations for a really good pdf or ebook for new comer to astronomy, star hopping and telescopes? I just don't like hard cover/physical books. Would like something electronic. Free is a nice bonus too.Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother at the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory) dividing his time between Tucson, Arizona and Castel Gandolfo, Italy. He studied the origin and evolution of moons and asteroids in our solar system. His telescope is a 3.5” catadioptic. Your post has me wondering if you are confused, and your info is flat out incorrect as mentioned by others. Only two looks in 6 years is not giving this book a fair shake, but that's just my opinion and to eachtheir own as you found what works best for you. This book is great when combined with WiFi and SkySafari Plus (or Pro). You use a "pinch" technique to open up your on-screen path to GoTo the additional objects from the primary. If accurately aligned (I use Starsense) you don't need to fiddle with HC slews as GoTo each is precise. However SkySafari descriptions tend to illustrate Hubble type images; when "Turn left at Orion" highlights exactly what you are actually likely to see in various scopes. It completely transformed my expectation, but is perhaps of higher value to those with larger scopes (6" and above) as many of the objects will be tiny blurred smoky blobs in lesser scopes (as they are in reality). Most owners love it.

One thing that I find extremely helpful is a music stand to hold star maps, books like LTAO, tablet running SkySafari, etc. So you are at a remove from the stars. Less patient are you to wait for the stars to reveal themselves to you,to see faintly what you had not seen before. Once it was that the lumpy patch of light becomes pretty, pleasing, charming. Tiny, grainy clouds of stars or hazy fields of light can become an awesome immensity of grandeur and delicacy. Superb powdery clusters of stars can be seen in bold sweeps across rich star zones. The colors of the stars can be red, yellow, blue, cream, gray, bronze, gold, tawny, lilac, green, and white. The glittering remote glorious regions contain a lifetime of visual pleasantries.A small telescope, no toenails involved, can show one million stars. There are thousands of double stars for a small telescope. Some people never go much further than the Moon. The Cosmos sparks wonder and some feel the need for powerful gadgets as an equalizer, as a hurry-up offense. The Cosmos need not put you on the defensive, you need not run at it. Why does it need to be a contest, a game like football? Into the stands you go or can you realize how important you are with the small telescope? Spectator or in the field of endeavors?