GREAT READS

Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

Terence Dickinson, forward by Timothy Ferris ; illustrations by Adolf Schaller, Victor Costanzo......

Nightwatch explains astronomy in simple, everyday language and is great for the beginning astronomer!  The spine is spiral-bound so it can lay flat for use while you're skywatching, a very handy feature that shows the publisher knows the audience.  Some reasons I find this book particularly helpful are:

• There's a section for the purchase and use of equipment like binoculars, telescopes, finder scopes, eyepieces and astrophotography equipment.
• There are illustrations of the sky at each season with constellations outlined and chart usage instructions.
• There are constellation-specific charts to locate deep sky objects.
• The book has realistic pictures of what you will actually see rather than just a photo from the Hubble.
• There is a solar system section that includes information on the sun, moon, planets, comets, meteors and the asteroid belt.

This book has been so helpful to me I return to it again and again for advice and if I have trouble understanding or finding something - be it equipment or sky-related.

Recommended by Ella Bottomley