The Science and Art of Using Astronomical Telescopes

by Pugh, Philip

• ISBN13: 9780387764696
• ISBN10: 0387764690
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-08-21
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

You're not a beginner anymore. Yet you're not sure how to take the next steps.

Author Biography

Philip Pugh is a mathematician, a member of the Institute of Technical and Scientific Communicators, and travels the world as a freelance trainer in science and business. He has had his articles published in Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and Astronomy Now, and is the author/editor of Springer's forthcoming book, Observing the Sun with CoronadoTM Telescopes.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Getting Past the "Beginner" Stage	p. 2
Specializing in Subbranches	p. 4
Choosing a Telescope	p. 6
Choosing Binoculars	p. 9
Beginner Telescopes	p. 12
Wide Field Reflectors	p. 14
Small Aperture Achromatic Refractors	p. 15
Small Aperture Newtonian Reflectors	p. 17
Short Tube Refractors	p. 19
Larger Aperture Newtonian Reflectors	p. 21
Larger Aperture Achromatic Refractors	p. 23
Clear Aperture Reflectors	p. 24
Compact Reflectors	p. 25
Apochromatic Refractors	p. 28
Specialist Telescopes	p. 30
Accessories	p. 31
Rules Are Meant to Be Broken	p. 37
Too Cloudy to Go Out?	p. 40
Daytime Viewing	p. 42
Digital Photography	p. 46
Lunar Viewing	p. 51
Choice of Equipment	p. 55
What to See	p. 63
How to Get the Best from Lunar Viewing	p. 75
For Further Reading	p. 77
Solar Viewing	p. 79
Choice of Equipment	p. 87
What to See	p. 97
Getting the Best from Solar Viewing	p. 99
For Further Reading	p. 105
Planetary Viewing	p. 107
The Inferior Planets	p. Ill
Superior Planets	p. 113
Choice of Equipment	p. 116
What to See	p. 121
How to Get the Most from Planetary Viewing	p. 137
For Further Reading	p. 138
Viewing Other Solar System Objects	p. 139
Meteors	p. 140
Meteor Showers	p. 142
Comets	p. 145
Dwarf Planets	p. 152
Simple Deep Sky Viewing	p. 157
Catalogs	p. 162
Choice of Equipment	p. 164
What to See	p. 165
How to Get the Best from Simple Deep Sky Viewing	p. 184
For Further Reading	p. 185
Beyond the Local Group	p. 187
Choice of Equipment	p. 188
What to See	p. 190
Tips and Tricks	p. 195
For Further Reading	p. 197
Simple Digital Photography	p. 199
Choice of Equipment	p. 202
Lunar Photography	p. 204
Solar Photography	p. 211
Planetary Photography	p. 216
Constellation Photography	p. 217
Double Star Photography	p. 219
The Final Word (Or Is It?)	p. 220
Deep Sky Astro-Imaging	p. 223
Getting Started	p. 225
The Camera	p. 232
The Mount	p. 240
Auto-Guiding	p. 251
Mount Calibration	p. 256
Taking Your Image	p. 257
Focusing	p. 258
Software-Assisted Focusing	p. 263
Filters	p. 265
Color Imaging	p. 267
Narrowband Filters	p. 269
Image Acquisition and Processing	p. 270
Image Acquisition	p. 271
Image Processing	p. 272
Image Reduction/Calibration	p. 275
Dark Frame	p. 276
Flat Frame	p. 278
Flat Darks	p. 280
Order	p. 282
Image Processing	p. 283
Other Basic Processing Functions	p. 298
Color	p. 299
Digital SLR Cameras	p. 300
Webcam Imaging	p. 302
Processing Your Planetary Images	p. 305
Basic Planetary Processing with Registax3	p. 309
Conclusion	p. 315
Usual Suspects List	p. 333
Glossary	p. 357
Index	p. 389
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