NightWatch : A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe, 4th ed.

by Terence Dickinson

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The Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Terence Dickinson (1991)
The Universe and Beyond by Terence Dickinson (1986)
Nightwatch: An Equinox Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson (1988)
The Urban Astronomer's Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Se by Rod Mollise (2006)
Stikky Night Skies by Laurence Holt (2003)

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them by Guy Consolmagno (1989)
Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas by Roger W. Sinnott (2006)
Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky by Robert Bruce Thompson (2005)
Universe by Robert Dinwiddie (1999)
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, Vol. 2 by Robert Burnham Jr. (1978)
Same series: Burnham's Celestial Handbook, Vol. 1, Burnham's Celestial Handbook, Vol. 3 (Burnham's Celestial Handbook)

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Excellent! An essential beginner's guide to astronomy.

kevnc | Mar 30, 2013 |

This field guide is intended for the amateur or beginning star gazer. It begins with "backyard astronomy", including astrological topics that are visible to the naked eye. The text provides numerous sky charts, categorized by season and optimal time of use. After providing a guide to the purchase of a first telescope for the budding astronomer, the content moves toward that which can only be seen with increasingly powerful telescopes. The inclusion of more detailed star charts is consistent with the first half of the book's format. While there is at times an overwhelming amount of information included in addition to the step-by-step processes, it is helped by the author's inclusion of personal experiences stargazing. (

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agiffin | Aug 30, 2011 |

Dickinson writes about the heavens with the infectious passion of an expert tour guide. The sky charts are beautiful and clearly explained. An exceptional book for someone who's been kind of thinking about learning more about the night sky.

My one minor criticism is in the section on telescopes and binoculars. While it contains clear and useful advice, I felt like the technical details Dickinson gives were beyond me. (This comes around again in the astrophotography section.) Presumably, Dickinson sacrificed a couple of pages of Optics 101 for length, focus, and style - but it would've helped me. Of course, maybe the point is that you can enjoy stargazing without the investment of money which requires you to understand the equipment better. Which, again, is a fantastic point for a newbie considering a WalMart trash scope. (

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hipdeep | Jul 24, 2009 |

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NightWatch : A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe, 4th ed.

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4th edition, expanded for use through 2018; please do not combine with earlier editions

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 155407147X, Spiral-bound)

Thoroughly revised, updated and expanded.

The first three editions of NightWatch sold more than 600,000 copies, making it the top-selling stargazing guide in the world for the last 20 years. The key feature of this classic title is the section of star charts that are cherished by backyard astronomers everywhere. Each new edition has outsold the previous one because of thorough revisions and additional new material.

NightWatch has been acclaimed as the best general interest introduction to astronomy. The fourth edition has improvements over the 3rd edition in every chapter, including:

The famous charts, ideal for stargazers using a small telescope or binoculars A complete update of the equipment section, including computerized telescopes An enlarged photography section, including how-to instructions for using the new generation of digital cameras for astronomical photography, both with and without a telescope The tables of future solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions and planet locations, updated through 2018.

This edition includes for the first time star charts for use in the southern hemisphere. There are also dozens of new photographs throughout the book that show the latest thrilling discoveries made by current space observatories and probes.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:37:12 -0500)

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A reference guide to the stars, galaxies, and planets that are visible in the night sky from North America and the Southern hemisphere. Includes star charts, diagrams, and photographs.