Celestial Objects for Modern Telescopes: Practical Amateur Astronomy Volume 2

284 Pages·2002·3.58 MB·English

by  Michael A. Covington

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PracticalAmateurAstronomy
CelestialObjectsforModernTelescopes
Amateurastronomyisenteringanewandexcitingera,andthiscompletely
modernandup-to-dateguidebookhasbeenwrittenforthosestar-gazerswho
wishtomakethemostofthelatesttechnology.
Basedonfieldnotesmadebytheauthorduringhisowncareerasan
amateurastronomer,thisuniqueguidecoversbothtraditionalandnovel
approachestostudyingthenightsky.Inadditiontothemore-standard
techniques,itdiscussesthelatestmodernresourcesavailabletotoday’s
astronomer,suchaspersonalcomputers,theInternet,andcomputerized
telescopes.Itincludespracticaladviceonaspectssuchassiteselectionand
weather;providesthereaderwithdetailedinstructionsforobservingtheSun,
Moon,planets,andalltypesofdeep-skyobjects;andintroducesnewer
specialtiessuchassatelliteobservingandtheuseofastronomicaldatabases.
Thebookconcludeswithdetailedinformationandobservingtipsfor200
interestingstars,clusters,nebulae,andgalaxies,speciallychosentobevisible
withmodest-sizedtelescopesundersuburbanconditions.
Anewbookforanewtypeofobserving,CelestialObjectsforModern
Telescopeswillformthevanguardofnewbooksinthisareaforthetwenty-first
century.Writtentocomplementtheauthor’sotherrecentbookHowtoUsea
ComputerizedTelescope,thisbookwillalsoappealtoastronomerswithmore-
traditionalequipment.
Michael Covington,anavidamateurastronomersinceage12,has
degreesinlinguisticsfromCambridgeandYale.Hedoesresearchoncomputer
processingofhumanlanguagesatTheUniversityofGeorgia,wherehiswork
wonfirstprizeintheIBMSupercomputingCompetitionin1990.Hiscurrent
researchandconsultingareasincludetheoreticallinguistics,naturallanguage
processing,logicprogramming,andmicrocontrollers.Althougha
computationallinguistbyprofession,heisrecognizedasoneofAmerica’s
leadingamateurastronomersandishighlyregardedinthefield.Heisthe
authorofseveralbooks,includingthehighlyacclaimedAstrophotographyfor
theAmateur(1985;secondedition,1999)andHowtoUseaComputerized
Telescope(2002),whicharebothpublishedbyCambridgeUniversityPress.The
author’sotherpursuitsincludeamateurradio,electronics,computers,ancient
languagesandliteratures,philosophy,theology,andchurchwork.Helivesin
Athens,Georgia,USA,withhiswifeMelodyanddaughtersCathyandSharon,
andcanbevisitedontheWebatwww.covingtoninnovations.com.

Practical Amateur Astronomy
Celestial Objects for Modern Telescopes
Michael A. Covington
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521524193
© Michael A. Covington 2002
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2002
isbn-13 978-0-511-26100-8eBook (NetLibrary)
isbn-10 0-511-26100-4 eBook (NetLibrary)
isbn-13 978-0-521-52419-3paperback
isbn-10 0-521-52419-9 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
SoliDeogloria

Contents
Preface pagexiii
PartI Amateurastronomy 1
1
Usingthisbookeffectively 3
1.1 Amateurastronomyforanewgeneration 3
1.2 Themapsarebackward! 3
1.3 Oldbooks 5
1.4 Materialyoucanskip 5
1.5 Pronouncingforeignnames 5
2
Observingsitesandconditions 6
2.1 Darknessandnightvision 6
2.1.1 Darkadaptation 6
2.1.2 Twilightandmoonlight 7
2.1.3 Lightpollution 7
2.1.4 Naked-eyelimitingmagnitude 8
2.1.5 TheBortledark-skyscale 8
2.2 Atmosphericsteadiness 12
2.3 Weatherandtheastronomer 13
2.3.1 Climate,weather,andseasons 13
2.3.2 Usingsatelliteweatherdata 14
2.3.3 Dew 16
2.4 Observingatremotesites 18
2.4.1 Findingasite 18
2.4.2 Transportingthetelescope 18
2.4.3 Siteetiquette 19
2.4.4 Keepingwarm 20
2.4.5 Mosquitoes 20
2.4.6 Othervermin 21
2.4.7 Safety 22
vii
Contents
3
TheMoon,theSun,andeclipses 23
3.1 TheMoon 23
3.1.1 PhasesoftheMoon 23
3.1.2 WhyobservetheMoon? 23
3.1.3 Namesoflunarfeatures 27
3.1.4 Coordinatesystems 30
3.1.5 Observingprograms 30
3.1.6 Lunareclipses 31
3.1.7 Occultations 33
3.2 TheSun 33
3.2.1 Sunfilters 33
3.2.2 Solarfeatures 35
3.2.3 Solareclipses 37
4
Theplanets 42
4.1 Generalconcepts 42
4.2 TheviewfromEarth 42
4.3 Mercury 44
4.3.1 ElongationsofMercury,2002–2010 45
4.3.2 TransitsofMercury 47
4.3.3 ObservingMercury 47
4.4 Venus 47
4.4.1 ElongationsofVenus,2002–2010 47
4.4.2 TransitsofVenus 48
4.4.3 ObservingVenus 48
4.5 Mars 49
4.5.1 OppositionsofMars,2002–2010 49
4.5.2 SurfacefeaturesofMars 49
4.5.3 NamedMartianfeatures 51
4.5.4 SatellitesofMars 52
4.6 Jupiter 53
4.6.1 OppositionsofJupiter,2002–2010 53
4.6.2 SurfacefeaturesofJupiter 53
4.6.3 SatellitesofJupiter 55
4.7 Saturn 56
4.7.1 OppositionsofSaturn 56
4.7.2 SurfacefeaturesofSaturn 56
4.7.3 RingsofSaturn 57
4.7.4 SatellitesofSaturn 58
4.8 Uranus 59
4.8.1 OppositionsofUranus 59
4.8.2 SurfacefeaturesofUranus 59
4.8.3 SatellitesofUranus 59
4.9 Neptune 60
viii