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Scientific American The Amateur Astronomer (Scientific American (Wiley)) PDF

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title: The Amateur Astronomer author: Carlson, Shawn. publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (US) isbn10 | asin: 0471382825 print isbn13: 9780471382829 ebook isbn13: 9780471436997 language: English subject Astronomy--Amateurs' manuals. publication date: 2001 lcc: QB63.A23 2001eb ddc: 520 subject: Astronomy--Amateurs' manuals. Page iii S A CIENTIFIC MERICAN The Amateur Astronomer Edited by Shawn Carlson Page iv Copyright © 2001 by Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Illustrations 11-1 and 11-2 copyright © 1990 and 12-1, 25-1, and 26-1 copyright © 2001 by Michael Goodman No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per- copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, email: [email protected]. The publisher and the author have made every reasonable effort to ensure that the experiments and activities in this book are safe when conducted as instructed but assume no responsibility for any damage caused or sustained while performing the experiments or activities in the book. Parents, guardians, and/or teachers should supervise young readers who undertake the experiments and activities in this book. This title is also available in print as ISBN: 0-471-38282-5 (pbk. : acid-free paper) For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com Page v CONTENTS Foreword vii Introduction ix Part 1 Telescope Making 1. A Simple Telescope for Beginners 3 2. How to Grind, Polish and Test an Aluminum Telescope 18 Mirror 3. The Behavior of the Telescope-maker's Pitch 28 4. The Dall-Kirkham Telescope 34 5. Principles of Erecting Telescopes 41 6. Powerful Pocket Telescopes 45 7. A Novel Refracting Telescope 49 8. "Off-Axis" Reflecting Telescopes 58 9. Steady Telescope Mountings 65 10. Two Amateur-Built Radio Telescopes 72 Part 2 The Sun 11. How to Observe and Record Sunspots Safely 87 12. Sun of a Gun 95 13. A Coronagraph to View Solar Prominences 99 14. Two Spectroheliographs to Observe the Solar Disk 105 Part 3 The Earth, Moon, and Satellites 15. A Pendulum That Detects the Earth's Rotation 121 16. Observing Changes on the Moon 130 17. Curious Amateur Observations of the Moon 135 18. A Pauper's Guide to Measuring Latitude 143 Page vi 19. Precision Geolocation Using Lunar Occultation 147 20. Sundial Potpourri 155 21. How to Study Artificial Satellites 167 22. Predicting Satellite Orbits 176 Part 4 The Planets, Comets, and Stars 23. Amateur Observations of Jupiter 189 24. Predicting Planetary Alignments 194 25. Catch a Comet by Its Tail 203 26. A Picture-Perfect Comet 207 27. A Device to Simulate Planetary Orbits 212 28. An Astrophysical Laboratory in Your Backyard 216 29. An Ocular Spectroscope 225 30. Monitoring Variable Stars 228 Glossary 235 Further Reading 249 Contact List 255 Index 257 Page vii FOREWORD The Amateur Scientist The present volume, titled The Amateur Astronomer, is intended to be the first of a series of books that will derive from the longest running column in Scientific American, now and for the past 50 or so years known as "The Amateur Scientist." The origin of "The Amateur Scientist" goes back to a column first published in May 1928 and written by Albert G. Ingalls. It was called then "The Back Yard Astronomer." His first sentence in that new column declared: ''Here we amateur telescope makers are, more than 3000 of us, gathered together in our own back yard at last." At the top of the page is an illustration of the "Back Yard," with an amateur astronomer at work, apparently drawn by one Russell W. Porter, then considered a mentor of telescope makers throughout the land. Porter declared that the name of the new column, contracted to "Backyard Astronomer," conferred an honorary B.A. degree on all its readers. In April 1952 the column extended its coverage to include the work of amateurs in all branches of science, in addition to telescope making and astronomy. As a fisherman, one of my favorite pieces in July of that year is on the May fly, to which I have referred a number of frustrated participants in the sport. Although in 1952 it was virtually impossible to determine how many people spent leisure time in the pursuit of scientific study and experiment, one survey in Philadelphia determined that 8000 laymen in that city, known for some of Benjamin Franklin's most significant scientific discoveries, were actively engaged in amateur science, and that 700 of the group had made contributions important enough to warrant attention from various scientific professionals. The column continued under Mr. Ingalls' leadership (and under several titles mostly related to astronomy) for 27 years, until his retirement in May 1955, at which time responsibility for the column was turned over to Page viii C. L. Stong who continued to widen the breadth and depth of coverage. Stong died in 1976, and a new columnist, Jearl Walker, was appointed. As discussed in the following Introduction by Shawn Carlson, the character of the column changed under the editorship of Walker to focus more on understanding the principles of physics, his own field, as demonstrated in everyday life and less on interesting scientific devices within the grasp of the amateur scientist. Walker retired in 1990, and after a period of discontinuous publication, "The Amateur Scientist" was turned over to Shawn Carlson in 1995. Happily to all of us at the magazine it is once again attracting an increasing readership of informed and interested "amateurs," who can now supplement their reading of the column and activities stemming therefrom with an increasing number of Web sites, including our own (www.sciam.com). Dr. Carlson has our heartfelt gratitude for putting "The Amateur Scientist" back on course. I am often asked about the readership of Scientific Americanwho these readers are and where their interests lie. My strong suspicion is that most of these inquiries come from potential readers who for one reason or another have not yet made the leap. Summarizing our readership in a brief reply is very difficult, because the population is very large and very diverse and includes secret clusters of people who would not normally be identified as amateur scientists. If pressed for a brief reply, however, I often mention that my image of a reader of Scientific American is someone whose favorite fantasy on a rainy Saturday afternoon is to read "The Amateur Scientist" and to plan a future experiment. JOHN J. HANLEY CHAIRMAN EMERITUS SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

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From the longest running column in Scientific American's history comes this collection of fascinating projects for amateur astronomersFor over seventy years, "The Amateur Scientist" column in Scientific American has helped people explore their world and make original discoveries. This collection of
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