Books by Philip S. Harrington

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Star Ware Chapter 10.    A Few Tricks of the Trade

Topics covered

• Evaluating sky conditions

• Picking an observing site

• Star parties and astronomy conventions

• How to locate sky objects

• Observing tricks and tips

• Record Keeping and sketching

• Observing versus peeking (A Commentary)

• Afterthoughts

On-line Bonus Material

• Click here for supplemental material.

Recommended reading

    Books

• Celestial Harvest: 300-Plus Showpieces of the Heavens for Telescope Viewing and Contemplation; Mullaney, J.  Dover, 2002; ISBN 0486425541.

• The Deep Sky: An Introduction (Sky & Telescope Observer's Guides); Harrington, P.; Sky Pub Corp, 1997; ISBN: 0933346808

• Deep-Sky Wonders; Houston, W. and O'Meara, S.; Sky Publishing, 1998; ISBN 093334693X.

• Exploring the Moon Through Binoculars and Small Telescopes; Cherrington, E.; Dover, 1984; ISBN 0486244911. 

• Night Sky Observer's Guide, volume 1 (Autumn/Winter) and volume 2 (Spring/Summer); Kepple, G. and Sanner, G.; Willmann-Bell, 1998; ISBN 0943396581.

• The Planet Observer's Handbook; Price, F.; Cambridge Univ Pr (Trd), 2000; ISBN: 0521789818.

• Star-Hopping : Your Visa to Viewing the Universe; Garfinkle, R.; Cambridge Univ Pr (Trd), 1997; ISBN: 0521598893.

• Turn Left at Orion; Cosmolmagno, G. & Davis, D.; Cambridge Univ Pr (Trd), 2000; ISBN 0521781906.

• Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide; Pennington, H.; Willmann-Bell, 1998; ISBN 0943396549.

    Web sites

• Clear Sky Clock Home page

  • Interesting site that graphically shows when the skies will be clearest (and cloudiest) over a number of selected locations throughout North America.

• Comprehensive listing of deep-sky catalogs

  • Includes complete listings of Messier, Herschel, NGC, and other deep-sky catalogs.

• Dark-Sky Site Directory

  • Directory of publicly accessible observing sites throughout the United States and Canada.

• The Deep-Sky Database

  • An excellent site and tool for deep-sky observers. The site uses a web-based version of the Saguaro Astronomy Club's database, which consists of more than 10,000 records.

• Impressions of the Deep Sky

  • If you want to see what various deep-sky objects actually look like through amateur telescopes, this web site is a gold mine of information.

• International Dark Sky Association

  • The parent organization heading up the effort against excessive, poorly designed lighting.

• Light Pollution Awareness Web Site

  • Great resource for the fight against light pollution.

• Small Dob Web Site

  • Mark Pippin's useful site with tips on using 10-inch and smaller Dobsonian-mounted telescopes.

• Visual Deep Sky

  • Like Impressions of the Deep Sky above, this web site contains some wonderful drawings of deep-sky objects made through the author's (Andreas Domenico) telescope.

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