Many amateur astronomers enjoy visual observing. A growing number, however, want to take their hobby a bit further and venture into astroimaging. Currently, amateurs distinguish "astroimaging" from the old term, "astrophotography." It's all photography, of course, but the "...

Astronomy readers are familiar with Stephen James O'Meara through his column in our magazine and his books. O'Meara's observations convey the brilliance of our universe with amazing detail and keen recognition. Besides being an astronomer, Steve studies volcanos with his wife Donna. Together...

Springer If you've followed my blogging, you know I love the constellations. It follows, therefore, that I also love star maps — old, new, it doesn't matter. And along with the maps themselves, I like their stories and those of the men who created them. Lucky me. I just received Star Maps: History...

Springer The definitive work on a famous list of deep-sky objects is now in print: The Herschel Objects, and how to observe them by James Mullaney (Springer, 2007). Why definitive? Because, in 1976, Mullaney was the first to propose an observing list based on Herschel's catalog. Mullaney packs an...

Regardless of your artistic ability, Space Art will help develop your ability to illustrate alien worlds. Watson-Guptill Publications One of the best ways to hone your skills as an amateur astronomer is to sketch the sky. Sketching the Moon, planets, and deep-sky targets on paper trains an observer to...

If you like reading about and/or observing the universe's biggest blasts, you'll be interested in a book that just crossed my desk. Supernovae and How to Observe Them by Martin Mobberley is, as the title suggests, a dual-purpose book. In "Part 1 — Supernovae: Physics and Statistics,"...

If you're looking for a well thought out, guided, deep-sky observing challenge, this blog's for you. Steve O'Meara's Herschel 400 Observing Guide just landed on my desk. Oh my! German-born English astronomer Sir William Herschel (1738–1822) ranks as one of astronomy's all-time superstars...

Many publishers have released books celebrating 50 years of space exploration since Sputnik's launch October 4, 1957. Among these pictorial collections, no one has done it better than Smithsonian Books. Edited by Smithsonian curator Martin Collins, After Sputnik: 50 Years of the Space Age presents...

It’s the year 2030, and humans are finally undertaking interplanetary travel with a historic mission to the Red Planet. This is the premise for Discovery Channel Canada’s 4-hour “Race to Mars” mini-series, which the network describes as its most ambitious project to date. (Watch the trailer .) The show...

My recreational reading ebbs seasonally in a manner generally corresponding to the release of select DVD sets. While I prefer to keep my fanboy side from showing too prominently, my recent excuses for letting the books pile up include the second season of Battlestar Galactica and Season 3 of Stargate...