Product Description
Gerald North's complete practical guide and resource package instructs amateur astronomers in observing and monitoring variable stars and other objects of variable brightness. Descriptions of the objects are accompanied by explanations of the background astrophysics, providing readers with real insight into what they are observing at the telescope. The main instrumental requirements for observing and estimating the brightness of objects by visual means and by CCD photometry are detailed, and there is advice on the selection of equipment. The book contains a CD-ROM packed with resources, including hundreds of light-curves and over 600 printable finder charts. Containing extensive practical advice, this comprehensive guide is an invaluable resource for amateur astronomers of all levels, from novices to more advanced observers. Gerald North is a lifelong amateur astronomer. In addition to being a member of the British Astronomical Association since 1977, he is also the author of many books, including Advanced Amateur Astronomy (Cambridge, 1997) and Observing the Moon (Cambridge, 2000).

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 3 reviews)

Excellent Primer on Variable Stars

I first heard about this book from a good review article in Sky and Telescope magazine and thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall, this book succeeds as a primer on Variable Star observing. And, for variable star observers, this is definitely a must-have book.

Although the beginning of the book provides in-depth information on how to do variable star observing, the real strength of this book comes later when the authors explain what is going on inside the stars which cause the observed variability. Again, the authors are very thorough in providing explanations for all of the different types of variable stars. The book also comes with an easy to use CD containing star charts and variable light curves which supplement the book very well.
March 24, 2006

Excellent Scientific Background Information

As an avid variable star observer myself, I found this book to be of great value. The first half of the book describes the process of observation in some detail. This detail includes a good deal of information about how the process should be done using CCD technology which I found quite interesting in it's own right as I am a visual observer and have not done any CCD observations yet. I do note the one weakness in the book is that the author brushes off the use of photometers in recording this data even though the AAVSO (the world's leading organization in variable star research) has a very lively group of photometric enthusiasts.

The real strength of the book in my opinion is in the second half. North goes into good detail discussing the science behind each of the various types of variables and why we believe they act as they do. This is information that I have found difficult to come by. It is especially useful, as it is quite readable and easy to reference.

All in all I recommend this book highly to anyone doing variable star observing, and I also recommend it in general to any amateur astronomer or arm chair scientist as a good source of information about a branch of science where it is the amateur who contributes the overwhelming amount of data to the field of study.

October 22, 2005

A Good Place for Amateurs to Consentrate

When I saw the title of this book I wondered why something like this would have any appeal to the amateur. The author immediately made this clear, these things have gotten boring to the professional so it is an area where the amateur can still do significant work.

After this, Mr. North spends the rest of the book on equipment, observing, and reporting your results. It's interesting that for this kind of work you don't need the biggest possible scope, in fact he says that you may have to stop down a larger scope to keep from overloading the image.

This book clearly lays out an observation program that just might appeal to a wide range of amateur observers. Within its area, it speaks with authority.

February 03, 2005

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)
by Brian D. Warner
by Alan W. Harris

The Sky is Your Laboratory: Advanced Astronomy Projects for Amateurs (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
by Robert Buchheim

Light Curves of Variable Stars: A Pictorial Atlas
by C. Sterken, C. Jaschek

Understanding Variable Stars (Cambridge Astrophysics)
by John R. Percy

Spectroscopy: The Key to the Stars: Reading the Lines in Stellar Spectra (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)
by Keith Robinson