Publisher<\/strong> Firefly Books<\/li>\n<\/ul>Get excited \u2013 the fourth edition of The Backyard Astronomer\u2019s Guid<\/i>e is here. First published in 1991, the 2021 edition boasts 48 additional pages and five new bang-up-to-date chapters. Beautifully put together by authors Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer, the new edition firmly brings the book into the modern age of astronomy.<\/p>\n
Spanning 416 pages and split into four parts, it covers how to get started, choosing and using a telescope, the telescopic Universe and capturing the cosmos. Within each part are chapters to wow and inspire and prove that you too can view the Milky Way, lunar eclipses, planets and constellations with just the naked eye.<\/p>\n
There are some truly stunning images packed in to take your breath away and motivate you to get outside. Perhaps the most vital chapters are the guides on what binoculars to buy; plus choosing, buying and then using a telescope \u2013 an absolute must for those considering purchasing their first piece of optical equipment.<\/p>\n
The guides explain everything from aperture, power and optical design to mounts and filters, each illustrated
\nwith handy photographs ensuring the reader knows the difference between a Newtonian and Maksutov telescope or
\nan altazimuth and Go-To mount.<\/p>\n
Among the pages are sky tours, star charts, future astronomical events and a fantastic short Moon tour by astronomy communicator Ken Hewitt-White.<\/p>\n
The authors really help manage a beginner\u2019s expectations, giving honest advice such as \u2018leave astrophotography to the last\u2019 \u2013 an important lesson that first-time astronomers often ignore.<\/p>\n
This invaluable guide will appeal to anyone no matter their experience, the equipment they have (or not) or where they live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/div>
5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Katrin Raynor Evans is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the librarian for Cardiff Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n Available from:<\/h5>
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2<\/span> Moongazing<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author <\/strong>Tom Kerss<\/li>\n
- Publisher <\/strong>Collins<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Kerss manages to cover a broad range of nitty-gritty lunar facts, ranging from the phases to the Apollo missions and a practical section on lunar photography using a smartphone or DSLR. The most exciting and informative segment is the \u2018Introduction to the Lunar Atlas\u2019, which divides the Moon into 16 sections and includes lunar photographs along with a map for the reader to learn the names of craters and mares. There is a two-page segment on the surface features and the categories they fall into, which ties in nicely with the maps and provides enough information for the observer to identify features on the Moon\u2019s surface. There is much to learn from this instructive and enthusing book, which will appeal to selenophiles everywhere.<\/p>
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4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> - <\/li>\n<\/ul>
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3<\/span> The Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Authors<\/strong>\u00a0David Dickinson & Frazer Cain<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Page Street Publishing<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Authors Dickinson and Cain are here to ease you into astronomy, providing a complex but highly readable guide for amateurs (or even veterans who need a refresher), introducing the night sky and the tools needed to observe it. They introduce us to stargazing, discuss software and equipment to aid our understanding, braving the minefield of choosing the right telescope, the right aperture, the right mount and the right eyepiece. They show us how to build a basic Newtonian refracting \u2018scope for under $50.\u00a0 This is a companion for any astronomer at any level, but its main message is that we should not forget to simply revel in astronomy for the awe-inspiring experience that it is.<\/p>
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5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Ben Evans is the author of several books on human spaceflight<\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
Best books on cosmology and astrophysics<\/strong><\/h2>\n 4<\/span> The Disordered Cosmos<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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Author<\/strong>\u00a0Chanda Prescod-Weinstein<\/p>\nPublisher<\/strong> Hachette<\/p>\nDr Chanda Prescod-Weinstein\u2019s debut book is two things: a journey into the world of cosmology and particle physics, and a refreshingly eye-opening insight into the too-often exclusionary arena that is science.<\/p>\n
The book\u2019s main premise is that physics doesn\u2019t just affect us all as a society, but it taps into our natural desire to learn and understand; and yet one group for many centuries, and even to this day, has deemed itself worthy to tap into that knowledge above others.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not often that physics is presented from the point of view of a black woman: in fact it\u2019s so unusual that it\u2019s a sad rarity. Do not pick up this book thinking it will be just another title on particle physics or dark matter. It does explore those areas in an engaging and accessible way, from the Standard Model of Particle Physics \u2013 its origins and where it currently stands \u2013 to the latest theories on dark matter, but
\nDr Prescod-Weinstein\u2019s experiences of navigating her way within the field of physics as a black woman \u2013 punctuated with many examples of racism and sexism \u2013 are interwoven throughout.<\/p>\n
What I enjoyed most about this book was its raw honesty. I found its vibrant, bold and non-traditional take on the field of physics to be refreshing, saddening and frustrating to read at times \u2013 especially as a black woman myself \u2013 but very much needed. You may wonder what race has to do with physics, and the answer is everything, including why our skins are the colours they are (explained in captivating detail in the \u2018Physics and Melanin\u2019 chapter).<\/p>\n
The popular science genre is in desperate need of new voices that aren\u2019t the typical standard we are unwittingly used to, and as a starting point I cannot recommend this book enough.<\/p>
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5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong>\u00a0Melissa Brobby is a science communicator and social media lead at the Institute of Physics.<\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
5<\/span> Light in the Darkness<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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Author<\/strong> Heino Falcke<\/p>\nPublisher<\/strong> Wildfire<\/p>\nIn 2019, an iconic photo graced the front pages of newspapers all over the world: a slightly asymmetric orange ring, surrounding a pitch-black centre. The first image of a black hole, some 55 million lightyears away, put us face to face with the ultimate cosmic mystery: a one-way abyss in spacetime that may hold the key to our deepest understanding of nature.<\/p>\n
Heino Falcke \u2013 the first director and the science council chair of the Event Horizon Telescope, respectively tells the inside story of how astronomers succeeded in linking millimetre-wave telescopes into a virtual \u2018eye\u2019 as large as the planet \u2013 the Event Horizon Telescope.<\/p>\n
By the time the famous image finally was presented to the world, on 10 April 2019, the excitement of the team was palpable. \u201cWe have seen the gates of hell at the end of space and time,\u201d Falcke said at the press conference.<\/p>\n
A large part of Light in the Darkness is a pretty basic introduction to the Universe and astronomy in general. This makes the book accessible to a wide audience, but astronomy buffs may have preferred Falcke to delve deeper into black hole physics and the convoluted history of the Event Horizon Telescope instead. Then again, it\u2019s a great read, providing quite a lot of detail.<\/p>
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4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Govert Schilling is an astronomy writer and author.<\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
6<\/span> Brief Answers to the Big Questions<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author <\/strong>Stephen Hawking<\/li>\n
- Publisher <\/strong>John Murray<\/li>\n<\/ul>
\u201cHow did it all begin? Is there other intelligent life in the Universe? Is time travel possible?\u201d These are just a few of the big questions that Stephen Hawking discusses in his final book. Hawking does not simply give us one-word answers, but walks us through his own thinking and divergences on each subject. The language is easy to follow and each chapter\u2019s length keeps you engaged. In places the book touches on some complicated physics, but you will never feel lost. There are many inspiring parts that will stay with you and shape the way you think about these big questions in the future.<\/p>
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5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Laura Nuttall is a Senior Lecturer in Gravitational Waves at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth<\/p>\nWhere to buy:<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
7<\/span> Our Universe: An Astronomer\u2019s Guide<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author<\/strong> Jo Dunkley<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Pelican<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Dunkley takes her readers on a grand tour of space and time, from our nearest planetary neighbours to the edge of the observable Universe. The book follows a well-trodden path, starting with an overview of the history of astronomy and a description of our Solar System. Stellar evolution is next, followed by galaxies, clusters and the mystery of dark matter. The birth, evolution and future of the Universe are discussed in the final chapters. Explanations are always clear, metaphors are to the point and arguments easy to follow. If you feel like refreshing your background knowledge, or are looking for a present for your curious niece or nephew, this little gem certainly won\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>
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4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Govert Schilling is an astronomy writer and author of the book Ripples in Spacetime.<\/p>\nWhere to buy:<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
8<\/span> The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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Author<\/strong> Katie Mack
Publisher<\/strong> Allen Lane<\/span><\/p>\nThe End of Everything<\/i> explores five possible scenarios for the Universe\u2019s ultimate demise: the \u2018big crunch\u2019, \u2018heat death\u2019, the \u2018big rip\u2019, \u2018vacuum decay\u2019 and the \u2018ekpyrotic scenario\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>Mack seamlessly weaves her way through the essential physics you\u2019ll need to understand each Universe-ending possibility. Don\u2019t worry if you haven\u2019t heard of, say, the ekpyrotic scenario because the author gives us a readily graspable explanation of this and many other concepts.<\/p>\nI loved the slight tangents the author makes as though she is speaking out loud; these touches make the book feel very personable. My favourite might be how she explains a topological defect in the same way as deciding which bread plate is yours at a fancy dinner.\u00a0<\/span>The epilogue is another highlight, where various cosmologists contemplate the end of the Universe. It\u2019s intriguing to read that while this subject is \u2018sad\u2019, it really is all about the journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI can\u2019t remember coming across another book that solely focuses on the eventual destruction of all of reality. Mack is a great science communicator and I suspected I was going to like this book as soon as I saw her name; I am pleased to say it does not disappoint.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>
5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer <\/b>Laura Nuttall is a senior lecturer in gravitational waves at the University of Portsmouth<\/span><\/p>\nWhere to buy<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
9<\/span> The Crowd & the Cosmos<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author<\/strong> Chris Lintott<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Oxford University Press<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Over ten years ago, The Sky at Night\u2019s Chris Lintott started Galaxy Zoo, a citizen science project to classify galaxies. It was an instant success. At present, the Zooniverse encompasses over 70 science projects. In his entertaining book, Lintott describes the origin and evolution of the Zooniverse, with a focus on the astronomy projects, including discoveries like Hanny\u2019s Voorwerp and Tabby\u2019s Star. The real strength of the book is in the accessible description of astronomical research and future big-data facilities like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.\u00a0 Once you start reading, his book is hard to put down.<\/p>
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4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Govert Schilling is an astronomy writer and author<\/p>\nWhere to buy:<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
10<\/span> Space: 10 Things You Should Know<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author<\/strong> Dr Becky Smethurst<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Orion Publishing Co<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Dr Becky Smethurst has a wonderful gift for communicating some extremely exciting but also tough astrophysics in 10 bite-sized essays. If you\u2019d like to know about supermassive black holes, the hunt for exoplanets and the expanding Universe (plus a lot more), then this book is a nice starting point. I really enjoyed the conversational writing style and the divergences that come with this. It made me feel as though Dr Becky was sat next to me. My favourite chapter is the last, which touches on the importance of searching for the unknown knowns. There\u2019s something wonderfully inspiring communicated through the pages, and I closed the book feeling a bit more excited about my own research.<\/p>
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4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong>\u00a0Laura Nuttall is a Senior Lecturer in Gravitational Waves in the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth<\/p>\nWhere to buy:<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
11<\/span> Dark Matter & Dark Energy<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author<\/strong> Brian Clegg<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Icon Books<\/li>\n<\/ul>
In the past few decades, it\u2019s become clear that we have focussed on a mere 5% of the Universe \u2013 the rest remains almost entirely unknown. Astronomers divide this mysterious majority into two types of \u2018stuff\u2019: dark matter and dark energy. Brian Clegg\u2019s book is a clear and compact look at the current state of knowledge about these twin cosmic mysteries. After an introductory account of the discovery of both phenomena, the first half of the book focuses on dark matter. The second half tackles dark energy, with some basic cosmological groundwork followed by a discussion of dark energy and what it could mean for the future of the cosmos. It\u2019s hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe.<\/p>
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5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong> Giles Sparrow is a science writer and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society<\/p>\nWhere to buy:<\/strong><\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
12<\/span> Time: 10 Thing You Should Know<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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- Author<\/strong> Colin Stuart<\/li>\n
- Publisher<\/strong> Seven Dials<\/li>\n<\/ul>
For such a familiar concept, time is actually a rather complex topic. There are subtleties, such as how exactly
\nwe measure it, but also debates as to what it even is<\/i> in a physical sense. But it turns out that discovering more about the nature of time doesn\u2019t have to take a lot of it. In Time: 10 Things You Should Know<\/i>, you can cover a lot of ground in just 100 pages.<\/span><\/p>\nThe book is made up of 10 essays, each 10 pages, covering a different aspect of time. To begin with, they\u2019re fairly straightforward, starting with the definition <\/span>of how we measure time \u2013 you\u2019ve heard of leap years, but why on Earth do we need leap seconds? It moves on to other ways we mark and measure time, both here on Earth and with time-travelling telescopes.<\/p>\nThe middle chapters cover the very nature of time and how we experience it, and it\u2019s not long before you find yourself discussing the implications of general relativity. The later chapters of the book investigate how time can be manipulated and what that might mean.<\/p>\n
Whether that means trying to slow time (or even stop it!) or travel through it (being careful not to kill your grandfather!), it can be quite philosophical at times.<\/p>\n
The book is incredibly easy to read and very enjoyable. It\u2019s full of little facts and turns of phrase that you can share with others. And with its slightly philosophical angle, it might even get you thinking about how you spend your time.<\/p>
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5.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div> Reviewer<\/strong>\u00a0Chris North is Ogden Science Lecturer and STFC Public Engagement Fellow at Cardiff University<\/p>\n- <\/li>\n<\/ul>
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Best books about spaceflight<\/strong><\/h2>\n 13<\/span> Voyager<\/h3>\n<\/div> ![\""teneues\"]( "\\"\"teneues\\"")
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Author<\/strong> Joel Meter et al<\/p>\nPublisher<\/strong> teNeues<\/p>\nPut together by five seasoned photographers and prefaced by Voyager Imaging Team member Garry Hunt, this large-format volume will blow the socks off any interested coffee-table reader.\u00a0The authors tell the history of Voyager, our first foray to all four giant planets \u2013 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune \u2013 which revealed their multitude of moons and rings, their atmospheres and magnetospheres, and the clues they may reveal about our origins.\u00a0The real beauty of this book is its gorgeous assemblage of remastered photographs. There are pictures here that I have never seen before. And those I had seen were brought so wondrously and vividly to life that they left me open-mouthed in awe.
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