The Amateur Astronomer

293 Pages·2005·6.28 MB·English

by  Patrick Moore

The Amateur Astronomer
Sir Patrick Moore
The Amateur
Astronomer
Twelfth Edition
With 140 Figures
Cover illustration: The Great Nebula in Orion,and lunar eclipse (inset); courtesy of
David Hanon,Ringgold,GA.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Moore,Patrick
The amateur astronomer.–12th ed.
1.Astronomy–Popular works 2.Astronomy–Observers’
manuals
I.Title
522
ISBN 1852338784
Library ofCongress Control Number:2005927091
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes ofresearch or private study,or criticism or
review,as permitted under the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,this publication
may only be reproduced,stored or transmitted,in any form or by any means,with the
prior permission in writing ofthe publishers,or in the case ofreprographic reproduc-
tion in accordance with the terms oflicences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
ISBN 10:1–85233–878–4
ISBN 13:978–1–85233–878–7
Springer Science+Business Media
springeronline.com
© Springer-Verlag London Limited 2006
The use ofregistered names,trademarks,etc.in this publication does not imply,even in
the absence ofa specific statement,that such names are exempt from the relevant laws
and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher makes no representation,express or implied,with regard to the accuracy
ofthe information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or
liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.Observing the Sun,along with a
few other aspects ofastronomy,can be dangerous.Neither the publisher nor the author
accept any legal responsibility or liability for personal loss or injury caused,or alleged to
have been caused,by any information or recommendation contained in this book.
Typeset by EXPO Holdings,Malaysia
Printed in Singapore
58/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 10987469
Publisher’s Note
The 16 star maps shown in Appendix 25 are the original line drawings
that Patrick Moore feels are the most suitable as a guide to finding the
constellations.
The star-map drawings have in the past proved a much easier guide
than any printed version ofthem.In this new edition we start with line
drawings offamous constellations:Ursa Major and Orion (Maps I and
II),before moving on to the more difficult ones later (Maps IV–XVI).
Indeed,the detailed maps have been ofgreat service to the more expe-
rienced astronomy enthusiasts as well as to the newcomer.
We decided that the presentation of the maps was also important.
The sizes of the stars are now smaller than in previously published
diagrams. This is to allow for more space, particularly in the more
detailed diagrams.For somebody starting out,there’s nothing worse
than having to find your way through horribly cluttered star maps! So
we included the original line drawings with the aim of solving this
problem.
v
Preface to the First Edition
Many popular books upon astronomy have been written during the
past few years, but most of them cater either for the casual
dabbler who is content to learn from the depths ofhis armchair or else
for the serious amateur who already knows the main facts.What I have
done, or tried to do, is to strike a happy mean. This book has been
aimed at the needs ofthe beginner who knows nothing whatsoever,but
who is nevertheless anxious to make a start with what equipment he
can collect at limited cost.
All astronomers,professional or amateur,were beginners once,and
all have had to draw upon the experience of those who have learned
before them.I feel some diffidence about offering myselfas a guide,but
at least I have one qualification:in my early days as an observer I made
almost every mistake that it is possible to make! This explains the
frequent occurrence ofsuch phrases as “I once saw.…”and “I remem-
ber that when I.…” I hope therefore that what I have written may
prevent others from falling into the same ridiculous traps.
A common fault in popular books is that too much space is devoted
to the Moon and planets,and too little to the greater problems of the
stars.I am well aware that I have laid myselfopen to precisely this crit-
icism, but there is a reason for it. I repeat that I am writing for the
amateur who wants to observe; and while the owner of a small tele-
scope can make himself extremely useful in the lunar and planetary
field,he is rather more limited with regard to stellar problems.I hope,
therefore,that the fault may be forgiven.
If this book has a use,it will be to the man who works with cheap
and limited equipment.I have,however,given a list ofmore advanced
works which can be consulted by anyone who wants to go more deeply
into the subject.
Astronomy is the most satisfying of all hobbies; taken as a class,
astronomers are friendly folk.If my book persuades a few people to
take a real interest in the heavens,I shall feel that it has been well worth
writing.
Patrick Moore
August 1957
vii
Preface to the
Twelfth Edition
The first edition of The Amateur Astronomerwas published almost
half a century ago.Other editions followed,and I hope it is fair to
say that they introduced quite a number of people to astronomy.But
things have changed since then. In 1957, the average amateur
astronomer worked with a modest telescope and a simple camera;his
main targets were the planets and some variable stars.Not so today.
Electronic devices have largely replaced photographic film,telescopes
are computer-controlled and the well-equipped camera can produce
results equal to those ofmajor professional observatories a few decades
ago.Old-fashioned visual observers are as outdated as dinosaurs.
I have to admit that I am a dinosaur, and when I was asked to
prepare a new edition ofthis book,I had to make a decision.There was
no point in catering for the electronics expert and computer user;
others can do that far better than I ever could.So it was better to retain
the original pattern,bringing it up to date but not attempting to go
further.Ifyou belong to the technology ofthe twenty-first century,this
is not the book for you; otherwise – well,I hope that you will find it
useful.
Sir Patrick Moore
Selsey,January 2005
ix
Contents
1 Astronomy as a Hobby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 The Unfolding Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 Telescopes and Observatories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4 The Solar System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5 The Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6 The Moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7 Occultations and Eclipses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
8 Aurorae and the Zodiacal Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
9 The Nearer Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
10 The Outer Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
11 Comets and Meteors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
12 The Stellar Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
13 The Nature ofa Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
14 Double Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
15 Variable Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
16 Star Clusters and Nebulae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
17 Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
18 Beginnings and Endings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
xi
xii The Amateur Astronomer
APPENDICES
1 Planetary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
2 Planetary Satellites ofMagnitude 14.5 or Brighter . . . . . . . 170
3 Minor Planet Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
4 Elongations and Transits ofthe Inferior Planets . . . . . . . . 172
5 Map ofMars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6 Jupiter:Transit Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
7 Saturn:Intensity Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
8 Forthcoming Eclipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9 The Limiting Lunar Detail Visible with Different
Apertures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
10 The Lunar Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11 Some ofthe More Important Annual Meteor Showers . . . . . 193
12 The Constellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
13 Proper Names ofStars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
14 Stars ofthe First Magnitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
15 Standard Stars for Each Magnitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
16 The Greek Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
17 Stellar Spectra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
18 Limiting Magnitudes and Separations for Various
Apertures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
19 Angular Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
20 Test Double Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
21 Extinction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
22 Bright Novae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Contents xiii
23 Messier’s Catalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
24 The Caldwell Catalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
25 The Star Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
26 The Observation ofVariable Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
27 Some Periodical Comets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
28 Amateur Observatories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
29 Astronomical Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
30 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291