The Amateur Astronomer

any popular books upon astronomy have been written during the Mpast few years, but most of them cater either for the casual dabbler who is content to learn from the depths of his 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. Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS is without a doubt the world’s most widely known and respected of broadcasters on astronomy. His BBC-TV program, The Sky at Night, remains the longest-running TV program in the history of broadcasting. For more than three decades The Amateur Astronomer has inspired generations of amateur astronomers. Almost uniquely, Patrick Moore has written a book that is useful to astronomers at all levels, from beginner to expert. Appendices – completely updated in this new edition – provide extensive star, lunar and planetary maps, along with a vast amount of data and information that makes this book an essential for every amateur astronomer’s library. This 2000 Edition of Sir Patrick Moore�s classic book has been completely revised in the light of changes in technology. Not only do these changes include commercially available astronomical telescopes and software, but also what we know and understand about the universe. There are many new photographs and illustrations. Writing in the easy-going style that made him famous as a writer and broadcaster, Sir Patrick introduced astronomy and amateur observing together, so that his reader gets an idea of what he is observing at the same time as how to observe. Almost half the book is Appendices. These are hugely comprehensive and provide hints and tips, as well as data (year 2000 onwards) for pretty well every aspect of amateur astronomy. This is probably the only book in which all this information is collected in one place.