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Introduction
The idea of this book is really quite simple. I’ve chosen the fifty best
sights based on my own lifetime of passionately seeking astronomical
wonders. I try to present them here through vivid detail and concise observing
instructions.
Nothing could be more clear and simple, nor, if you wish to seek the very
heart of astronomy, any more desirable. This book offers to those seeking the
thrills of the heavens the most instant and immediately powerful gratification
of that desire possible from pages. It is, after all, astronomy honed down to
the most exciting experiences. Armchair astronomers will find all they need
to enjoy the heavens. Most people, however, will be motivated to action. They
will, I hope, be inspired, more electrifyingly than would otherwise be possible,
to get out and experience these wonders for themselves.
A remarkable thing about The 50 Best Sights in Astronomy is that no one seems
to have ever had this idea for a book before. Why did I stumble on the idea
when other people didn’t? I’ll offer my explanation in a moment.
First, I’d like to mention something else about this book that I think is
original and that you may find interesting. I’m talking about the criterion I’ve
used for determining the order in which the sights should be discussed. My
criterion is the width of the field of view necessary to enjoy the sight best.
The order is from the widest to the narrowest view. The first sight is that
of the entire starry sky on a clear night, preferably with no interfering moonlight
or city light pollution. This is a scene at least 180° wide—the angular
span of the entire dome of the sky. Of course, it’s not really possible to be so
precise as to determine that a slightly larger field of view is needed for enjoying
a bright star in its stellar setting as compared to a bright planet in its own
setting. So the book is divided into sections by width of field. The first section
includes sights that require a field ranging from that of the entire sky down
to 100° wide—a broad naked-eye scan. Each succeeding section zooms farther
in until we start looking at the magnified but also much narrower views
available through binoculars. And then the final section contains sights that
are the most magnified and narrow of all the ones viewed through telescopes.
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