Star Clusters

Charles Cardona has been a teaching assistant in Astronomy at SUNY Suffolk Community College in New York, a former observatory director, a Variable Star section director, and a chairman of the board at the Custer Institute Observatory. He also taught courses, lectures, and seminars in Astronomy, Optics, and Computer Science. He was also the publisher of the Observatory Report Newsletter. In addition to his astronomy work, Charles has been an entrepreneur and has built and sold several companies. During the past 10 years, he has donated more than $200,000 to astronomy, education, and related children’s causes. He recently organized the installation of a new observatory dome and telescope equipment. He is currently involved in various educational programs and groups dedicated to finding missing children.

From the reviews: "An informative and easy to follow discussion about the life of stars sets the scene for the formation of star clusters themselves. This pocket guide then delivers a set of descriptions, images and charts for each of the 50 clusters covered. The charts are uncluttered and useful, and the descriptions interesting ... . ideal for a beginner ... ." (Steve Richards, Sky at Night Magazine, April, 2011) "This book is an amateur's guide to observing star clusters; it tells you where they are with a picture of the cluster and a finding chart and suggestions for what instrument to use. ... It's a nice little book that makes finding clusters easy and tells you about what you're looking at, so it's interesting for anybody with a telescope; and possibly very useful for teachers as it shows where to find clusters to illustrate various basic astronomy topics ... ." (Simon Goodwin, The Observatory, Vol. 132 (1226), February, 2012)

• Background.- Understanding Stars and Star Clusters.- How to Use This Book.- Star Cluster.- Descriptions, Images, and Charts.