Real Astronomy with Small Telescopes

From the reviews: "The dozens of projects collected here are a combination of observations suitable for current research (such as classifying sun-spots or monitoring binary stars) and recreating classic experiments (such as determining the speed of light by timing Jupiter's moons). ... Besides ample nuggets for science projects, a motivated amateur will gain understanding by doing the work, and ... add purpose to his or her observations." (Stuart J. Goldman, Sky & Telescope, May, 2007) "Amateurs and students using relatively small telescopes can and do contribute useful data to many areas of astronomy. The subtitle Step-by-Step Activities for Discovery is an accurate depiction of what is provided to help novices do just that. Charts, diagrams, photographs of setups, and background information for a variety of observations are included. ... Summing Up: Recommended. General reader; lower-division undergraduates; faculty." (D. H. Gifford, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (11), August, 2007)

• The Celestial Sphere.- The Measurement of Time.- The Equatorial Telescope Mount.- Telescope Considerations.- Astronomical Photography.- The Sun.- The Moon.- The Planets.- Comets and Asteroids.- Visual Binary Stars.- A Binary Star True Orbit Projector.- Visual Observations of Variable Stars.- Photography of Variable Stars.- Star Clusters and Nebulae.- A Color–Magnitude Diagram for The Pleiades.- The Design of an Objective Prism Spectrograph.- The Proper Motion of Barnard’s Star.