Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue A Tale of Two Scopes
- 1 Telescope and Observing Fundamentals
- 2 Refractors
- 3 Binoculars and Spotting Scopes
- 4 The Newtonian Telescope and Its Derivatives
- 5 The Cassegrain Telescope and Its Derivatives
- 6 Telescope Maintenance, Collimation and Star Testing
- 7 Telescope Accessories
- 8 Telescope Mounts
- 9 The Art of Visual Observing
- 10 Visual Observations of the Moon and Planets
- 11 Imaging the Moon and Planets
- 12 Observing and Imaging the Sun
- 13 Observing and Imaging with an Astro-Video Camera
- 14 DSLR Deep-Sky Imaging
- 15 Imaging with Cooled CCD Cameras
- 16 Auto-Guiding and Drift Scan Alignment
- 17 Spectral Studies
- 18 Improving and Enhancing Images in Photoshop
- Index
- Plate Section
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue A Tale of Two Scopes
- 1 Telescope and Observing Fundamentals
- 2 Refractors
- 3 Binoculars and Spotting Scopes
- 4 The Newtonian Telescope and Its Derivatives
- 5 The Cassegrain Telescope and Its Derivatives
- 6 Telescope Maintenance, Collimation and Star Testing
- 7 Telescope Accessories
- 8 Telescope Mounts
- 9 The Art of Visual Observing
- 10 Visual Observations of the Moon and Planets
- 11 Imaging the Moon and Planets
- 12 Observing and Imaging the Sun
- 13 Observing and Imaging with an Astro-Video Camera
- 14 DSLR Deep-Sky Imaging
- 15 Imaging with Cooled CCD Cameras
- 16 Auto-Guiding and Drift Scan Alignment
- 17 Spectral Studies
- 18 Improving and Enhancing Images in Photoshop
- Index
- Plate Section
Summary
Preface
Although I have been a radio astronomer all my working life, I have also greatly enjoyed observing the heavens. At the age of 12, I first observed the craters on the Moon and the moons of Jupiter with a simple telescope made from cardboard tubes and lenses given to me by my optician. I also made crystal and valve radios, and my friends and I set up our own telephone network across our village using former army telephones. Both of these activities were to have a major bearing on my later life.
As I write, I have my father’s thin, red-bound copy of Fred Hoyle’s book The Nature of the Universe on the desk beside me. It was this book that inspired me to become an astronomer.
I was able to study a little astronomy at Oxford but, continuing my interest in radios, was also in the signals unit of the Ofi cers’ Training Corps. As I was revising for my i nals I spotted an advertisement for a new course in radio astronomy at the Jodrell Bank Observatory. Because I was interested in both astronomy and radios this seemed a good idea and I began to study there in 1965.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014