BOOKS

These are my top picks as far as astronomy/astrophotography books go. I have linked the books below to Amazon.com for your ordering convenience.

Books	Author(s)	Comments
	Ron Wodaski	The New CCD Astronomy - I bought this book when I was looking to convert to CCD astrophotography (from film). I was in the market for a new telescope as well as CCD Camera. This book was instrumental in helping me understanding the delicate balance between the two and helped me make intelligent and informed choices. The book is well written and Ron has a great way of explaining some difficult concepts. There are also many example images to view.
	Terence Dickinson	NightWatch - If you could only get one astronomy book, this is the one you should get. It is well written and is a great source of information for the beginning amateur astronomer. The one thing I really like about the book is Terence's ability to explain astronomy concepts in a manner that everyone can understand (even young adults). It starts with learning to find your way around the stars and introduces the different types of telescopes. It also gives an introduction into the world of Astrophotography. The book is ring bound so is easy to use under the stars.
	Robert Reeves	Wide-Field Astrophotography - If you are just getting involved with astrophotography this book is an excellent source of information. Wide-Field astrophotography is a great first step for any one starting into this area of astronomy and Robert Reeves explains the ropes from the basics to the advance topics.
	Terence Dickinson & Alan Dyer	The Backyard Astronomer's Guide - This is actually the book responsible for getting me into astronomy. I went to the bookstore to find something to read in an attempt to get away from watching too much TV. This book is an excellent addition to Nightwatch. It talks about many of the same topics but in more detail. It covers telescope equipment, accessories, Astrophotography equipment, and observing techniques. I go to this book more often than any other that I have. It is a great resource of information for just about any astronomy topic (but curiously, not CCD imaging).
	Michael Covington	Astrophotography for the Amateur (2nd Edition) - I finally found a copy of this book in paperback form at the local Borders book store. It was well worth the wait! This is a very informative book. It is up to date and very well written. It covers CCD and film Astrophotography in great detail. Digital enhancement techniques as well as development information is also covered. It is a must have book for the serious astrophotographer.
	Brad Wallis & Robert Provin	A Manual of Advanced Celestial Photography - This book is a great reference for advanced Astrophotography topics. It is considered by many to be the "Astrophotography Bible". Some of the information dates itself by referring to CCD auto-guiders as the new, unreliable way of guiding but the formulas and techniques are solid. I did not link this to Amazon because it is out of print. I found my copy in the used area of Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com).
	Robert Burnham	Burnham's Celestial Handbook - The picture shown to the left is actually Volume 1 of a 3 Volume set. The 3 Volume set contains the most complete set of celestial information that can be found anywhere, period. It is so much information that no one has attempted to make current the information contained in the 2100+ page set. That is really the only knock on this fine set of books. The information is over 20 years old and therefore a bit out of date.
	David Levy	Skywatching - This book has a wealth of information on constellations, stars, and galaxies. It is the most elegantly laid out and graphical astronomy book I have. It is more like an armchair book than an astronomy reference book (but has all the information of one). The photos are beautiful and illustrations elegant. It outlines all of the constellations and gives historical information on each.
	Terence Dickinson & Jack Newton	Splendors of the Universe - I bought this book because of a budding interest in Astrophotography. Since I liked all of the other books written by Terence Dickinson I bought it as soon as it was released. This book is full of useful information. It is a bit more up to date than my other books and is centered around Astrophotography only. It is better illustrated than previous Terence Dickinson books and has a lot of great Astrophoto's taken by amateur astrophotographers. Because it is co-authored by Jack Newton it also has about 40 pages of information on CCD imaging.
	Wil Tirion	SkyAtlas - The title of this book says it all. It is an indispensable tool for identifying and locating stars, nebula, galaxies, and other celestial objects. I use it for framing shots of objects that I cannot see through the camera. I just match up the star patterns from the sky atlas with what I see through the camera finder.

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