Help needed

As I am getting slowly hooked on the night shots as I have recently posted. I am a little embarrassed to say that I only know one constilation.

So, is there anything anyone can recommend for online reading, "know your stars for Dummies" kinda books etc that arent too heavy going which will enable me to use it as part of the shots I plan on taking.

As I am getting slowly hooked on the night shots as I have recently posted. I am a little embarrassed to say that I only know one constilation. So, is there anything anyone can recommend for online reading, "know your stars for Dummies" kinda books etc that arent too heavy going which will enable me to use it as part of the shots I plan on taking.

Jodrell Bank Observatory have a nice online monthly guide.
www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/nightsky.html

However, online resources aren't very good when you're out under the stars. You would be better off with something you can bring out. I would suggest you get a Planisphere to begin with. Some good bookshops sell them, otherwise the Astronomy & Space shop in Artane or the Armagh Planetarium, both do mail order. It's an inexpensive item but you can easily locate the various constellations by just dialling in the date and time on the rotating wheel.

Another good basic guide to the constellations is A Walk through the Heavens by Heifetz & Tirion, published by Cambridge. For a detailed guide, a good printed beginner's atlas is The Cambridge Star Atlas by Wil Tirion (colour atlas), published by Cambridge or even better, Star Atlas 2000.0, published by Sky & Telescope and Cambridge. The Deluxe Edition is in colour and the Desk Edition is black on white. Avoid the Field Edition which is white on black.

If you want a digital atlas, try Cartes du Ciel, a free downloadable program.

An excellent book for learning astronomy & the night sky is Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson - A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe published by Firefly.

For astrophotography, try The Practical Astronomer's Deep Sky Companion by Jess Gilmour, published by Springer. This book is organised by constellation with each spread featuring images, information, position, locator maps, recommended exposure times for telescopes of various apertures and more.

I only know one constilation.

Constellation

Hi Mike,
A handy little free program is Stellarium.
www.stellarium.org
You just enter the Lattitude and Longitude for where you are and
it will show you real-time whats up there.

to get your Lat/Long go here,
www.tageo.com/index-e-ei.htm

Happy snapping.

There's also the Observing Challenges handbooks published here. I can't find them on the new layout tho

There's also the Observing Challenges handbooks published here. I can't find them on the new layout tho

From my bookmarks:
www.irishastronomy.org/observers/challenges/index.php

Hasnt been converted to the new layout.

oh and a link to ILPAC would be nice too folks