Buyer's and User's Guide to Astronomical Telescopes and Binoculars

James Mullaney is an astronomy writer, speaker and consultant who has published nearly a thousand articles and nine books on observing the wonders of the heavens, and logged over 20,000 hours of stargazing time with the unaided eye, binoculars and telescopes.  Formerly Curator of the Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science in Pittsburgh and more recently Director of the DuPont Planetarium at USCA, he served as staff astronomer at the University of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Observatory and as an assistant editor for Sky & Telescope magazine.  One of the contributors to Carl Sagan’s award-winning Cosmos PBS-Television series, his work has received endorsement from such notables (and fellow stargazers) over the years as Sir Arthur Clarke, Johnny Carson, Ray Bradbury, Dr. Wernher von Braun, and former student - NASA scientist/astronaut Dr. Jay Apt.  His lifelong mission has been to “Celebrate the Universe!” - to get others to look up at the majesty of the night sky and personally experience the joys of stargazing.  In recognition of his work, he has been elected a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society of London.

• Part I Buying Astronomical Telescopes & Binoculars.- Introduction.- Binoculars.- Telescope Basics.- Refracting Telescopes.- Reflecting Telescopes.- Catadioptric Telescopes.- Accessories.- Astroimaging.- Binocular Sources.- Telescope Sources.- Part II Using Astronomical Telescopes and Binoculars.- Observing the Techniques.- Observing Programs.- Conclusion.- Pro-Am Collaboration.