• Nightwatch, 4th ed. (Terence Dickinson, 2006). This is the gold standard for beginner's astronomy guides. You get easy-to-follow star maps, advice for equipment selection, guides on how to find and see common objects, and a tour of the known universe. Read this book cover to cover and follow its advice, and you'll be well on your way as an amateur astronomer.
• The Stars: A New Way to See Them (H. A. Rey, 1952). Written by one of the creators of Curious George, this slim guide combines simple prose and delightful artwork that shows you how to find the major constellations of the northern and near-southern skies. If you want to learn the constellations, then start here.
• Turn Left at Orion (Guy Consolmagno, 2000). If you just bought a small telescope and are wondering what you can see, this is the book for you. It presents a very intuitive way of finding your way around the sky and presents dozens of fascinating objects that can be seen in small scopes. This is perhaps the most insightful starter book available for beginners with a small telescope.
• Sky Atlas 2000 (Tirion and Sinnott, 2007). No matter what your level of expertise, you need a good set of star maps. This is one of the best. You get 26 star maps covering 2,700 deep-sky objects and more than 81,000 stars. Alternative: A more compact version is the Pocket Sky Atlas by Roger Sinnott. Also very good.
• Backyard Astronomer's Guide, 3rd ed. (Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer, 2008). A comprehensive guide for the amateur astronomer on buying and using equipment, including telescopes, mounts, eyepieces, and accessories. If you're bewildered by the choice of astronomy equipment out there, this book will help immensely.
A Bonus Book... Celestial Sampler (Sue French, 2005)
Can't think of anything good to see with your telescope tonight? This crisply-written compilation will help you find and enjoy hundreds of objects including double stars, odd asterisms, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. Organized by month, each bite-sized “sampler” shows you where to find each object and what you can expect to see with a 4-inch telescope. A delight to read.
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