Best Astronomy Books

Find the best astronomy books that help you learn about exploring the universe, other planets and the world beyond our own. There has been an increase in people getting interested in astronomy and the stars, and with good reason. With the technological advances of today our astronauts can visit rising stars, planets and constellations. And the rest of us can watch almost live all the wonderful discoveries they are making in far away locations.

While some people are beginning now their journey into the world of astronomy, others are looking for the best advanced astronomy books that can help them go beyond the basics.

Image credit: Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide

Here are some great astronomy books I found on learning about the universe, the solar systems and the planets around us.

This is the book that started my passion for astronomy. I got it as a birthday present a few years back along with my first small telescope, and little did I know that it would open for me a new world of exploring and wonder.

This is a great book for any beginning amateur astronomer who wants to learn more about the topic without getting overwhelmed. The books is really geared towards people who have (or want to get) a small telescope and I love the fact that it brings home the point that you don't have to use a giant expensive telescope to get started.

It goes into a very deep exploration of the moon, and sky at each season in a very straightforward way. Everything seems to simple and easy to do than you just want to take out your dusty (or new) telescope and start exploring!

An awesome book, one that I can't recommend too highly!

I've read NIghtwatch soon after my love for astronomy has been awakened and I consider this book one of the best general introductions to the topic. Astronomy has many sub-areas that one can focus on, so if you're not sure where your passion will lie within astronomy, read this book to find out.

It includes several stargazing charts that are extremely helpful and clear which makes it easy to learn about astronomy by any beginner who has never learned anything (beyond what the TV shows you) on astronomy before. If I hadn't picked Turn Left At Orion before, I'd have said this is the best book out there. Right now I consider both equally good.

This is a great entry book to astronomy geared specifically towards kids. If you have a kid or know one who is interested about the stars and is always gazing upwards in wonder, this will be a perfect birthday gift.

However don't think that it's a book that adults should not pick up. On the contrary. While the language is a bit toned down so kids can easily digest the information, the book itself is great for anyone who wants to pick up a new and interesting hobby! It is really one of the best introductions to observatory astronomy out there.

Here is another great beginner astronomy book that I can heartily recommend. It contains a lot of information on astronomy to get anyone started, plus it has a detailed 52 chart atlas that is extremely useful for guidance.

This book has so much useful info that even people more advanced to astronomy can make great use of it.

Each of the planets has its own section, the sun and the sun and moon eclipses are also covered in-depth. If you are serious about this awesome hobby, this book deserves a special place on your bookshelf!

Here is another great book for any newcomer to astronomy. Also perfect as a gift because the colored charts are truly a joy to browse through. You can almost used this as a coffee table book.

It's really useful when you have your own little telescope to watch the sky above with and any amateur astronomer will really enjoy having it around. My copy is a spiral bound version which is great because I can use it in a better way than just a regular paperback book.

If you're going out in the field, do not forget this book at home as it's indispensable!

This is a book that I didn't buy, but my husband made it as a Christmas gift for me and it worked! If you don't consider books as idea gifts due to their rather cheap prices, check out this book. Even now at over $100 is at a discount compared to the initial price. Truly perfect for a gift that will not put anyone to shame!

And it does help the fact that it's actually useful to learn astronomy from. In fact if you take - or you know somebody who takes - astronomy in college, this is the ideal book to learn from because it's more of a college textbook than a simple hobby book. It is for really learning astronomy the serious way for any beginner level! I never took astronomy in college, but this book really did give me a solid education as a newbie stargazer.

The Sky Is Your Laboratory is geared towards more advanced amateur astronomers, who are beyond the basics of trying to read the sky charts. With this book you can easily expand your new hobby with added knowledge and insights.

I have this book and while at times it's a bit over my head (I'm still a newbie astronomer enthusiast), it is really a great how-to book on doing a bit of space science and exploration that beginners simply don't have the eye for. It teaches you what other tools you need and it even goes a bit into spectroscopy.

This book teaches you how to do your own research that is actually useful, not only 'cute', something that a real astronomer can in fact use.

The beginning of this book goes over the fundamentals of astronomy, however soon it goes much deeper into it all, touching on aspects such as elescope optics, the atmosphere, astrophotography, electronic imaging, and finding the right telescope hardware and even diagnosing damaged telescopes). It's a practical book, so not much boring theory, just enough to teach you something new while keeping your attention on the subject.

If you're only starting out now with astronomy, I don't recommend you get this book yet, but if you're a bit beyond the basics, this will teach you quite a lot on pretty much every area of astronomy you'd want to learn about.

Focusing on the Milky Way, this is a great book for newbie and advanced alike. It is a great account of modern cosmology as we know it. It goes in-depth into how the galaxy was made, its history and the writing helps you understand the theories without any fluff and boring text. Some of the questions that the author gives answers to are:

How the Galaxy formed and evolved? What populations and types of stars exist? What can you tell about a star just by observing its color? And how was all this knowledge acquired?

Note about the title: Don't let the world 'alchemy' confuse you as it has nothing to do with the study of the alchemy. Don't let the sadly phrased title put you off from getting the book as you'll lose out on a lot!