This new edition includes basic explanations about the characteristics of and differences between amateur "beginner" or entry level telescopes, those that are worthwhile having anyway. The content introduces the reader to most popular entry level instruments including the popular Dobson-style telescopes that have come to the forefront of the amateur community as providing the "best bang for the buck". There are some brief explanations of their most vital accessories too.

Turn Left At Orion will help readers comprehend how the rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun affect what we can find to observe in the night sky from season to season. This book is an aid for someone using a small to mid size, reasonable quality telescope who seeks to find the many celestial objects including: double stars, galaxies, nebulae, diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, with good information about finding the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in tables updated through to 2024. There are also detailed illustrated articles about what the major visible features are on the major planets, and how best to see them. There is also a well illustrated chapter with night to night information about what and how to observe the features on the Moon is it goes through its phases. It also provides sketches detailing the major features on the planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn from the perspective of how they may appear in a typical amateur telescope.

A guidebook for beginning amateur astronomers "Turn Left at Orion" also provides information you need to locate and begin to observe a whole host of "deep sky" celestial objects - those outside our Solar System including the popular "Messier" catalog. Large format charts and diagrams show the night sky through the seasons, and many of the most popular faint deep sky objects are arranged season by season and illustrated close up and as they may appear in a finderscope or in a good quality small telescope. For each major object there is information on the current state of our astronomical knowledge. All deep sky objects are rated by the authors on a scale so that the beginner may better understand which are easier, and which are more challenging to observer.

Thoroughly revised and updated in November 2000 and again in November 2011, the current edition is easy to distinguish from its predecessors by its spiral binding arrangement; an entirely more user-friendly binding that makes it easy to leave the book open flat while observing. This edition contains a chapter describing spectacular deep sky objects visible from the southern hemisphere for our friends down under or for those who intend to visit. It also goes into explaining several of the upcoming special celestial events and with tips on how to observe them. This title also provides hints on using your personal computer and Internet-based as aids for planning an observing session. All tables of data have been updated to show data spanning from the year 2012 to 2024, with some tables showing up to 2025.

This book has been favorably reviewed by us and others, and is justifiably among the top selling amateur astronomy titles at Company Seven. You may wish to contact Company Seven for a bit more advice about the latest hardware to help one star-hop across the sky (including: a planisphere, a red LED flashlight to read the charts at night, and the Telrad sight) after reading the advice in this book.

This fourth edition revision replaces the prior third edition titled Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects To See In A Small Telescope - And How to Find Them.