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Amateur astronomy is one of the most rewarding scientific hobbies out there, although when one becomes serious enough to be ready to buy a telescope, it can also be quite expensive. It is a fortunate thing, then, that one can purchase a quite satisfactory astronomical bookshelf with only five volumes—and get decades of use and enjoyment out of them. So, in this article, I outline the five books that make up my astronomy bookshelf, and explain why (supplemented with magazines and the internet) I think that they are all I will ever need to own.

1. The National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky. If you only buy one book about astronomy, this should be it. Contained in this handy volume is everything the beginning or binocular astronomer needs: star charts (both comprehensive and according to the month and which way you're looking—very useful when you are just learning your way around the sky), data on the planets and eclipses, as well as an overview of all that the night sky contains (what open cluster, globular clusters, planetary nebulæ, etc. all are), and even a great deal of historical information about the constellations, important stars, and planets. For a long time this was the only astronomical book I owned, and it served me well, and continues to do so even now. It is an excellent one-volume source for all things astronomical.

2. Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. Where the Audubon Society's guide can let you down, is when you are hunting for an elusive binary star or Messier object in your telescope. Its charts are only intended for naked eye or binocular star gazers, and don't provide the level of detail that it takes to really get your bearings in a telescope. In consequence, finding deep sky objects that were too far removed from brighter landmarks was pretty hit or miss.

This is where the Pocket Sky Atlas comes in. It is a brilliant, astoundingly economical little star chart, that is perfect for amateurs with small or mid-sized telescopes, and wire bound for easy use in the field. Until the day when I get that 12" Dobsonian, this is all the star chart I will ever need, and it makes finding one's way around the night sky with a telescope so much easier. (More and more, telescope's are being sold with motorised computers that promise to direct you automatically towards any object in the night sky. To me, this is "cheating"—knowing one's way around the night sky, oneself, is to me one of the primary goals of amateur astronomy. I would sooner just look at pictures of the Messier objects than resort to using one of these devices.)

3-5. Burnham's Celestial Handbook in three volumes. Just as the Pocket Sky Atlas deepens and improves the maps in the Audubon field guide, Burnham's Celestial Handbook gives deeper insight into the encyclopædic information. Indeed, one might best describe these books as a three volume encyclopædia of astronomy. Information about constellations, stars, and deep sky objects is given in much deeper detail than in the field guide, and it provides the perfect resource for reading up on a night's observations.

Beyond the bookshelf. These books provide me with all the reference material I think I will ever need. But regular contact with Sky & Telescope magazine, or their website skyandtelescope.com, provides the necessary link with current happenings in astronomy and astrophysics. Nebulæ, galaxies, and globular clusters are only interesting if we are aware of the physics involved in their functioning, and the mysteries science has yet to explain about them. Hence it is essential to keep in touch with modern science in order for amateur astronomy to remain interesting.

In addition, software programs provide us with an important "astronomical clock"—showing what is in the night sky, and allowing us to better plan an evening's observation. ("Oh look, I didn't realise that Saturn was visible again.") For me, living just off the English channel with what seems like nine out of ten nights being overcast, this is essential for keeping track of the night sky over time. I can by no means refer you to an exhaustive list of what's out there, but the best astronomy software I have personally used is KStars for Linux; on the Mac I use the Starry Night widget, which sits on the dashboard.

Astronomy is one of the only hobbies I have where I am now satisfied with the 'completeness' of my bookshelf; it is very satisfying to feel that one has all the material one needs on a given subject at hand.