Astrophotography - Rhodri Evans ****

This is a book that falls pretty firmly in the coffee table bracket, weighing in at over a kilo, and nearly 30 cm by 24. I'd usually be rather put off by this, but I was pleasantly surprised here.

We've seen plenty of photo-based books of space before, such as the even bigger Hubble books, but for me, Astrophotography probably has the best balance. It combines those gorgeous photographs we have come to know and love (partly because NASA and the ESA are so generous with making them freely available) with a good text by astronomer Rhodri Evans, which never dominates the images, but gives enough information to avoid this being a pure picture book.

Even so, as the title suggests, it's the photographs that make it remarkable. Evans takes us an a tour, starting with the solar system, where as well as the inevitable planets we get some funky moons and comets (yes, it's up-to-date enough to include 67P and those great Pluto photos).

From the limits of our solar system, we zoom out to our galaxy, the local group and the wider universe, ending with the most distant views, the cosmic microwave background and a good text on gravity wave astronomy (though obviously no photographs of the outcome here).

I'm always a little unsure what coffee table books are for, but there's no doubt this would make a great gift for an astronomical beginner, or simply someone who enjoys the remarkable photographs from space that are now available.

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Review by Brian Clegg

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