Writing Blog

 

Update July 16^th 2025

For a list of published books and a description of them, please refer to:

http://philippughastronomer.epizy.com/About_Phils_Books.html

I had not been writing very much at the time of writing. Instead, I was outside taking photographs or on my PC processing them. Sometimes, I even add them to my books or replace existing photos with more recent, better versions.

I currently have three works in progress (WIPs). As they are all dependent on photos, this does not cause any problems.

Astronomer, Reincarnated (due Spring 2027)

This is my main project. It chronicles my adventures in Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA). It started when I received a “smart” telescope for a milestone birthday. It enabled me to photograph objects that I had not been able to before. I have visited lots of deep sky objects and revisited some of the more interesting ones. To see my images, see:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philippughastronomer/

Keep watching, as this gets updated several times per week.

Guide to the Stars (working title, due Spring 2026)

This is a departure from my usual genre of astronomy book. Although it is of interest to astronomers, it is also suitable for the general public, even those who have no intention of looking through a telescope. It explains the different types of star, how they work and how they are born, live and die. This is done using words and diagrams that can be understood by people without a scientific background.

I have completed the text of this book, well as complete as any writer will admit! I made some minor revisions today to clarify the different types of nebulae.

The main issue is that I need better versions of the photographs I have taken. I may also add some photographs of new example objects. Whilst this does not improve the content of the book, it will improve the aesthetics. People say “never judge a book by its cover”. Unfortunately (for writers!) they do, as they also judge a book by its graphics.

Being an Astronomer (7^th Edition, due whenever!)

This is my beginner book.

The 6^th edition contains an introduction to EAA. This has been expanded for the 7^th edition but the main enhancement will be the addition of new objects (or replacing existing photos with better ones) in the Constellations section. I am doing this in parallel with new images from Astronomer, Reincarnated. Whether I will add any new constellation descriptions or new sections is debatable.