Possible new book - opinions needed

[ozalba]

Received this query from Storm Dunlop, about the optimum latitude for Aussie sky charts. Any thoughts on this?

The various editions of the 'Guide to the Night Sky' that Wil Tirion and
I have done with Collins (2014, 2015 and 2016) have done so well that we
are now doing 2017 versions for UK and for North America. Now Collins
are asking about one for Australia and NZ. For the UK we give charts
based on 50°N; for North America we are using 40°N.

Have you any idea what might be best for Australia? True, the charts are
usable somewhat north and south of any nominal latitude, but although
first thoughts were 35°S, that would be OK for Canberra and Adelaide -
and lie between Sydney and Melbourne - it would not be ideal for
Brisbane, and certainly not for New Zealand. (It would be fine for
Buenos Aires, Santiago and Valparaiso if they wanted to sell it into
South America!)

I'm not sure if the style of charts that Wil has devised would allow the
indication of different horizons on the same chart. Maybe. That's
something I will have to check with him.

[GrampianStars]

Love my Collins "Stars & Planets " by Ian Ridpath/Wil Triton editions
with the various horizon lines on them :thumbsup:

[ZeroID]

Probably about 40 for NZ would be close to optimal. Wellington is at 41.2, about central. 45 puts it way down in Otago, 35 is up in Northland.

[AussieTrooper]

35-40 Would be fine. Most of the southern hemisphere's big population centres aren't too far from that range. The first three target countries would likely be Australia, NZ, South Africa.

Melbourne 38
Sydney 34
Auckland 36
Capetown 34