hi. thank you for sharing you experiences of these books with us all. i can see from how you have described them that these are some valuable tools to use. thank you for your your time to write this.
les
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy
Hi Les,
I have The Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects and it covers all the Messiers. Not sure about the rest of the series.
Their great observing books, as he explains all the little details to look for in an object and how to star hop to it using a very simple guide. It's a teaching book really. And he explains things so well!
Take a look below- I've cut & pasted from previous posts and added it below.
The Messier book along with Collins "Stars & Planets" are my right hand at the scope.
The Southern Sky Guide (David Ellyard)...
I just could never get into this book.
For me, I find the maps difficult to read and having the constellations broken up makes it even harder. The descriptions on the facing page aren't well laid out either as the object descriptions are merged thru large paragraphs instead of being listed.
Hartungs Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes...
I did a thread on this a while back.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=63394&highlight=ha rtung's
This is an observers companion book describing the objects beautifully. There are no maps however. Anyone that owns one of these books, displays it with pride of place on their bookshelf I'm sure (as I do).
In summary...
I doubt that you'll find one book that will do it all. Like me, you'll probably find that you'll wind up with several books and maps. Some books cater for the brighter objects and are quite easy to read and navigate thru, others are intense, some books cater more for "observing", i.e. more a teaching guide on techniques and what to look for in objects (such as Stephen O'Meara's Deep Sky Objects- Messier Objects- fantastic book, and Hartung's), some books list the astrophhysics and objects of interest better or clearer than others, etc. I have lots of books/maps- each used for different observations.
- Stars & Planets by Ian Ridpath & Wil Tirion
One of my favorite hard working books. Covers general astronomy at the beginning of the book and the rest is dedicated to maps with the facing page to each map detailing objects of interest and the astrophysics. It will tell you what the spectral classes of the stars are, nice doubles to look at, and each object of interest nicely detailed. Beautiful pics accompany them. Each constellation has its own map- very easy to use. Great book for beginners. Even though it's more specific to telescopes, many of the objects and stars in it are viewable through binos or the naked eye. I highly recommend this book also.
I've attached some pics here for you...
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The Night Sky Observers Guide.
The Night Sky Observers Guide series is a great book. It's quite intense and covers a ton of deep sky objects with finder charts for everything, sketches on lots of objects, and observation notes as to what can be see through different sized apertures.
At the beginning of each constellation it gives a large table listing of binocular objects and stars of interest. It's a hard cover book with a whopping 504 pages!
There are a lot of dso's in this book more specific to larger scopes, but there's still plenty of stuff in it for 8-10" scopes, not a lot for 4-6" scopes, and pretty much favors 12-14" and in particular 16" scopes. Many feel this book is a bit advanced at beginner level as it goes quite deep but I love this book and wouldn't be without it.. a book I will grow into as I get more experience. Many of us on here own this book/series.
Our own Paddy has done a wonderful review of it here in this forum.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/46-627-0-0-1-0.html
Atlas of the Southern Night Sky.
Another thick and fantastic book. Beautiful colour photographs, descriptions of the objects, followed by a map on the facing page.
Paddy has done a review of this book also (good work Paddy!)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/bookreviews.html
Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas.
Being spiral bound, it's easy to handle on your lap by the scope as it stays open. It's filled with a ton of goodies that go deeper than "Collins Stars & Planets", but for a first book, I would recommend "Stars & Planets" first because the pocket atlas book is mainly maps. The Pocket Sky Atlas even has a Telrad circle to use with it's maps.
It's so cheap at only $20 from the Book Depository in the UK (free shipping!) - great value!
Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects, by Stephen O'Meara.
It's an observing book and tells you all the little details to go look for, and also a little black & white pic (for every object) of what to expect to see out of your telescope. Lots of sketches too- so you can really get a nice sample of what to expect at the eyepiece. He observed with only around 4 inches of aperture, so everything he says is within reach for most of us. Some astro physics are given on each object too, and basically its about a page per object. It is a hard working companion of mine.
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And a new book I'm adding to the list...
Galaxies And How To Observe Them
I love this book- it's a teaching guide on how to observe galaxies- everything you need to know is in this book!
The link I've given has a google preview for it.
"This book is a unique work satisfying the need for a modern, comprehensive review of all major aspects of galaxy observation. It is the only book to specialize on visual observation of galaxies and will appeal to beginners and experienced stargazers alike.
This book is a unique work satisfying the need for a modern, comprehensive review of all major aspects of galaxy observation. The book combines the physical background on the nature and data of galaxies, the relevant instrumentation and viewing techniques, and finally the targets and their individual appearance in telescopes of various apertures. A comprehensive sample of galaxies, including quasars, groups and clusters of galaxies is presented. This combination of theoretical knowledge and practical information guarantees successful observing sessions. Furthermore, the book is clearly structured with outstanding images and graphics." |