[MPS (Mathew)]

Well both books finally arrived and I am very very happy with them both. I have to say' Atlas of the Southern Sky 5th edt by Massey and Quirk is pretty amazing. I would class it as a all you need to know stand alone island book. The maps are great and it covers pretty much every aspect of astronomy that you could ask for, it's also has a month th by month to look at/ view list. The best thing is that its all for the Southern Hemisphere . It breaks the maps up into constellations in alphabetical order. So you pick your constellation and go from there with all lists of what to see.

Southern Gems by O' Meara is equally as good in it's own way. The detailed explanations, info, history, and how too is fantastic. And what I was originally after........lists of objects to tick off. And his lists are really good. There are 120 objects to find listed individually every 2 to 3 pages. At the end of the book it has a field note section to keep track of what you find. All pics are black and white which is fine. Many of the objects from clusters, galaxies and nebulae I have not heard of as all my books so far have been mainly northern hemisphere orientated and I'm also a beginner. This book will come on every field trip I do now ,and allows me to plan, learn and observe systematically. It's also great for both goto and star hopping as the maps are cut down a bit so you just see the meat and veg of the celestial sign posts. He writes with passion and flair....Like prose.

Anyway these two books will keep me going for years!

Cheers Mat