Pearls Of The Southern Skies

[PeterM]

Don't know if this has been put up before but I saw a copy of this at our recent Leyburn weekend.
Pretty impressive. Anyone know of any local suppliers who actually stock this? Seems can be bought online ok. The owner bought his at a bookstore on the Sunshine Coast.
http://www.fireflybooks.com/index.php/catalogue/adult-books/product/11032-pearls-of-the-southern-skies-a-journey-to-exotic-star-clusters-nebulae-and-galaxies

https://astronomynow.com/2015/05/05/pearls-of-the-southern-skies/

http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/pearls-of-the-southern-skies-auke-slotegraaf/p/9781770854451?gclid=CNytzOjCn84CFYa VvAodqIsEiw

[PeterM]

Well I took delivery today of Pearls of the Southern Skies after ordering online from Angus and Robertson at the link above. Delivery was 3 days from order and packaged for post very, very well indeed.
If you buy 2 you get free postage, perhaps Astro clubs could post multiple orders as at $37 each they then become much cheaper than the $55 plus I have seen the book advertised at other sites.
Current delivery is 1-2 weeks.
With all the excitement about Hartungs reissue, Pearls of the Southern Skies should also be part of a great Southern Hemisphere reference library.
71 prominent Southern Deep Sky objects presented in beautiful photographs on the left page with the right page containing a wealth of object information. At the rear of the book are 15 detailed finder charts.
Deep Sky Observers and Astrophotographers alike should find this a brilliant resource which I liken to a modern version of the famed ESO book Exploring The Southern Sky, itself another must have resource.

[Kunama]

Thanks for the heads-up Peter, I've just ordered one.......:thumbsup:

[Kunama]

and today (Fathers Day) I was allowed to finally open the parcel and see the book.....
this is an excellent book :eyepop: well and truly worth the wait !!!:thumbsup:

[ChrisV]

Interesting. What's it like compared to O'Meara's Southern Gems.

[PeterM]

Sorry Chris can't answer that one as don't have Southern Gems.
Peter

[astroron]

O'Meara' Southern gems has 120 objects 466 pages which includes charts and index, plus about 130 pictures,all in black and white or grey scale
It is also smaller than POSS but thicker.

Pearl of the Southern Sky is nearly 30 cm long 20cm tall but not very thick has 71 objects with 71 colour pictures and 15 colour charts.
Going by the amount of objects in both books, Southern Gems seems more value for money having nearly double the amount of POSS

I have used OMeara's book in the field and find it a very good companion
I have ordered POSS so will be comparing them next week some time.

One thing for both books is to plastic cover them and keep them away from dew.
The author is South African so basically sees what we see here in Australia, O'Meara lives in Hawaii
So maybe doesn't get as good a view of the Southern Sky.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[ChrisV]

Might get a copy then and compare myself. I don't have southern gems but there's a copy in my library and i seem to be the only person who ever borrows it. So its kind of mine !

[glenc]

Bought a copy of "Pearls of the Southern Skies" today for $15 at QBD Tweed City.
https://www.qbd.com.au/pearls-of-the-southern-skies/auke-slotegraaf-dieter-willasch/9781770854451/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoMPpneeN5AIVgR0r Ch3CsgPGEAQYAiABEgKmXfD_BwE&fbclid=IwAR36Iz3CDLJR79C0czd2neBf7E s_j3h92PNBSqo3sHPJ6ngk0OOxMhEGbJE

[nsavage]

Saw this post and went straight to QBD to grab a copy. Lovely book and a great price. Very happy :).

[Saturnine]

I would be curious to know if the Pearls Of The Southern Sky is in any way similar to the Treasures Of The Southern Sky by Gendler,Lindberg,Christensen & Malin published by Springer in 2011 which has 80 odd objects listed.

[Peter Ward]

Just bought a copy from Angus and Robertson ($35). Still excellent value and a great book.

[astroron]

Hi Jeff,I have all the books mentioned in this thread.
All have there good points.
Beautiful pictures in some,but just about all except Stephen James O'Mear's book "SouthernGems"are Hubble or large telescope pics.
Good descriptions etc.
As an observers book,none beat Stephen James O'Mear's book "SouthernGems".
It has more objects, very easy understandable object descriptions,simple charts,handy size at the telescope, and the black and white images are similar to what one would see in a medium to large 16"-30" and above,
But recognisable in smaller scopes depending on your observational skills.
To Finish I wouldn't take my copies of "Treasures Of The Southern Sky"
or "Pearls Of The Southern Sky" out to the telescope unless I had a completely dew proof environment to protect them.
They are alright to plan in advance with,but definitely not for the night air.
I hope this helps.
PS Too answer your question, Yes it is. :)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Saturnine]

Thanks for the info Ron, I figured that the POTSS would be a similar coffee table type book to TOTSS, which I have and has beautiful images of course. As lovely as the professional images are in the coffee table type books they aren't much use as observing companions.
Among my astro library I have Southern Gems and Hidden Treasures plus Hartungs and the Night Sky Observers Guides and Burnhams , so I'm pretty well covered for observing guides. Between all of them there isn't many objects that us amateurs would not be aware of as suitable for medium sized scopes.

Cheers

[astroron]

And that's for sure Jeff:thumbsup:

[Jone5y]

Quick heads up, QBD currently has this on sale for $14.95 plus postage https://www.qbd.com.au/pearls-of-the-southern-skies/auke-slotegraaf-dieter-willasch/9781770854451/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-vjqBRA6EiwAe8TCkwQCOoQAT5bAUzChfRf9 43Tb4rC_rUmxNkX8KLg8KDZRNuO35l3Z9Ro CGa8QAvD_BwE

[GrahamL]

Thanks Glen tweed city has 3 left now I'll pick on up on the way home tomorrow ,online might be the go the store I asked today had sold out and wouldnt chase up another at that priice.

[erick]

Wollongong QBD - several in stock - $14.99 - I now have mine!

I have not seen this before. A very nice southern hemispherian's coffee table book - I like it.

Thanks Glen for resurrecting this thread that I had missed. :thumbsup:

[gaseous]

Had to order mine over the phone - the QBD online store was a bit cattywumpus yesterday, for me at least.

[Startrek]

Just purchased my copy online ( Father’s / Grandfathers Day gift from one my kids or grandkids )
Looks like a great book
I’ll see if it stacks up against “Atlas of the Southern Night Sky” 5th edition by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk which is an excellent resource book

[nsavage]

I have both and they are significantly different. “Atlas of the Southern Night Sky” is a great reference and "Pearls of the Southern Skies" is more of a coffee table book with nice images (still a great resource for selecting targets to look at or photograph though).

[Startrek]

My copy just arrived from Angus and Robertson yesterday , took nearly 4 weeks ( they claimed it was out of stock from their supplier )
Anyway it’s a great book with stunning images of our part of night sky
In fact some of the Nebulas show areas towards the extremity which are worth imaging on their own , little clusters and the like never seen before in other books and photos I’ve seen
Thanks for referring this book to us all
Cheers

[chrisp9au]

Sky Safari observing list for this book is attached.
Unzip on your device, Android, and Ipad I guess? then open the .skylist file with Sky Safari.

[Dove]

Hi Guys,
Two titles that might interest serious amateur astronomers can find an introduction to either one of two books 'The Dynamics of Spiral Planetary Motion' A revolutionary view of the spiral governing planetary motion in the solar system. And 'The Origin and Decline of the Ice-Ages'. The real cause of the ice ages, learn how ice and floods shaped the Earth's surface.
Cheers Alan.

[PeterM]

It seems both these books are written by you Alan? You might get more interest/response if this post were under its own thread.

[goober]

A quick update, O'Meara now lives in Botswana with his new partner. They run a yoga / stargazing retreat for $2000 a night. I don't need the yoga, but an evening of stargazing with Stephen would be an unforgettable experience.

[glenc]

We were in Botswana recently, I wish I had known Stephen James O’Meara was there.
I helped him when he was writing the book "Southern Gems"

http://www.yogasafari.com/