Book Review: The Caldwell Objects

[iceman]

Hi All

Trevor (OneOfOne) has kindly written a book review of The Caldwell Objects.

You can read the review on the IceInSpace Reviews (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/?reviews) page, or directly by clicking on the link below:

The Caldwell Objects (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=46,351,0,0,1,0)

Many thanks to Trevor for writing the review!

If you'd like to submit an article or a review for IceInSpace, it would be much appreciated! Please contact me.

[iceman]

Review uploaded.

[glenc]

I would like to make three comments on the C list.
1. Please provide both NGC and C numbers when you refer to an object.
The older generation only know the NGC numbers, some of the younger ones only know the C numbers.
2. Unfortunately the Caldwell list omits some very good objects IMO.
3. S&T tried to sell the C cat. as another Messier list but some of the C objects are too faint for Messier to see.
It was a good idea but could have been better IMO.
The book however is excellent.

[Rigel003]

I treasure this book and the companion volume, "Deepsky Wonders: the Messier Objects" . So much background on each object and excellent sketches of eyepiece views. O'Meara has 2 new books due for publication early in 2007. The first is also in the Deepsky Wonders series and is called" Hidden Treasures" - presumably a roundup of objects not covered in the 1st 2 books. The other is a Herschel 400 Observing Guide. Both are listed and can be preordered on Amazon.

Having said that, I'd personally be happy if the Caldwell numbers would just die a quick death. What arrogance to add your name and new set of numbers to well known objects with perfectly good pre-existing NGC numbers - to the general confusion of all. That C number on my Nexstar handcontroller never gets punched, on principle.

[glenc]

"What arrogance to add your name and new set of numbers to well known objects with perfectly good pre-existing NGC numbers."

I am not sure if that was Moore's idea or S&T.

[mickoking]

I concur.

[Argonavis]

I totally concurr, however the pre-existing ngc numbers were, themselves compiled by Dryer from pre-existing catalogues from Herschal etc.

see:

http://www.ngcic.org/steinicke/HNGC/Historic_NGC.htm

This lists the discoverer and the year discovered for all ngc objects.

Dryer doesn't get too many against his name as discoverer. His catalogue is a comprehensive collection of non-stellar objects known up to that time (c 1880). As such, it is the source that should be quoted. There are some subsequent original catalogues (Trumpler, Collinder, P-K..) but the Caldwell is merely a list of "my favourite objects". As such it will never cover a lot of the good stuff that are observational favourites.

I think we need a counter-revolution and insist that the Hartung numbers be quoted for all deep sky objects when referring to them. :mad2:

[Rigel003]

I'm sure that Hartung never had the flair for publicity that Moore did. He probably couldn't foresee how out of hand it would all get thanks to S&T, Meade and Celestron, but I think he would have been quite pleased. I just reread the original article in December 1995 Sky and Telescope and he did have a reasonable rationale - a list of bright DSOs without Messier numbers covering both hemispheres. Moore actually only wrote a couple of paragraphs followed by the listing. The rest of the article is by S & T staff. He did coin the C number concept though.

One of the good things about the list is that it's in order of descending declination so all we have to do is start at the back.

[Argonavis]

and this is the crime - he renamed them. They already had enough numbers, we don't need any moore.

[CoombellKid]

I'm not sure that Hartung actually attached numbers/letters as in to create
a new catalogue of deepsky objects. The numbers in his book are only
reference numbers that, I suspect were given to them for reference purposes
for the book

But I could be wrong, I have never ever heard anyone refer to an object
by it's Hartung# or call Omega Centuri/Hartung 591. these reference numbers
do not correspond between both books, the second edition has a couple of
hundred objects added during the rewrite by David Malin and David Frew.

Apart from the C argument, I like my copy of Caldwell objects and often
refer to it.

regards,CS sunny days

[DougAdams]

Nice review (only just found it!).

I'm half way through O'Meara's latest in the series - "Hidden Treasures". Very similar in style, but with a light pirate theme!