Don't Miss Out - The Great Atlas of the Sky

[inline_online]

Hi all,

For those of you who missed out on the Millennium Star Atlas, there is another great star atlas available called..."The Great Atlas of the Sky."

The price for this atlas has just been reduced from $260 to $99 and there are only a few copies left. I emailed the author this afternoon and he said he could not guarantee copies being available next week.

Better get in quick if you are into quality hardcopy atlases (as I am) because they'll be gone really quick. I ordered a copy tonight and transit time is about three months. You can pay extra and get express postage if you want too.

Go to http://www.greatskyatlas.com/ for all the details.

Now all I need to get is the Herald-Bobroff Astroatlas!!!

Cheers,
Dan

[RickS]

Thanks for the heads up, Dan! I have ordered a copy. I already have a Herald-Bobroff :D

Cheers,
Rick.

[Scorpius51]

Thanks for the heads up Dan. Mine's on the way. Great value!

Cheers
John

[BPO]

This is a seriously awesome piece of work. You can lose hours and hours browsing through it.

One recommendation is stick on hole reinforcers: If you handle the pages carefully you may not need to use them, but it's very cheap insurance.

[sil]

Dan, thanks for the heads up. I ordered mine. Hope it arrives this year some time. I bought some hole reinforcers and they sit here mocking me in the mean time (good tip though).

[Saturnine]

Just ordered one of the atlas' myself, should be an excellent reference that will last the rest of my astronomical lifetime.
How many astro atlas' and observing manuals is too many ?

Jeff

[goober]

Has anyone actually received this yet? Mine apparently shipped on the 6th of August, but no sign yet.

[inline_online]

No, haven't got it yet.
I emailed Piotr and mine was shipped from Poland on the 28th of August. Still a few weeks shy of the anticipated 3 month shipping time but every day when I get home i'm hoping it'll be there.
Will certainly post here when it arrives.

[BPO]

Yep, I ordered mine on the 9th of November, 2010 -- before the zillion percent price drop, and just in time for the xmas mail rush :lol: -- and it was delivered on the 11th of February, 2011.

Worth every cent, and every moment of waiting.

[Saturnine]

Hopeing mine will arrive before Xmas, every arvo when I get home , I have great expectations that it will be waiting for me, still have 3 weeks till the magic 3 months are up.

Jeff

[inline_online]

The anticipation has been killing me every day.

I got home from work yesterday to see a post office parcel pick-up card on the kitchen table. Before my wife could say 'wait', I had grabbed it and sped off to the local parcel pick-up centre. I was sooo excited:D

Imagine my confusion when the guy said to me "Are you picking up something for your wife?" I replied "No" and he informed me that her name was on the card. He then presented me with a long thin box containing a new Enjo mop:(:(

The upside is that I did get some brownie points for picking up her mop that she was really keen to get.

Maybe it'll be there when I get home today!!!

[mithrandir]

Patience is a virtue I don't have. Shipping 130% of the mark-down price. Oh well.

[goober]

Mine arrived at the PO this morning. Very large, heavy parcel. Haven't opened it yet, but certainly won't be on the bicycle going home tonight!

[Stardrifter_WA]

Hi Doug, how long did it take from the time of order, as I am still waiting....patiently.

Cheers Peter

[goober]

Three months, plus a week. Just opening it now. Very well packed. A box, in a box, in a box. Foam padding buffers, etc.

Finally found the atlas and wow, quite stunning.

[Saturnine]

Mine arrived today as well, as goober ( Dan ) said, very well packed and the atlas looks an excellent resource. will definitely get the hole re-inforcings to make it a little more robust. Took about 10 weeks for delivery from the time I ordered and now I have an early xmas present to savour.
Thanks to inline_online ( Dan ) for the heads up and to Piotr Brych for the great price and for the time for compiling a great atlas.

Kind Regards

Jeff

[goober]

To anybody who has used hole reinforcers, I assume you can still close the atlas with the zipper? You don't thicken the sheets too much?

[inline_online]

Doug,
I have read all the threads on Cloudy Nights about this atlas. One of them said that the atlas will be too thick if you have hole reinforcements on both sides of all pages.
The best solution would be to reinforce both sides but keep out the first 30-40 or so pages that are the northern polar regions. Leave them safely tucked up in the box and the rest will fit nicely in the binder (apparently!!).

Still waiting for mine. Can't wait to compare it to the MSA. Maybe it'll be there today when i get home?

Cheers,
Dan

[Brundah1]

Mine arrived this morning.

What astronomical timing! Seems most of those around Cairns enjoyed an "earth moving" experience.

Agree with Dan this is a great early Chrisy present.

Like Doug, I will be interested in the result of adding hole reinforcers. Seems a sensible project as the bulky pages will tend to exert heavy loads, could result in damage over time.

Jeff / others?
Please let's know the outcome, regarding hole reinforcers and still closing the zipper. Also which are the best brand source of hole reinforcers?

Another issue to watch when opening the zipper - make sure it is fully unzipped before laying open the covers.

Many thanks to Piotr & the Polish team for completing this mamoth project and delivering this great reference at such a reasonable price.

David

[BPO]

I added reinforcers to all holes and on both sides. This increases the thickness/depth substantially, but not too much. The folder closes and zips just fine.

[mithrandir]

Express posted Nov 8 from Warsaw. Arrived this morning. At least the cloud couldn't stuff this up.

[Scorpius51]

Mine arrived this morning, too. What a monster!

John

[sil]

Mine arrived yesterday (the long 2-3 month wait option). All I can say is: gonna need a bigger bookcase!

[mithrandir]

It is sort of big isn't it. Compare it with Uranometrica and The Night Sky Observer's Guide.
126370
I think it will fit on top of the bookcase without too much overhang.

[Shark Bait]

I need a new keyboard, it is now covered in drool....Astronomical Gold.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Thanks for the info Doug. I am waiting patiently. I have seen a copy of this atlas at a club night and I agree it is quite stunning, which is why I ordered it.

Cheers Peter :)

[goober]

Well, after my nearly-four-year old almost ripped page 1 from the binder, I tootled down to Officeworks and picked up a thousand hold reinforcers (Avery transparent). Slowly working my way thought them, four to a sheet.

Crossed the equator and finished on map 160. Nice to see the declination go negative. I will finish the remainder tonight, and think about reinforcing the back of the sheet after that.

I think reinforcers are worth considering as the pages are quite delicate. It may also be worth loading these pages in reverse, as the good bit (the Southern Sky) takes a bit of effort to reach in this beast!

[Stardrifter_WA]

Hi Doug,

Got a knock at the door a little while ago, and I received my Atlas today, three months plus one week from date of order. It was like playing "pass the parcel" it was so well packed, which is just as well as the there was a tear in the outer an inner boxes, although it didn't damage the leather binder, except for a very small minor mark.

Cheers Peter

[inline_online]

Damn-it:mad2:
Surely it's my turn soon? Suppose I should look on the bright side though. At least it wasn't an Astro Physics refractor that i ordered:lol:

Well done to all those of you who have them already.

[inline_online]

:DYippee:D It has arrived:D:D

My sneaky wife tried to hide it from me but there's no hiding a parcel of that size. Opening the triple boxed atlas was a joy and a pleasure.

Very well packed with no damage at all after the long journey from Poland.

It is a massive atlas. The attached photo showes it next to one volume of the MSA (which is a large atlas also). Scale is slightly smaller than in the MSA but it shows so many more stars. I've also attached two more photos showing the Orion Nebula area to show the comparison between the atlases.

I'm hoping to take a couple of pages out under the stars tonight to see how it goes in use.

The reinforcement holes will go on next week and i'd also like to design some sort of a clear perspex holder to enable an unfolded chart to stay dew-free. The plastic sheet that comes with the atles requires pages to be folded. I'm afraid of tearing the pages if I go against the natural fold of the page.

I've never done a book review before (not since primary school anyway:lol:) but i'd really like to do one for this atlas. I love hard-copy atlases and might do a comparison of this and the MSA. Anyone want to sell me an HB atlas so I can compare the three;)?

[MrB]

No kidding!
According to the sizes given on their site, the leafs are about A2 size. So ~4 sheets of A4 paper.
When it is open that means approx A1 size..... I placed 8 sheets of A4 on my table, two high by four wide... huge!
My Herald Bobroff is A3 sheets I think (can't get to it at the mo)

Anxiously waiting for some Paypal funds to clear so I can place my order!
In the meantime I can't decide whether to wait 3 months or 4 days... hmmm.

[BPO]

And wait 'til you see all the galaxies!

[graham.hobart]

Mine came on Friday. You need a lectern to sit it on to read from it! It is humongous!!:eyepop:

[Stardrifter_WA]

Well, it does contain the Universe! :lol:

[RickS]

Mine arrived last week while I was eclipse chasing :thumbsup:

[ad602000]

I probably got one of the last available and it arrived on Saturday. This is a wonderful reference.
She who must be obeyed is even blown away by it. I was waiting for the "why did you buy a book with various size dots on the pages" comment, which didnt eventuate.

[Shano592]

They are still taking money for these.

I placed my order this afternoon, for USD$99.00.

Let's see if it arrives in May ....

[Steffen]

Mine is waiting at the post office, can't wait to pick it up… :jump2:

[MrB]

Mine was delivered during my lunch break, insanely good value for $99!

[Steffen]

Got the atlas, very impressive! I also bought some Avery reenforcing rings (plastic). Sticking on about 450 of them is going to be fun for the whole family tonight… ;)

Cheers
Steffen.

[stephenb]

People, give me an idea on How it compares to Tirion's Sky Atlas 2000' Uranometria or José Torres' Tri Atlas?

I'm thinking in regards to limiting mag, amount of details etc

[MrB]

Not having looked at either I can't answer that, but can tell you that there are two sample maps on the website.
I printed them both on A3 to have a look before purchasing and they were too small ;)
The atlas uses A2.

[allan gould]

Mine arrived today. Weighs a lot and not something to take to the scope but something to plan a good nights viewing at leisure. Very pleased with it.
Allan

[Shano592]

Apparently, the pages are actually A1, open face.

That is a seriously large lot of information.

[MrB]

Mine is most definitely A2 open, A3 when folded in the binder.

[Steffen]

The home page (http://www.greatskyatlas.com) has some facts, and a link to David Eicher's post describing the atlas (http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2010/06/01/piotr-brych-s-great-new-star-atlas.aspx).

Cheers
Steffen.

[cfranks]

They are obviously still available as I just got the email, with tracking #, saying mine has been shipped. :)

Charles

[allan gould]

After getting my atlas my recommendation is get at least 3 packets of the AVERY transparent plastic reinforcements for the eyelets (500 per packet) and place then on the sheets. Very theraputic but essential. And while you are doing that re-arrange the pages so that the South celestial pole is at the front ie rearrange all the map order because if you dont you will be continuously flipping through the Northern Hemisphere to get to what you want to see.
Allan

[pmrid]

The web site is still offering the 'economic postage' rate for US$99.00. I've ordered one. Looks like they're still there. But crikey the economic rate for postage has the amazing estimated delivery time of 3 months. They'd have to put it in a bottle and toss it off a pier for that sort of delay. Given that the author is in Poland, that might be a tad difficult though. Perhaps carrier pigeons?

Peter

[blink138]

ordered one on wednesday.... he said he had 14 left
pat

[slt]

Why? Poland has a coastline. And that's exactly what they will do ... it's called surface mail, ie. it will come by ship. I imagine the Polish postal service has a container somewhere on a wharf. When it's full it gets put on a ship :)

In the early days of amazon.de (the german branch of amazon.com) I regularly waited 2+ months for my orders to be delivered, because the only shipping option they offered back then for outside Europe/US that didn't cost an arm and a leg was surface mail.

[pmrid]

I should have remembered that. Who can forget the shipyards at Gdansk and the courage of Lech Walesa, Solidarity and the workers who stared down a government and won.

Peter

[slt]

Anyone who ordered theirs back in February received it yet? It's just about 3 months now...

[pmrid]

Nope. Not yet. I keep hoping that today will be the day. But the days just keep on sliding by.
Peter

[slt]

lol I know that feeling...

[cfranks]

I just checked my tracking # and the last entry was 15/2 so it must be still on a ship somewhere. Says it weighs 6.7Kg!!

Charles

[slt]

Mine was in the mail today :)

It's massive :eyepop:

[UniPol]

These are great books, I have a set.

[cfranks]

Mine arrived yesterday. Now I have to get some reinforcing rings to protect the sheets.

[Shano592]

Mine just arrived. Poor old postal staffer was not impressed at the weight of the thing. I sure was!

I grabbed some reinforcements when I placed the order, so I'm all ready to go!

[pmrid]

What can you say except "Yahoo"?

A good thing that rain has set in for a few days - it's just the right weather for putting on all those thousands of hole reinforcers.

Peter

[OzEclipse]

Peter

I ordered mine on Feb 17 and mine arrived yesterday, picked it up this morning 3 months 4 days. Hang in there. I'm sure it's about to arrive.

Joe

[Steffen]

I don't know since when, but it's out of print now.

Cheers
Steffen.

[MrB]

Yep, looks like those that left it too late are out of luck.
Awesome atlas for the price.

[blink138]

received mine on monday.......... took a bloody long time........what a tome!
pat

[h0ughy]

mine arrived late friday - very heavy but still in the box. yet to get the binder protectors

[pmrid]

Houghy, I just finished putting protectors on mine - took about 600 of them and a steady hand. A fair few that I dropped, lost, etc etc.
But I bought 3 boxes of 500, so far too many and have about 900 left. You're welcome to them if you want them. I'll post them if you drop me a PM with your address.
Peter

[h0ughy]

wow thanks Peter. this may sound stupid, but i looked in officeworks a week or so ago and do you think i could find any - no way - they were out of stock. even the paper shop didnt have any. I was told there that due to most of the a4sheets having a plastic strip nowdays that they didnt have the sales they used to and stopped stocking them. your offer is like a little pot of gold:thanx::thumbsup:

[pmrid]

cheers Dave, on the way.
Peter