Best guide book to southern skies?

[coliea (Colin)]

Hi all

I'll be heading to New Zealand in November and I am looking for book recommendations to the southern skies. I'm a relative noob to astronomy and a complete noob to the southern hemisphere, so any advice is much appreciated. I've come across A Walk Through the Southern Sky on Amazon UK - is this worth considering or are there alternative titles you would recommend?

Regards
Col

[Suzy]

Hi Colin,
Welcome here and to this wonderful hobby.

I have this book and it is a great "guide" book to search for the constellations. It guides you by star hopping using dotted lines and numbered stars. Very easy to read and understand. The back section of this book is dedicated to explaining the legends behind the constellations - fascinating reading!

Just a note, that the above book doesn't contain maps and objects of interest. If you are after something along these lines, may I suggest "The Southern Sky Guide", by David Ellyard & Wil Tirion. It's filled with easy to read maps where each page describes the objects of interest for that map page. I was nearly going to suggest another terrific book I have and then realised it only gave one diagram of the constellation per page, where as the book I just mentioned, actually shows you the surrounding constellations as well on every page (easier to plot your way around), which I think maybe more helpful when you are viewing unfamiliar skies.

Enjoy our wonderful skies!

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I second "The Southern Sky Guide" Col, for finding your way around. Its a pretty good starters book. You might also want to consider a planisphere. While not as detailed as a book, it great for quickly finding the constellations.

[erick (Eric)]

Atlas of the Southern Night Sky!

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=23186

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

How about a home-grown one here: http://www.macastro.org.au/home/inde...:categorymerch

It's actually designed as a reference for southern sky binocular users, but is a fantastic book in general astronomy terms too. Bob Bee has his own regular astronomy column in the Macarthur Advertiser and is a member of our club - so it's standard reading!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Australian Sky and Telescope magazine has a beaut all sky map in it.
A lot easier to travel with a magazine than a clunky hard back.

[Ket (Hung)]

Originally Posted by erick

Atlas of the Southern Night Sky!

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=23186

+1 for Atlas of Southern Night Sky. I'm a newbie as well and this is the only book I own. I found that I needed a planisphere which will compliment the book really well.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Heavens Above is about half the size of a magazine and it's designed for beginners in mind - without forgoing detail.

[Brundah1 (David)]

Another mainly Australian edited publication "Astronomica" foreword by Fred Watson. RRP AUD79, but I bought two at QBD for AUD27each.
This is a great general knowledge book on Astronomy which has a Southern Sky flavour.
Second copy for my grand daughter, the budding astronomer

I also have Steve Massey's Atlas of the Southern Night Skies
bought on line from Emporium Bookshop AUD43.

Also highly recommend Steve Massey's "Space Stars and Planets" RRP AUD 20. This is the best book for the child astronomer that I have seen.
But unfortunately is out of print and very hard to find. You should find it in the local library.

BTW last check Steve Massey (My Astro Shop) stocks limited quantities of some of his books.

Cheers,

David

[Robh (Rob)]

Atlas of the Southern Night Sky (Massey and Quirk) and Heavens Above (Robert Bee) are both great resources for the beginner.

You can also download my maps and data "Night Sky Objects" in pdf form for free (and no advertising on site) at ...
http://sites.google.com/site/southernastronomer/

Regards, Rob

[coliea (Colin)]

Wow! 9 replies in less than a day - you guys are really on the ball. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and advice. That's given me everything I need to prepare for Nov.

All the best.
Col

[MikeyB (Michael)]

You can also download my maps and data "Night Sky Objects" in pdf form for free (and no advertising on site) at ...
http://sites.google.com/site/southernastronomer/

Now that's what I call a truly useful publication, Rob - thank you for your efforts in compiling and distributing it, as well as its companion Galaxy and Planetary Nebula Supplement. Thanks also for bringing both of these to my attention - great work!

[luckystar]

Thank you Col for asking the original question. I second Suzy's recommendation. I felt like MikeyB's (from his quote) blind pig till I got a copy of 'A walk through the Southern Skies'. Very memorable descriptions of constellations, relationships and pathways. Really good too for any beginners who like me found reading glasses and good light an essential aid to viewing any planisphere or star chart in the dark. It gave the sky a readable, recognisable connected structure.
Also I'll second MikeyB's words on Robh's '"Night Sky Objects", 'as well as its companion Galaxy and Planetary Nebula Supplement'. Just brilliant!!!

Steve Williams

[GrahamL]

Atlas of the Southern Night Sky

I think this a great book in that its content is very well thought out .. A lot of astronomy publications are chock full of pretty general info
for the beginner, this one does do a good job of closeing the gap a bit in regard imo.

Though the red constellation headers on each page dissapearing under
a red torch light ? .. is that intentional ?

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by nightstalker

Though the red constellation headers on each page dissapearing under
a red torch light ? .. is that intentional ?

I doubt it - I think that's an "Ooops!" It was the one problem I observed with the book. But elsewhere on the page is the name of the constellation that can be read, I recall.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by erick

I doubt it - I think that's an "Ooops!" It was the one problem I observed with the book. But elsewhere on the page is the name of the constellation that can be read, I recall.

Yes, bottom right hand corner. Certainly a surprise when I first started using it.

[GrahamL]

Yeah I can see a positive in it of sorts in that it leaves a classical
name there , but the mod constellation name moves to the opposite page corner makeing us take in and retain both ( if the grey cell memory hd has a little uncorrupted space on it )

Great book to find as an x-mass gift if someome asks before buying imo

[Jen]

All of the above

I love astro books

[Brundah1 (David)]

Rob H,
I second MikeyB's comments, fabulous work that indicates much dedication to your passion; also note the dedication to your late wife. Its wonderful people like you that enrich our lives. Thank you

[NeilW]

As a beginner, and I stand to be corrected here, I found that the charts in "Atlas of the Suthern Night Sky" were actually northern hemisphere oriented. The chart showing Leo, for instance, is upside down to what I'm observing.