Sky Maps and Atlases Books

We enjoy star gazing, and this is a perfect book for learning about what we're looking at. Very well written and very easy for a "novice" to follow without getting too "scientific".

I loved this book, as did my father who is now 87 years of age. We just want Mr. Shaffer to write an updated book so we can see the constellations in the future years ahead!!

This is one of those books from which you can take as much or as little as you want. Shaffer is not intent on making an in-depth astronomer out of everyone (although if that's what you're bound for, this book will be a fine first leg up). His presentation is clear and friendly, good for browsing, for reference, or for reading straight through. Use it however suits you.

The first three chapters cover basics -- longitude and latitude and why they matter; how to read sky maps; paths of the sun, moon, and planets; basic terms; how telescopes work; etc. These might sound like intimidating topics but they're covered in just enough depth and not a bit more (e.g. "A Very Short Primer on Light").

A nice feature is on page two, a section titled "If You're in a BIG Hurry, What to Read First" (i.e. what parts of this book).

After discussion of telescopes, including how to choose one and what to do with it, there are five chapters on sky-watching. First there's the close stuff: artificial satellites, the moon... and then there's the farther away stuff: planets, stars, nebulas, groups of galaxies.

There's a sky map for each month; the maps are easy to read. Beginner that I was, with this book I was able to identify a few stars I'd noticed several nights in a row -- turned out to be one side of Orion. The fact that what I saw in the sky was recognizable on the map here is a big plus.

This is a book that will last you long past the very-beginner stage.

If you enjoyed the "Star Wars" and "Star-Trek" films, and your visits to your local planetarium, you're in for a treat. This book helps you uncover stars, comets, galaxies, nebulas, planets on your own time. Equipped with the maps, photographs and the space parameters given you in this book, you can step out at night in your own back yard, gaze at the sky and chart your own course. No rocket ships included. You won't need them to apply this excellent handbook to the heavens.

If you're new to backyard astronomy and are seeking a guide, here's the ticket. This covers all the bases, from the moon, sun, planets, and constellations to the locations of deep-sky objects, from lunar and solar observations to how to pick and set up the appropriate telescope (good information from a man who has designed award-winning telescopes). Shaffer starts at the beginning with the basic layout of the night sky and continues into greater detail without getting overly technical or confusing the neophyte. Every topic is presented in a friendly and engaging manner, with touches of dry humor, that eases the unfamiliar into the techniques of backyard astronomy without overwhelming them. Along the way he adds details about general scientific concepts as needed (such as explaining photons and spectrums) and includes sky maps, charts, graphs and other things to help guide the reader.An altogether excellent guide.

The best description is a Massive Three Volume Set. This is a great Atlas - The organization is much better than Uranometria and the print and sizing of the stars is much better. This may not be the most practical at the telescope atlas but it is printed on high quality paper and the books do open and lay flat. I find this atlas very useful for going after the small faint stuff where you have to know the star patterns to ID the fields.

I guess I'm old fashioned when it comes to using a telescope, but I prefer a paper atlas to laptops and software star atlases. And I also prefer star-hopping to using GOTO or setting circles. If you're like me, you already know you're buying this massive work. Yes it's expensive. Yes it weighs about twenty pounds. But it's the ultimate paper atlas for the star-hopper. The three volumes (each covering eight hours of RA) together have over one million stars plotted on their pages!

The binding and paper are of superb quality, sufficient for this atlas to actually be used out in the field! Unfortunately, after you see how pretty it is (and remember how much it cost), you'll probably be content to let it sit safely on the shelf to be used as a reference. Personally, I use an 8" Dob and hence generally observe objects bright enough for Tirion's Sky Atlas 2000.0 to be an adequate atlas. I have taken the MSA out a couple times but it was overkill.

For owners of larger scopes who wish to go after the fainter DSOs, a Mag 11 atlas like the MSA is a bare minimum. A computer atlas going down to Mag 13 or so would be even better, but if you like paper then the MSA is the way to go. I eventually do plan to make heavy use of the MSA out in the field, but probably not until I get a larger scope.

The closest competition to the MSA is Tirion's Uranometria 2000.0 2nd Edition. Note that although it doesn't plot anywhere near the number of stars the MSA does, Uranometria plots three times the number of deep sky objects (30,000). Therefore, owners of very large telescopes may be better served with Uranometria since it plots the very faint DSOs that MSA skips.

After deciding to go into the Observational Astronomy hobby, I have been denying experts' advise for months. Although being almost a rookie, "start with a pair of binoculars", "plan your session ahead" and so on seemed trivial to me. This book helps the reader to solve which is probably the very first lesson to begin with: "learn the sky". In addition to that, it is dedicated to the Southern Hemisphere, trascendental for those who live "below" the equator. "A walk through the Southern Sky" easily and friendly explains how to reach minor constellations starting at the major ones. From Orion and Canis Major, precise highways are traced to reach Canis Minor, Cancer, Lepus and so on. From Crux and Centauri, to Vela and so on. I had started with a friend's computerized scope, and always thought that "starhopping" would be imposible for me under light-polluted skies. Probably one of the major goals of the authors is having proved me wrong. Again, if I could, anybody can!

I take a trip to the Southern Hemisphere on occasion and have been looking for a good compact guide to bring along with me. I find the simplified star charts really useful to get myself quickly oriented. I don't need a full blown super detailed star atlas with all kinds of unnecessary detail and clutter that I'm unable to use, and this one fits the bill in that respect.

It also covers basic mythology of the Southern Skies and makes an excellent companion to it's sister work on the Northern Skies.

If your more interested in deep sky objects of the Southern skies you'd be better off looking elsewhere as this book only lightly discusses DSO's.

Given that this atlas is the first to show stars to 11th magnitude, it is a pleasure to see it so well executed.

Each of the three volumes covers one gore (strip of sky from pole to pole) of 8 hours of right ascension. This arrangment has the advantage of keeping the part of the sky visible at a given time in the same volume.

Roll the drums! Write the headline: someone in the star atlas business actually gets the message. Sequencing charts in ascending right ascension is backwards. After decades of frustration, users finally have an atlas with charts sequenced in descending order of right ascension. One has to try it both ways to appreciate the difference. In atlases with north at the top and charts in ascending order, users are constantly fighting against their instinct as to which way to turn the page on reaching the edge of a chart. But in the Millennium, the user who reaches the right edge of a chart simply continues rightward to the next page; from the left edge, one continues leftward to the previous page. This arrangement makes navigating the charts so intuitive that within the gore the numbers of adjacent charts at the left and right edges are unnecessary and have been omitted. Atlas writers who unthinkingly follow the tradition of ordering charts in ascending right ascension should take note.

Charts are clear and detailed without being crowded. Top and bottom of each page give the numbers of the adjacent charts; this greatly simplifies navigating through the atlas. A minor complaint is that adjacent chart information does not extend to charts in other volumes. Charts at the edges of a gore should say at their edges something like "Continues on Vol II Chart 235."

A measure of how good this atlas is is that other suggestions for improvement are merely speculative. The charts could maybe be bigger to cover more area and simplify navigation, maybe like the Sky Atlas 2000.0, but would bigger pages make the atlas awkward to use? Would they make it impracticable to print charts on both sides of the page? Numbered tabs for quick chart access are helpful, but are they practicable for an atlas which contains so many pages? Would tabs every 25 to 50 pages be helpful? Hard to say.

What is not hard to say is that this atlas is a superbly useful work.

It works nicely in combination with the Pocket Sky Atlas. Use the Pocket for quick basic finding and the Millennium for going deep in pursuit of the challenging stuff.

This book has enough detail to keep you busy for each month of the year and is easy to understand for a beginner. Anyone with a small telescope should consider this guide for their first step.

This review is actually for the loose leaf, un-laminated field edition of the star charts. There is no option to review it on the current listing, so I'm doing it here.

My wife bought me this set in the mid-eighties and it opened up a whole new world in the sky for me. Before, I was stuck with the Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazine star charts, or the very confusing and hard to read Norton's Star Atlas. So I now had a real map of the sky that actually showed some detail.

In the 90's I had the series laminated and it was the best thing to do since the paper charts, no matter how sturdy, wear after a few years of heavy use.

Since I built my 16" scope and started getting into the Herschels, I discovered many objects missing from those original charts. Even something like Stephan's Quintet is missing. I've checked the latest version at Scope City and many of those obscure objects are still missing even in that latest edition. I guess Wil just set a limit, and left it at that.

So, to enhance their use, I use Megastar. Megastar, designed for deep sky observers, is great for finding everything the Tirion won't, but it doesn't give the perspective these large-format charts do. I navigate through the sky with this set of star charts and a 50mm finder, and that's it. No computer, no setting circles. Without the Tirion, I never would've found half the stuff I've seen over the years.

As one reviewer said, this is best suited for the smaller scopes and that is true to some extent, as you can outgrow it with a larger scope. However, don't let that deter you as there are plenty of objects on the charts that I can barely see in my 16". The Tirion field edition is "da bomb." Highly recommended.

This Atlas is fantastic ... very large but the scale s so large it gives you and excellent idea of what one can see.

This book has instantly become one of the two most important documents I take to the field. Once I have determined my position and orientation using a plenisphere there is nothing I can't know about any part of the sky. It's heavy, and bulky to hold (I take a collapsible table when observing) but there is nothing like having the complete data at your fingertips. Spiral bound lays flat. I thought that was a cute idea when I bought it. Now I know how important it is. Lamination is also critical to have as the first night out with the "free" charts I printed from my computer they were ruined.

This is the master reference to take to the observing site. I reiterate, "Don't leave home without it."

The unlaminated deluxe is great, easy to mark btw, but the laminated deluxe is simply fabulous. The size(21 by 16 inches, maps are not folded), the top-binding make the laminated deluxe much less clumsy to handle and the spiral-binding really makes sense. Also the chart key is in the front. Make sure you take a look of both before making your purchase.

For years the Sky Atlas 2000.0 has been the most popular atlas step up from a 6th magnitude atlas. The 8th magnitude limit is deep enough to enable users to find Neptune and the brighter asteroids. The large charts, while they can be a bit awkward to handle, are great to view, as they show wide swaths of sky.

The Second Edition brought some significant improvements: a useful step up to magnitude 8.5, galaxy shapes which show size and orientation, better representation of star magnitude, detailed charts of the Orion region and Virgo Galaxy Cluster. If you are debating between a used First Edition and a new Second Edition, get the Second; it's worth the extra money.

A few shortcomings remain. The charts are arranged in ascending order of right ascension. This presents problems with editions which are bound on the left side. When users reach the right edge of the chart, they have to stifle the instinct to continue right to the next page, force themselves to reverse direction, and turn--of all places--to the previous page instead. The same with the left edge. Charts should be ordered in descending RA like Uranometria or Millennium. Ordering by ascending RA is a pointless tradition.

Some of the versions are bound at the top, which solves the problem of the chart sequence--and makes the book less floppy to handle--but makes it harder to search for charts. Since the chart number is at the top right, the user cannot see what page they have their fingers on until the book is completely open.

The pages of the laminated versions are very sturdy for field use but hard to grasp and separate, especially when moist with dew. This and the previous problem could be solved by adding numbered, graspable tabs to the bottom of each chart.

A badly-needed improvement to the atlas came in a subsequent printing of the second edition: around the edges of each chart are noted the numbers of the charts which adjoin it. This greatly simplifies navigation through the atlas. It would be good to take this measure a step further and, on each chart, mark adjacent chart borders as well to save guesswork as to where each one ends and the next begins.

The many virtues of this atlas have been amply documented by other reviewers. The space I have spent on the shortcomings is simply an attempt to round out the picture. The many improvements already made to this work speak well of the publisher's commitment to an excellent atlas. The Sky 2000.0 is now only a couple steps short.

So which atlas to choose for your observations? I would completely ignore the 6th magnitude atlases on the market. For a beginning to intermediate observer, the magnitude 7.6 Pocket Sky Atlas is very well designed and affordable. For intermediate observing, the Sky Atlas 2000.0 is an excellent choice. For advanced observers who frequently go deep, I would suggest skipping the Sky Atlas and bringing both the Pocket and the Millennium along on outings.

This is a good field guide at the telescope. I like the layout and the information contained within it. Spiral bound is a plus, allowing you to lay it flat and not loose pages after a few weeks. However, I know it's a pocket book but its not! It's a little to big to be a pocket book and to small for easy identification of stellar targets. The size is just wrong! Bigger and it would be awesome, smaller and it would be very handy, as it is I use an old 1970s Patrick Moore book that is pocket size.

If you are new to astronomy and maybe have a pair of binoculars or a low-powered telescope, or even just your eyes, and want to learn the constellations, then your best bet is really to download Stellarium and get yourself a handheld planisphere for carrying around. You will have enough on your plate to start learning the constellations and some of the nearer objects. As your hobby grows and time goes by you will probably notice that against the background (and sometimes foreground) of the stars of the constellations you are looking at are other stars that look interesting but you don't know much about them. This is where a sky atlas comes in and it is an essential if you want to move beyond learning the constellations.

This isn't the place to plug another book but I feel one should get a mention quickly (in return I will plug this book there). "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" by H. A. Rey really does take constellation exploration to a whole new level and then some more. I thought that a planisphere would be more than enough but that book by Rey, although it looks like a cartoon book for kids, is the kind of material that Hubble would probably open beside him for warm up. If you are looking for the next step after the constellations then that is the book you want first... and then a proper sky atlas. Both books compliment each other a lot. Rey teaches you constellation navigation. The atlas gives you the details.

So if you are looking for a sky atlas then the probability is that you have a scope (eyes are not enough to see the magnification detail beyond 1 to 4, such as 5, 6, 7 + that these maps offer) have some degree of experience with the constellations and want to learn more about everything else you are seeing through your scope. You have qualified yourself in need of a sky atlas. The next question is not if you need a sky atlas or not (you do) but what type of sky atlas is for you and ultimately this depends on the power of your scope and what you want to do. Now here I find myself plugging another book but I think it safe to say I can return the favor when I review that product and in the end a dedicated astronomer is going to own all of these. The Sky Atlas 2000.0, 2nd Deluxe Unlaminated Version by Wil Tirion is twice the price of this and is much bigger and more detailed. There is a laminated version that is more expensive yet again put perfect for lots of outdoor use. Anyway the point is that this maybe the sky atlas that you want especially if you have a bigger scope. At the same time many astronomers just like to sit outside with a medium sized spiral-bound book and explore the stars with their low to mid range scope. If this is you then this is probably the book you want and it is a very nice star map indeed.

First of all it is a spiral-bound star atlas. You can lay it flat on the table beside you. Not a lot of star maps can claim that. However it is not so much of a pocket book but rather a thin but regular sized book. Don't expect this to fit in your jacket pocket. You will be carrying it like a regular book but it's thin, very thin. The design, weight and size are very strong points that this book has to offer. In fact many large scope owners may get this book for its ease of portability and skinniness.

These are black stars on a white background that many astronomers recommend as better to look at under red light (and you will need a red light with this book to make full use of it). Other objects are identified by greens, blues, reds and yellows. The index tells you what these are. The layout is medium difficultly to navigate (it isn't easy and you will spend time on it, but that is the nature of this field and is not the fault of the book) and like a good map you can follow where you need to go and with more experiences get faster doing it.

You can't really fault this map in terms of what it brings to your night gazing diversion. It truly opens up the skies to you in a way that you can hardly predict if you have never owned a star atlas before. The index is comprehensive, there is a constellation chart divided into pages for easy reference and there are several ways to navigate the stars from coordinates to star hopping by shape and dispersal to a combination of all the above. The constellation borders are present as well as grids. If there is any star map you should get then really this could be that one.

I say `could be' because I have some reserves. A larger star map maybe what you really wanted instead. Sometimes the detail in this map overwhelms its size. Working on the big dipper is nice because the number of stars can be handled, however turn to Vega and Cygnus which is on the Milky Way and the stars amounts jump by a factor of 10. Suddenly you go from shapes you can easily remember to pages where there are almost more black dots than white spaces. It actually looks like a blow down instead of a blow up. The overkill of stars is challenging and quite simply a bigger map would help make more sense of what you are seeing. Yet again it just requires more work on your part to figure them out. It is not impossible, but things get cramped.

Another issue is that not all the constellations will fit on the one page. Draco for example spans a few pages and so requires page flipping and the way the book is made doesn't mean that the next page follows on directly from the last although there are arrows indicating which page to turn if you go in that direction. While these do work sometimes you will have to go back and forth to the index to complete some constellations. There are no reduced maps for the larger constellations. So be prepared for some constellations to span more than one page.

Star visibility/illumination takes some getting used to. H. A. Rey's book, although cartoons, prepares you for illumination issues much better. You may see a sector you want to examine, count 4 to 5 visible stars among 10 possible ones and yet only see 2 (again depending on visibility and quality of scope) or maybe much more than you expected.

Sometimes the dot size between what you can see and won't see is so close that you won't know until you look. From time to time this simply throws you off... sometimes a way off to the point that you don't even know if you are looking at the right sector or not. What does this mean? Is the sky atlas bad? No, far from it, this book is clearly a cut above what most pocket sky maps offer, you just might not be prepared to put the work in that this book demands of you. Casual star gazing is one thing. Using an atlas can quickly turn this leisurely pursuit into work.

Many readers come away only having looked at two or three sectors in the space of an hour. The good news is the sky is not going anywhere. The bad news is that we only live so long. I think if you are willing to move at a slow pace then you can enjoy this atlas adventure a lot more.

The IAU website uses a very similar set of maps that you can look through to see if it is a map design you would like to work with but the maps in this book are of much better quality. Still you get the overall idea. So about this book, what is the verdict? This is a 5 star experience regardless of quirks. We are talking about condensing into 80 charts, over 30,000 stars and 1500 deep sky objects. Sometimes you win them and sometimes you loose them. You can debate whether this is a problem of the book or a problem of viewing conditions/equipment but you can't debate that there isn't much competition out there for something this size and price and that is where it wins, hands down. It's an economy star atlas with lots of perks and a super design but is no replacement for a full star atlas. Still if you are a binocular user and looking to experience more then get this at all costs. Your astronomy will improve tenfold due to it.

Pros:
- So much in so little space
- Spiral-bound and designed to lay flat
- Low cost
- Guaranteed to improve your hobby tenfold
- Black stars on white

Cons:
- Some charts get overwhelming because of their content
- A basic moon map wouldn't have been too much to ask for
- You will work hard even on the easier sectors
- Some constellations span more than one page

The authors of this guide did almost everything right.

It's just the right size; at 9 X 6, it's large enough to be legible and small enough to be easy to handle. It's spiral bound, so it lies flat for easy viewing. The paper is heavy with a semi-glossy finish, so it should resist dew fairly well and won't produce reflections from a flashlight.

Most importantly, the charts are extremely well designed and clear. They are arranged in an order that makes a lot of sense, and it's easy to locate the charts of sections of the sky that are adjacent to the one you're looking at. There is a lot of detail, but not so much that the charts are just masses of dots. The color coding and labeling is very clear and completely consistent throughout the book. Finally, the three index sections-- one general index, one index to Caldwell Catalog objects, and one index to Messier Catalog objects-- are extremely easy to use.

The one thing I worry about a little is heavy dew situations. The paper seems very durable, but it's not coated. I bought a piece of clear Lucite the size of the opened book to shield it from the heavier moisture.

If I had to choose just one sky guide for regular use, this would be the one. I'm very happy I bought it, and I'd do it again.

To All

I've only had this atlas for a month and all I can say is I love it! I find the Pocket Sky Atlas an excellent value for its price. The only thing I would have liked to see is ALL the Carbon "(c)" stars labeled with identifying names. Other then that this atlas will make an excellent addition to my library.

Rich Tyson

I an new to Astronomy and have been studying every chance I get. I bought this atlas to help me find objects to view. Considering my limited knowledge of Astronomy and what books are out there, this atlas is going to be a valuable tool for me.

I have a lot of sky atlases as well as guides to deep sky objects. While there are numerous maps that are aesthetically more beautiful and perhaps more useful overal as a scopeside map, and numerous deep sky object guides, none of them presents such an excellent distillation of objects and easily useable maps for practical recreational viewing with binoculars or the small scope. I find with this book, I get the most out of my evenings with little pre-planning necessary. After gaining some experience with this book, one can than follow the general approach to deep sky viewing with more advanced guides and atlases.

I've been an active observer for years. My telescopes have been large instruments requiring some planning and setup. For this reason, I typically do little observing during nights when there is a partial moon out. I've decided to do some observing with a small 80mm telescope. It's easy to move outside and set up within a minute and it's no big deal if I only have a few minutes to observe.

It turns out that what I had in the way of a star atlas was not terribly suited for my new endeavor. My atlases are all geared for deep space observing with big reflectors. They are well worn and tattered and I know from experience that although I have loved them to death, I will learn to hate them if I attempt an observing program with an 80mm telescope.

So..... during the past few weeks, I've been looking for the perfect reference material. A friend of mine turned me on to "The Observer's Sky Atlas" by E. Karkoschka. I briefly looked through his and decided immediately that I "needed" one. I've used many of the other atlases geared towards small telescpes but I've decided that this one will be my new companion over the next few months.

My grab and go observing will be just that... grab and go. I wanted a volume that fits that bill. The atlas is a small paperback about 6 x 8 inches. Within it's pages you'll find 250 deep space wonders along with 250 double stars complete with pictures and easy to use reference charts.

Each set of pages includes a table of interesting objects to see on the left side and a chart on the right. The table lists the objects of interest, along with pertinent data. There's your mix of deep space objects, open clusters, binary stars, and standard stars. Refractors are very nice for just looking at your standard stars you know. You got your big ones, your blue ones, your red ones.... There are two additional pieces of data that this volume provides lacking in so many other references. The first is the estimated distance in light years. I love this! The other is a guide to help you determine the difficulty in seeing the object shown by a die (as in dice). A six is super easy, a one will be more challenging.

Near the back of the book are black and white photos of all 250 deep space objects in the guide. This is really nice for your daytime aspects of your observing program or to tease out what you think you see as you compare it to the photograph.

At the back of the book is a full sky chart showing all of the constellations and a key to help you zoom in on the individual charts in the book.

I am sure that all objects in the book are observable in an 80mm scope and that is why I so heartily recommend this book. This is also a volume that I can highly recommend for budding astronomers. I see little mention of it in observing circles but it is a true little jewel. Get it!

Michelle

Alas, nothing is perfect. This pocket star atlas is nothing short then genius - it would have been perfect but for the cheap production.
The idea is simple yet powerful. All other star atlas are either short on details - thus preventing convenient star-hopping to non-trivial targets, or cumbersome, as good detail of the entire sky is a lot to print.
Taking Uranometria or The Millennium Star Atlas to the field is no light task. Using these hefty books at the field is even less convenient.
Here we have a marvelous solution: most of the sky do not deserve rich detail for lack of interesting objects. Here we have but 10% of the entire sky in high detail, and the rest in low detail. Thus we have 250 objects, enough to satisfy my 10 incher, in a pocket - sized book.
Then there's the fine data regarding each and every object. Why other atlas do not include surface brightness for nebulae? This one does! Tons of knowledge, ready to be used - this is magic!
I warmly recommend this little marvel. I wish better production will be available - I, for one, will certainly buy it.

I have this atlas since 1999, it was the first, and by far the most used. The 50 charts include 250 non-stellar objects(nebulae), including all Messier,also 250 binary and 80 visual variables stars. All the charts include inset finder charts up
to 9 star magnitudes to find all non-stellar the objects. Althought the object count doesn't seem much impressive, the layout is a miracle of compactness. It's quite amazing how much really usefull information the author did put on such a small
format, and yet on perfectly readable manner. That includes position, size, shape, classification, magnitude, surface
brightness, visibility, distance and even a sucint description. On binary stars have also the color (temperature)
difference, separations , position angles and on some cases even the orbits.
This atlas is a perfect companion for instruments that go from a pair of eyes to telescopes and binoculars up to 150mm (6"),
but beware that is a very practical "field" observer's book, there are no pretty pictures or extensive descriptions, just a
guide to get you to do your own pretty pictures and your own descriptions, requiring some practice and a basic knowledge of
the constellations and some bright stars.
Due it's incredible compactness I'll give it 5 (neutron) stars.

There are two small atlases I consider to be absolutely indispensable. The Observer's Sky Atlas is one of them. The unique feature of The Observer's Sky Atlas is the insets on each chart that provides additional detail in the vicinity of many of the most commonly sought after objects. In this way, Karkoschka has been able to plot stars down to magnitude 9 for those areas of the sky you are most likely to be targeting. This feature has allowed me to more easily zero in on an object where my other favorite field atlas, (see below), sometimes provided too few stars to pinpoint exactly where I was as I tried to narrow in on a tiny section of dark sky.

When opening the book, each chart is printed on a right hand page. Each chart covers a nice area of the sky and includes stick figures of the constellations to help get your bearings. Then, as mentioned above, key areas within the chart are further detailed with the insets. The charts are not in color, so some may not see them as pretty as in other books, but there is a nice elegance to them nonetheless. The charts are easy to find using the all sky view key to charts at the back of the book, (which oddly is in color).

Data for the objects on each chart are printed on the facing left hand page. This is a very nice feature that I particularly like. Information includes such things as a star's apparent and absolute magnitude, it's B-V index, its distance and its coordinates. For binary stars there is information on their separation and their variability. For nebula and galaxies there is additional information on size, shape, and distance. There are even short descriptions of how objects appear through a telescope or binoculars. Karkoschka has done a great job of providing a lot of information in a very condensed but easy to read format.

One drawback to this atlas is the construction. The atlas is not spiral bound, so it does not lay flat, and the pages, although sturdy enough, are not in any way water resistant.

Overall though, this is an outstanding atlas for taking into the field, and I would certainly recommend it. As I said, I consider it to be indispensable.

Another outstanding atlas is Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas by Roger Sinnott. It is a nice compliment to The Observer's Sky Atlas. I like the Pocket Sky Atlas for its big broad views of the sky and it's stunning charts (see my review of that book). I like the Observer's Sky Atlas for its additional detail both in the chart insets and in the descriptions of objects. Both are ideal as field atlases, and I keep them both very close at hand when I've observing.

I hope you're not in a position where you can only buy one. Choosing between the two would be difficult. As I said, I keep both with me when I'm observing. But if you do have to choose, I would suggest the following. If you want the nicest looking atlas, go with the Pocket Sky Atlas. If you want a bit more detail and you don't mind giving up the glossy color pages and spiral binding, go with the Observers's Sky Atlas. But honestly, you really can't go wrong with either one.

I just purchased this book to serve as a guide to observing using my new Meade LX200GPS scope. The book is about 8 1/2" wide by 11" tall by 3/8" thick and contains about 140 pages. It contains information on 45 constellations including for each: a one page map with constellation facts and legend followed by 1 to 3 pages of information on 5 to 15 deep sky objects in that constellation. For each object there is a small 1 3/4" by 1 1/2" thumbnail local star chart map and similar sized thumbnail color picture, plus object related data giving R.A., Dec., size, constellation, type, magnitude and short narrative note. There are about 500 objects in total in the book.

This book will be useful to those who want a list of deep sky objects for observing using medium to large aperture scopes, basic information on those deep sky objects and who like to know what to look for when observing.

My only negative comments are that some (estimated to be about 20%) of the objects are not identified on the large 1 page map of each constellation, and that there is not a full sky key map showing the relative locations of all of the constellations. On the whole, I am pleased with my purchase.

This is a beautiful book for night time exploring.
It is well produced in full color and a delight to the eye.

It includes listings of thousands of the best deep sky objects,
each with a photo, a detailed map, and a description.

Whether for a backyard observatory, or a casual observer,
this book is a treasure that may become a classic.

Check it out !

This book is designed with the amateur astronomer in mind. But it is useful for professionals as well.

For each of the nearly 400 objects, it has the Right Ascension (in hours, minutes, and seconds to the tenth of a second, Epoch 2000), the Declination (in degrees, minutes, and seconds to the second, Epoch 2000), the size in arcminutes, the constellation, the type of object, the visual magnitude, a small but useful map of the region including the magnitudes of nearby stars (generally 4 minutes of RA by 1 degree of Dec), a nice color photo of the object, and a short note about it. The objects are organized by constellation. There are also overview maps of each of the constellations. Plenty of care seems to have gone into the preparation of this work.

The book is fun to look at just to admire the photos. I recommend it.

"Streetwise Vancouver" packs an enormous amount of information into a small, plastic, portable folding map of the city. Several coverages are provided.

A general Vancouver Area map provides an overview of the city from Richmond and the International Airport to North and West Vancouver. An inset map provide closer detail on Stanley Park and the area between English Bay and Burrard Inlet. A second inset map covers Yaletown and the Downtown area, including Canada Place and B.C. Place Stadium. A third inset map highlights the University of British Columbia campus and adjacent Pacific Spirit Park. The foldout presentation has an index for the major streets, hotels, gardens, museums, and transportation nodes. As an added bonus, small inset maps show Downtown Victoria and the Strait between Victoria and Vancouver.

This map is small enough to easily fit in a purse, backpack, or even a back pocket. There is sufficient information, when coupled with one of several very adequate guide books, to enable the visitor to find his or her way around Vancouver. This product is highly recommended to travelers planning to visit British Columbia's largest city.

Not a bad map, but there are a significant number of streets missing because the map is a bit "zoomed out." Handy to have for orienting yourself, but definitely not ideal as a driving or walking map. For that, purchase a paper map at a bookstore once you arrive.

I love this series of maps. Small and plastic-coated, they tuck into a purse or backpack easily, don't tear or get wrinkled, and they are colorful and attractive. This particular map is very small and yet very easy to read, and gives you everything you need to know about Vancouver, Stanley Park, University of British Columbia campus, downtown Vancouver, the Vancouver area, and even downtown Victoria, which is across the channel on Vancouver Island. Tourist spots are all noted, along with major hotels. It really is the best way to see a city! I get one for every city I go to.