A couple of weeks ago, a seasoned TACo wrote me a note asking about
atlases. Good question it was. Here we've had lots of talk about
astro software, but there's been very little info on TAC lately about
paper charts.
Given that we have a lot of smart new people coming out to observe,
and given that this April has been designated Poh People Month, here
we can start going on about the great value and unmatched accuracy of
the best star atlases. Those more informed than me can fill in what I
miss.
On a starter level, there are 3 real good atlases I know of. As noted
a couple of days ago in this space, the Edmund's Mag 6 is a winner.
Intro chapters by the great Terence Dickinson, clearly drawn charts
with descriptive notes on highlight objects on opposing pages. As far
as I know the best place to buy this is direct from the Edmund
Scientific catalog. There's a new edition out, ringbound, but for
some dumb reason neither Orion nor Sky Publishing carry it any more.
Cambridge Star Atlas is another favorite among good observers. And
there's Tirion and Skiff's Bright Star Atlas. Stars down to magnitude
6, with object selection by Brian Skiff, who's not only an ace
observer but a pro astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,
and the big kahuna on amastro.
Everyone with an interest in observing should have their own copy of
Burnham's Celestial Handbook. It's inexhaustible and timeless. Tons
of information and superb writing by a genuine hipster saint.
Norton's Atlas has been a standard for a long time. The introduction
is a good astronomy text on its own. The atlas itself was done some
50 years ago and has the bias of that time, when refractors were much
more available than reflectors. Tons of doubles and variables, light
on the extended objects.
Just in case not everyone has a shrine to Wil Tirion in their bedroom
yet, this guy is a Dutchman who took up stellar cartography as a
hobby on his Power Mac. He is the crowned king of star charts in our
era; his work is not only clear and accurate but very beautiful.
Story is, he sent SkyAtlas to the folks at Sky Publishing in Boston
once upon a time, asking if they thought it might be useful.
Incontinence must have ensued.
Tirion's SkyAtlas 2000 is the medium level atlas, period. Just a
masterpiece, available everywhere quality astro stuff is sold.
Reliable and gorgeous and real durable, holds up well in dew and dust.
For the On Beyond Zebra folks, the newly updated Uranometria 2000 is
a treasure. Two books of sky charts, again by Tirion, with the third
book in the set being the Deepsky Field Guide. You'll notice that
Steve Gottlieb just refers to it as DSFG in his latest OR. Short of a
university library and the professional online databases, it's the
gold standard for up-to-date information on deepsky objects.
The other serious grownup atlas is the Millennium Star Atlas, which I
do not own but which Jay Reynolds Freeman swears by.
The other Big Kid atlas that deserves mention is the Herald-Bobroff.
This was designed by some gonzo Aussies and is several highly useful
atlases in one. Nice review at:
http://www.astroleague.org/al/bookserv/obsgd/rev98081.html
Crazy Ed Erbeck used to be the US distributor for the HB. The sucker
has retired. What you do is join AL. No kidding, the Astronomical
League provides a book service. They'll get you any astronomically
related book for 10% off retail, no S&H.
Along with your atlas you need sky notes, descriptions of objects,
highlights. Dickinson has them included in the Edmund's Mag 6. Past
there, with SkyAtlas you need the SkyAtlas Companion, very handy not
only with the classic NGC notes on each object plotted in SkyAtlas,
but notes from contemporary observers like Scotty Houston. The other
reference I take along every time I go observing is Luginbuhl and
Skiff's Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects. Has
descriptions of a large catalog of objects arranged by constellation,
with notes on what they look like in different sizes of telescopes.
For advanced observers, The Night Sky Observer's Guide is a must.
Goes constellation by constellation with objects over a wide range of
difficulty. Great format. Several of the best TAC observers use this
alone for laying out a night's work. Thorough observing notes plus
findercharts. Lots of plotting inaccuracies, but who's perfect?
I really like using paper charts at night. The whole standard set I
carry is about the size and weight of a laptop. Now I always take
UM2000, which weighs a lot less than a marine battery and contains no
corrosives. UM 2000 in particular is getting more and more use from
me now, moving into my 5th year in this addiction. It has close
detail charts of many Abell clusters and other busy areas of the sky,
will last me many years.
Very reasonable total outlay, and power needs constitute one 9-volt
for the red LED light.
Clear spring skies to all, hope this is useful to someone.
JD
-- Jamie Dillon <*> speech pathologist jamie_dillon@No-Spam " ... " - Harpo Marx