If someone is getting a first telescope for Christmas, this book, should also be under the tree.
The authors of this book have compiled observing lists based on the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and a few of the Astronomical Leagues observing "clubs" lists. It reflects observing from mid northern latitudes.
The lists they used to put the book together are aimed at beginning to intermediate astronomers observing from northern latitudes, and the combined lists total about 400 objects to observe.
The authors feelings are that if you work an individual observing list, you could miss out on other excellent objects nearby. I agree. While pursuing the Messier list I became bored, because I knew there were other deep space objects (DSO's) out there to observe that I wasn't spending time on.
The first part of the book is an observing guide that covers the use of observing equipment, how to choose a star chart, how to observe each type of object.
The meat of the book is organized by constellation, and has tables of objects in
each one covered. Beside the usual catalog data, the object tables have keys for visual rating (the higher the rating, the the more interesting), and difficulty of finding the object (which may be subjective to experience).
The tables also indicate the particular list, or lists each object is from.
The lists that the authors compile into the book:
- The RASC Finest NGC List
- The Astronomical Leagues' Urban, Deepsky Binocular, Messier, Messier
Binocular, and Double Star List
The only complaints I have are that the close up finder charts are only one quarter of a page in size, with a lot of wasted whitespace around them. Why not make them bigger? The objects in the book also appear in the index, but I would like to see separate appendices with the objects listed in tables.
Overall I like this book. It has the same format("knock off" immediately came to mind) as the more hefty and truly excellent "Night Sky Observers Guide" by George Robert Kepple and Glen Sanner, but is definitely on the beginners side.
As a former Astronomical League Correspondent for my local astronomy club, I can say this book puts it all together for beginners very nicely. If you are setting out to conquer the Astronomical Leagues observing lists mentioned above,
defintely get this book. You will also need to get a decent star chart, but read the section about choosing a chart before you do.
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