Sky & Telescope - August 2024 - 61

BOOK REVIEW by Sabrina Garvin
A Handy Reference
OBSERVER'S SKY ATLAS: The 500 Best Deep-Sky Objects With Charts and Images, 4th Edition
Erich Karkoschka
Firefly Books, 2023
144 pages, ISBN 9780228104100
US$39.95, hardcover
MOST OBSERVERS HAVE had trouble
tracking down deep-sky objects at one
time or another. Perhaps their target
lies in a crowded region of the sky, or it
doesn't look anything like the beautiful
images online taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope or talented astrophotographers.
Wouldn't it be nice to have
a sky atlas that also contained pictures
of what deep-sky objects look like in
binoculars or a small telescope?
The Observer's Sky Atlas by Erich Karkoschka
is exactly that. First published
in German in 1988 and translated into
English in 1990, the atlas is now in its
fourth edition (and, for the first time,
in color). Along with the helpful pictures
of deep-sky objects, the book features
new star charts based on updated
data from the European Space Agency's
Gaia mission.
The Explanatory Notes section,
which serves as an introduction, provides
detailed information on how to
use the atlas, with some Astronomy 101
thrown in along the way. It explains
basic astronomical concepts such as
sky of the book's 500
objects. Altogether,
the book features
finder charts for 250
objects for binoculars
and small telescopes;
in-depth charts for
150 additional, slightly
fainter objects; and a
list of 100 still-fainter
objects that might
require larger amateur
telescopes to spot.
The Star Charts section,
which comprises
the bulk of the book, offers spreads
that focus on a specific region of the
sky, ordered from north to south. Each
spread has lists of observing targets on
the left-hand page and charts of the
targeted constellation on the right-hand
page, surrounded by smaller, close-up
charts of deep-sky objects found in the
region of interest. Photographs of each
noted object appear along the edges of
both pages.
On the left-hand page, the author
gives a general description and some
catalog details about each target,
including magnitude, size, distance,
and celestial coordinates. Below that
lie tables of information on the major
stars in the constellation, followed by
This book functions exceptionally well as a ready-made list of targets for
observers using binoculars and small telescopes.
resolution, directions in the sky, and
stellar luminosity and colors, and it
offers tips on averted vision and other
observing techniques. This section also
includes multiple charts, such as a
color-magnitude diagram for all stars
cataloged in the book as well as one
that shows the distribution across the
subsections on variable stars and binary
stars. But the real showstoppers are the
532 images of most of the observing
targets listed in the atlas, along with
several overview photos of sections of
the Milky Way.
This book functions exceptionally
well as a ready-made list of targets
for observers using
binoculars and small
telescopes. The images
of galaxies, nebulae,
and clusters aid the
observer in identifying
each object in their
scope, and the target
lists make it easy to
pick a constellation
and start observing
without extensive preplanning
or in-depth
knowledge of any particular
region of the
sky. The new color scheme also facilitates
easier reading of the atlas under a
red light in the field.
While visually crowded, the atlas is
easy to use. The charts are divided by
the northern, equatorial, and southern
regions and then by right ascension. The
index of deep-sky objects and binary
stars, along with the grayscale bars on
the edges of the pages, make it straightforward
for observers to locate a specific
chart or object, even in the dark.
The Observer's Sky Atlas, while useful
to beginners, isn't an in-depth observing
guide. Observers will need to know
their way around their equipment and
already have a sound base of basic
astronomy terminology and knowledge,
including grasping how to read a
star chart. Curiously, the authors use
" nebula " to refer to all deep-sky objects,
including star clusters and galaxies, a
practice that might confuse a beginner.
That aside, this atlas is an excellent
resource for observers who already have
a good foundation of knowledge but are
still learning, which one might say is
true for just about everyone.
¢ SABRINA GARVIN is the editorial assistant
of Sky & Telescope.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * AUGUST 2024 61
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