The Observer's Sky Atlas: With 50 Star Charts Covering the Entire Sky

The Observer's Sky Atlas is a wonderful little atlas in concept and, for the most part, in execution. The book was written by a professional planetary astronomer and offers useful star charts on odd numbered pages and tables of information on the even numbered facing pages about the objects shown on the charts. Additionally, the charts contain exploded views of those areas of the sky that contain the objects listed. The exploded areas shown dimmer stars near the objects, and this allows for easier spotting through a finder scope or the telescope, both of which will show stars much fainter than can be see with the naked eye. The charts also have reference numbers to direct the observer to other charts in the book featuring areas of the sky adjacent to the area under observation. This feature makes for quick navigation through the atlas. Additional features include an informative introduction with basic observing information and explanations about the charts and tables in the atlas, a key to the star charts for quickly finding the right page, an almanac containing a list of meteor showers, a lunar calendar and planetary opposition dates through 2018, and a glossary.I do many public and school star parties with my astronomy club, and this little atlas is a very handy tool. It focuses on the brighter objects most suitable for viewing with smaller telescopes (mine is a 6-inch) and the best objects for showing folks at star parties. The charts outline the constellations and so may be used as planispheres to help people identify star patterns and the location of the objects being viewed relative to those patterns. Moreover, the facing pages contain information that answers those commonly asked questions such as, "how far away is that?" This book has a permanent place among my observing references, and its small size makes is very portable.The reason I gave the book four stars, though, has to do with the binding. For some inexplicable reason, to me at least, the publisher decided not to use a spiral binding. I can only guess that it's a cost issue. Therefore, the book will not lie flat when open. After one refers to the charts and then turns back to the telescope, the book flops shut. When observing, one typically goes back and forth between the telescope and the atlas, especially if star hopping to find an object. Using an atlas that will not stay open if not held is exceedingly annoying. Of course, one can always carry a bookmark or turn the book over to keep the place, but that should not be necessary. Why any publisher of an astronomy field-reference would omit a spiral binding is a mystery to me.On a final note, this book seems to be similar in format to Objects in the Heavens, by Peter Birren. I have not seen that book, but the description on Amazon leads me to that conclusion. Birren's book is spiral bound.

I use both a small telescope and astronomical binoculars, and despite having plenty of books and apps, I use this more than anything else. Check your visible constellations, look up one of interest on the all-sky map in the back, and then turn to the corresponding numbered page listed for each section of the sky. Each detailed constellation map features magnified insets for key objects of interest that enable you to easily star hop to them from the bright constellation stars. Facing each map is a list of objects (Messiers, etc.) for the constellation, with good detail on size, brightness, etc. and notes on whether the object is visible in binos or only telescopes, and what the object should look like. Variable and double stars are also listed.For observing with large binos and 4-5 inch telescopes, the level of detail on the inset maps is exactly right for star hopping, and I appreciate the extra information provided on whether I'm likely to see an object (which of course also depends on sky conditions). This book is the first one I grab when I'm out in the field. My observing buddies think I have some sort of secret power because I can find things so fast - but that's just down to how easy the maps in this book are to use.There is one wish I have for this book: Please publish a spiral-bound edition (preferably laminated) as that would make it an even better field guide!

Good availability, Fair Price & Prompt shipping

the karkoschka "observer's sky atlas" is a commendably compact volume crammed with information. the aim was to create an atlas with both the simplicity of a naked eye (constellation) atlas and the deep sky coverage of a telescopic star atlas. unfortunately, the cramming is not always well done or convenient to use.the overall concept of the book is clever. the entire sky is divided up into 50 bite sized "naked eye" star charts down to visual magnitude 6, each chart gerrymandered to enclose a recognizable asterism -- the serpentine line of draco, the pentagon of cepheus -- or a digestible chunk of rich sky (orion, scorpius, bootes, cygnus are split into two or more charts). each chart keys two or three smaller finder charts, locating deep sky objects in a star field down to magnitude 9. all charts are keyed to an index map on the inside back covers. each chart faces a page of tabulated information on 250 deep sky objects, 556 bright stars (magnitude 4 or brighter), 250 binary stars (from among the bright stars only) and 80 variable stars (only one or two per chart). the introductory material gives a good overview of astronomy basics.my reservations about the book come down to many details of execution. the tables are populated with a variety of fussy and redundant symbols -- dots to show star magnitude, double dots to show binary star position angles, die face dots (one to six) to show binary separation difficulty, schematic thermometers to show star temperature (color), even a tiny diagram to show where in the facing charts the object is found. these take up space, add clutter, and provide no useful information that is not already in the tables (as a separate column of actual data) or in the star charts themselves.the data are also perplexing: karkoschka provides exact star visual magnitude and distance in light years, which means the precise absolute magnitude can also be computed, but he rounds these to integer values, so that you get a column of 1's, 2's, -1's and so on. the celestial coordinates (right ascension and declination) are provided as decimal values (!) rather than the standard hours/minutes or degrees/minutes, which makes them awkward to use on telescope setting circles (or goto menus), and useless on the star charts (which have no RA/Decl grid printed on them). the binding won't permit the book to lie flat (unless you lay it open, face down, and then stomp on it). finally, many of the big sky charts are oddly cut, and many of the finder charts lack explicit linkage to the bright stars: a novice or casual observer will have difficulty using them.nearly all the deep sky objects, according to karkoschka's own descriptions of them, are only enjoyable with binoculars or a telescope -- and so this is not, after all, a naked sky atlas. on the other hand, the selection of deep sky objects and binary stars is so sparse that the atlas won't satisfy even a casual small telescope observer. amateur astronomers need detailed references to plan out the objects they observe each night and for that karkoschka is not detailed enough, but it is too complex to be a casual reference.karkoschka wanted to create an atlas that was between a naked eye and telescopic reference; he succeeded. the problem is that he filled a gap that exists for a reason.

Wherever you may live in this world, this book will give you a place to look up in the sky. Most star gazing books are for those living in the Northern latitudes. This book doesn't suffer from that fatal flaw.Along with Sky and Telescopes mini Sky Atlas, this is the other book I use to plan my sessions or figure out what I am seeing in the sky.It's well organised, and it's easy to find an object within the book in multiple ways, and shows you objects by where they are in the sky. It's very useful the way it's organised and I recommend wholeheartedly and enough detail to keep most Amateur Astronomers busy and informed at the same time.

The book is an updated version of an earlier version which I have been using for several years. The new version is a very useful aid for observing with a small telescope and binoculars. The book can be used outside because the pages are weather resistant

A good book, but too small to handle and see while star gazing at night. Better to buy a bigger atlas

SecondEditionを愛用していたので、ThirdEditionはどんなものかと購入してみた。基本的な情報は同じ（巻末のCalendarは、ThirdEditionは6年先まであるなど、時間的に変化することのアップデートはある）である。大きな違いは、星雲星団の写真がついていること、裏表紙のチャートインデックスがなくなったことである。これらは他の方が言及されているとおりである。その他のことで気になっていることが１点。見開き左の星雲星団の位置・明るさなどの情報のくっきり印字に比べ、右側の星図に印刷されている文字・線・星を表す●、全てにおいて輪郭がはっきりしなく、もやっとしていることだ。写真同定の用途ではないので別にこれで構わないのではあるが、ちょっと残念。AmazonJapanが企画して日本で印刷していると裏表紙にあるが、もう少し印刷レベルを上げて欲しい。内容は文句なく星5つだが、印刷レベルが低いため1つ減点。ちなみにSecondEditionのほうが縦横厚さ、すべて小さい。なんやかんや言って、絶版となっている訳本よりもずっと安く入手でき、とても気に入っている。

私が2008年に購入したTHIRD EDITIONには，SECOND EDITIONと同様に最終ページにKey to the Star Charts がついており，巻末にはわざわざPrinted in the United States of America と印刷されています。ページが増えただけで，SECOND　EDITIONと殆ど変わらないよと言って色んな人に勧めてきましたが，どうやら本当に肝心のKey to the Star Charts が無くなっている様ですね。良い本なのに，この本の本質がわからない編集者に改悪されてしまったのかも知れませんね。当時購入したTHIRD EDITIONには五つ星をあげたいと思いますが，こんな事ではもう誰にもお勧めできません。※追記他の方のレビューを見て分かりました。Amazon Japanの方々に一言。貴社が印刷する際に省略したKey to the Star Chartsは，言わばこの本の目次のようなものです。これが無かったら恐らく初心者にはこの本が使えません。早急に現地版と同じ，カラー刷りのKey to the Star Chartsを巻末に入れて下さい。これは天体観測時に良く使われる眼に刺激の少ない赤ランプに対応した配色となっている優れものです。今のままではAmazonが日本で販売しているこの本全てが落丁本であると言わざるを得ません。折角の良書なのに何て事をしてくれるんですか！！