Customer Reviews

Celestial Harvest: 300-Plus Showpieces of the Heavens for Telescope Viewing and Contemplation

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Mullaney does a fine job of sifting through thousands of deep-sky objects to select those most likely to impress users of small telescopes. His descriptions are enjoyable, if occasionally overly florid, with an annoying overuse of exclamation points. His bias for double stars is evident, but I have no real complaint about that. Doubles are pretty and charming and often underappreciated. Mullaney apparently composed the manuscript using some primitive word-processing software that forced him to include additional objects at the back of the book instead of in the main constellation listings.

Overall, the sincerity of the writing, plus the intelligence of the 300 or so objects selected, makes this perhaps the best available list of objects that goes beyond the Messier catalog (better than the spurious Caldwell list, for example).

When I hear that a friend or acquaintance has just bought their first small astronomical telescope, I immediately recommend this sweet little book. Mullaney's enthusiasm for the sheer joy of observing is contagious. Astronomy can also be overwhelming, and he does a fine job of sorting out the best objects for someone just getting started -- someone not "in Kindergarten," but more like in the third grade. What I mean is, now that I've seen M42, M31, and the Pleiades, what's next?