The Photographic Atlas of the Stars (UK edition) [Hardcover]

Patrick Moore (Author), Paul Doherty (Illustrator), H. J. P. Arnold (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

The author has captured the entire night sky from locations throughout the northern and southern hemispheres in 50 photographs, each taken using a wide-angle lens. The colour plates are presented here to high standards of reproduction and each plate is accompanied by a map of the identical area which identifies the main stars of the constituent constellations, as well as other interesting astronomical objects. Patrick Moore has written a commentary on each plate, highlighting the stars and objects of interest to an observor equipped with binoculars, and provides detailed tabular information on astronomical objects of the region. The format of the atlas is straightforward: the map appears on the left-hand page, the plate of the same region on the facing right-hand page. The following double-spread comprises the detailed commentary and tables of astronomical data for that same region. The whole sky is covered in 50 such "units". Details are included of the photographic techniques involved, and there are appendices of double stars, variable stars and deep-sky stars.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fine team has resulted in an extremely useful addition to the library of not only those who are learning their way about the sky, but any astronomer who delights in the beauty of the heavens." -- Modern Astronomer

"It is a book which will fill the needs both for a working atlas and an excellent photographic record of the whole sky." -- Spaceflight

"Overall, I think the book is excellent. The presentation is good, the sky charts are clear and sufficiently detailed for most amateur views and astrophotographers and the photographs are pin-point sharp and of sufficient depth to show the star fields without swamping the field." -- Bulletin of the ASSA

"The Photographic Atlas of the Stars is beautifully photographed and written and presents a wealth of information to delight those of us who love and use maps of all kind - particularly, sky atlases." -- Sky and Telescope

"The book has been beautifully produced and the images are of exceptionally high quality. But the great joy of The Photographic Atlas of the Stars is that it underlines what is possible." -- Physics World

"The book is a valuable asset to any library shelf: where else can one turn for a full set of photographs of the sky?" -- Journal of the British Astronomical Association

"This book will appeal to astronomers of all levels of expertise. It is designed as a working atlas, but is stunning enough to dress up a coffee table." -- Astronomy

"This volume sets a standard for what can be achieved with care and affordable resources, and provides a challenge which should generate enormous excitement." -- Astronomy & Geophysics --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Kalmbach Pub Co (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913135313
• ISBN-13: 978-0913135310
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT ATLAS BUT ONE GLARING IMPERFECTION., December 15, 1997

By 

Yuri, the reviewer (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Photographic Atlas of the Stars (UK edition) (Hardcover)

The book is generally awesome. The entire sky is photographeddown to 8th magnitude (meaning you need binoculars to see them all inthe sky) stars. Typically each full-page photo has three back-up pages including narrative and a corresponding chart which identifies all the interesting objects. Now here's where the book is frustrating: Pages 14 through 19 contain ultra wide angle photos which together DO NOT cover the entire sky. Also, these ultra wide angle photos are miniaturized and don't get the same treatment as the photos in the rest of the book. The result is a beautiful book that shows a lot of "trees", elating amateur astronomers, but which does not show "the forest". Beginner astronomers who want to quickly, photographically see the relative positions of constellations must turn elsewhere.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new perspective on star atlases, April 30, 2001

By 

Ritesh Laud (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Photographic Atlas of the Stars (UK edition) (Hardcover)

There are no errors in the plotting of any of the objects shown in this star atlas. Why? Because all the maps are photographs! Each map consists of an unmarked photograph, a black and white copy of the photograph marked with star names and other useful landmarks, and a text description of many of the interesting objects on the map.

The authors have made a supreme and largely successful effort to calibrate the colors and scale to match human perception of the night sky. A few notable nebulae and stars appear different in the atlas than what we would actually see due to the differing sensitivities of film and human eyes to certain wavelengths of light. Also, the limiting magnitude of the maps correlates closely with what binoculars can see, not what the human eye can see. Consequently, sometimes the sheer overload of stars and objects visible on the map can be confusing.

All 88 constellations are covered, some on several photographs. Because each map covers such a large area of the sky, many of the deep sky objects noted in the text are difficult to pick out. Also, it seems that for some maps the text was written for earlier or later exposures than what was actually published. This is evident after looking for variable stars mentioned as "bright" in the text that are not even present on the photograph!

Overall, a great work but no substitute for a "real" star atlas like Sky Atlas 2000. A bit expensive for its usefulness, but obviously a labor of love for the authors and great for casual naked-eye or binocular stargazing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars nice concept, limited utility, June 19, 2011

By 

drollere (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Photographic Atlas of the Stars (UK edition) (Hardcover)

although it is attractively printed and bound, and the color photographs are nicely reproduced, this is not an interesting browse or serviceable reference. the text introductions to the sky image are pedestrian, and the listing of interesting objects is not helpful to find objects in the photographs or as an observing list for telescopes. the photographs are randomly orientated to fit the page format, with celestial north now at the top, or left, or right. worst of all, the positive plates (white stars on dark background) do not represent constant exposures or angular scales, so that the limiting magnitude, and the relationship between the size of the star image and the star's actual magnitude, vary from one plate to the next. facing each plate is a negative image star map (black stars on white paper) that is not a negative of the facing color plate, and therefore shows stars at a different (usually smaller) diameter, crops stars differently and shows all faint stars as an undifferentiated scatter of barely visible dots, making it very difficult to find the same star in the negative and color plates. almost none of the deep sky objects appear in either image, and are represented in the negative plate by icons. i'd pass on this one and get the forthcoming cambridge photographic atlas instead.