Customer Reviews

Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion, 2nd Edition

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I received my sky atlas 2000 second edition companion book (I should receive the atlas this week). It is pretty good but right off the bat I have a complaint. In the main section of the book they only list the details of an object by its common name. This is a pain. For example, lets say that you are looking up M57. So you turn to all of the M's and when you get to M57 it say "Please see Ring Nebula" so then you have to flip to the R's and find Ring Nebula. Now if you also want to look up M58 you now have to go back to the M's (what a pain). I guess I will have to go through the book and write in at least the chart number of each object. I wish they would have at least done that. Their note could have said something like. "Chart 8, see Ring Nebula for additional information" Besides that the book is pretty good and they have different ways of looking up things. They even have a section that has all of the DSO's per map.

Now has far as each object that is listed goes the book lacks detail. The only thing provided is the bare minimum. So if you want additional information I guess you will have to go to the web. A small picture of each object even if it were black and white would have been nice.

Another thing missing although it might have made the book to big is a listing of bright stars and double stars. They recommend another two volume book or a CD ROM for that info. Having the double stars listed would have given the user a whole new set of night targets. And having the bright stars listed would have been nice even if they only gave the RA and DEC. If the RA and DEC's were listed the user could use this information as jumping off points when trying to find the DSO's.

It looks like I might have to pick up another set of books to help me with my jumping off points. But I will wait until I receive my atlas before deciding.

The book does what it is supposed to do and that is tell you what chart each object is located on and for that it does pretty darn good. I just wish they would have gone the extra mile and made the book a little more useful.

A little more information about the SA 2000 Companion:

The book says it contains descriptions and data for all 2,700 Star Clusters, Nebulae, and Galaxies shown in the Sky Atlas 2000.0 2nd edition.

The main section of the book, pages 1-227 is a complete listing of all the DSO's in alphabetical order. Quoting from the book "here is where you turn if you already have an object in mind and want to know three things:

1. Whether or not it is shown in the atlas 2. If so what char or charts it appears on 3. It celestial coordinates, size, brightness, and a description of its physical characteristics and appearance in a backyard telescope.

Next, the chart key on pages 228-229 is a miniature, simplified version of that found at the end of the atlas itself - a useful reminder of the chart layout.

Finally, the appendix on pages 231-281 alphabetically list all DSO's objects again, this time by chart number. Each of the atlas's large charts 1-26 is dealt with in turn, followed by each of the close-up charts of selected regions (A1 - A5, B1 & B2). This section of the book can be of help when you want to explor a particular reigon of the sky. Let's say you are already viewing the galaxy M33, which appears on Chart 4 of the atlas. You can turn to page 237 for a compact "hit list" of other object that, because they are alos on Chart 4, are similarly placed for viewing at the same time of the night or season of the year.. The appendix includes only the bare essentials: Object name, type, celestial coordinates, apparent magnitude, and constellation."

I like the Alphabetical list a lot. It makes it quick and easy to find objects. And because it's alphabetical all of the M's (for the most part, more on this in a minute), NGC's, IC's or other lists are all together. This prevents the need for multiple lists. Now the bad part of the book is that they have broken out some objects out of a common list because of a common name. Here are some examples of what I mean. Right off the bat when you get to M1 there is a note that says - See Crab Nebula; So you have to turn back in the book to the C's to find Crab Nebula it's a pain. M1 is on page 47 but Crab Nebula is on page 18. So I wrote in my book under M1 that information. If they would have simply said under M1 See Crab Nebula, Page 18, Chart 5 that would have been better. If they would have said "Crab Nebula, SNR Tau 05h 34.5m +22° 01' 6x4 Chart 5 mag. 8.4" it would have been perfect.

So going down the M list in the book these are a few of the ones you either have to flip forward or backwards in the book for with nothing more than a description that says "See so and so". M8 See Lagoon Nebula, M16 See Eagle Nebula (I wrote in page 25 charts 15 & 16), M17 See Omega Nebula, M20 See Trifid Nebula (I wrote in Page 223, Chart 22). While M20 is listed on page 49. I think you can see my frustration... With a little more effort they could have made the book a whole lot better.

NGC's

First let me start by saying every NGC is not listed. In fact the first one is NGC 14 then it jumps to 16, then to 23 and 24, then to 40, then to 45, then to 50, then to 55. The last NGC entry is 7822. The same nonsensical logic is applied here. For example NGC 7092 on page 200 say See M39 which is on (hang on let me look it up) page 51, chart 9.

If these flaws were corrected and a better description written about the object the book would be nearly perfect for what it is designed to do.

Anyone with Sky Atlas 2000.0 would find this complementary volume invaluable. Every deep sky object shown in the Atlas is listed alphabetically and again, most usefully, according to the page in the Atlas on which it appears, together with a copy of the Atlas index map: thus when planning an evening's stargazing, it is not necessary to refer to the atlas until at the telescope. Integrated magnification and angular size are given for each object, which helps in choosing suitable eyepieces and saves trying to observe something too faint for the equipment or the ambient light pollution. Brief but helpful notes are included for many interesting objects. Highly recommended.

other reviewers have drilled down on details of this book's contents, so i'll limit myself to a few dissents. the book is essentially an alphabetical directory of all the marked deep sky objects in the sky atlas 2000, about a dozen items listed on each page. given for each item is its type (galaxy, open cluster, planetary nebula, globular cluster, etc.), constellation, precise celestial coordinates, angular size, visual magnitude and the sky atlas 2000 chart(s) where it is found, followed by a brief description that includes for example its physical size, number of stars, distance in light years, and (for galaxies) the hubble type.

this book is designed to be used directly alongside the sky atlas; it's not a stand alone reference. one reviewer complained about the cross referencing system: this is based on the sky atlas 2000 labeling with an implicit preference ordering (explained in the introduction, page ix). thus, the same object is labeled NGC3587, M97, The Owl Nebula on chart 2 of the sky atlas, but you must look under "owl nebula" to find its entry in the companion -- proper names are given precedence over catalog numbers and, among catalogs, the messier number takes precedence over the NGC number. (caldwell numbers are not used in the sky atlas but are cross referenced to their NGC or other number in the companion.) the same reviewer complained that there was no named star list but this is already given in the sky atlas index, along with the messier list and a list of constellations. and while the book is not spiral bound and does not lie flat for pages near the front or back covers, spiral bindings often chafe, crimp or tear pages if you try to turn pages too quickly, which isn't very friendly in a lookup reference.

for me, the big lapse in this book is its failure to elucidate the catalogs referred to. what exactly does NGC, or C, or B, or Pal, or IC, J, E, vdB, UGC, SL, SH, Ru or PK refer to? who compiled the lists, and when, and why, and what objects do they contain, and how many? just "NGC" without a number would serve as the perfect place to insert a brief description of this huge list and how it was compiled from 18th and 19th century observations, and "IC" could explain why this supplemental catalog was necessary. the catalogs are not even identified in the bibliography: instead, bare denotations ("B is for Barnard") are buried in the text without further comment.

The Sky Atlas Companion is helpful in that you can quickly find all the deep sky objects related to an area of the chart you are observing. The book is set up in alphabetical order, with a small detailed description of each item. At the back of the book, there is an index to reference the objects by the map number. I think it will help me make sure I won't miss anything while I'm observing. Very worthwhile.

The Sky atlas companion goes along perfectly with the Sky Atlas itself. Everyone of those obscure deep sky objects, like those open clusters not in the NGC, have little entries. If you have the Sky Atlas 2000 already, this book is a great supplement.

Using this Sky Atlas one can find what he is looking for year after year.