astrodon
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 2552
Loc: Portland, OR, USA
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Has anyone tried these two books?
1. Herschel 400 & The Caldwell List by Daryl West
2. The Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies: A Chronicle and Obsever's Guide by Jeff Kanipe and Dennis Webb
How are these for observer's guides? How helpful are they for finding/identifying these objects? Also how thorough are the data/descriptions?
Thanks,
~Don
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Eager to get the Cave 6" f/4 out with some 'high' (medium in this scope) power eyepieces!
Edited by astrodon (09/07/07 02:08 AM)
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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The Arp Atlas has been receiving rave reviews on CN and elsewhere.
The book by West is one I can't recall seeing mentioned here before.
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Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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OldDeadOne
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/09/06
Posts: 1304
Loc: West Virginia
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I just bought the Arp book and love it,any other books on galaxies(especially with pics) out there????
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Bert O'Dell
Fayette County WV
PROUD GOTO USER
LX200 10" Classic
various meade plossi's eyepieces
Konig MX70 40mm" eyepiece
11mm T6
7mm T1
I miss my Rose April 9,1995 - July 9 2010
Charleston WV clearsky
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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 17639
Loc: Los Angeles
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Quote:
Has anyone tried these two books?
1. Herschel 400 & The Caldwell List by Daryl West
2. The Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies: A Chronicle and Obsever's Guide by Jeff Kanipe and Dennis Webb
How are these for observer's guides? How helpful are they for finding/identifying these objects? Also how thorough are the data/descriptions?
Thanks,
~Don
1) You don't need a book on the Caldwell objects. There are no such things, merely some observer's personal list of DSOs.
2) There are 2 good Herschel books recently published:
"The Herschel Objects and How to Observe them" James Mullhaney, Springer 2007
"Herschel 400 Observing Guide" Steven O'Meara, Cambridge 2007
Both are excellent, though different.
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Don Pensack
www.EyepiecesEtc.com
12.5" Teeter/Zambuto, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member
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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 17639
Loc: Los Angeles
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Quote:
I just bought the Arp book and love it,any other books on galaxies(especially with pics) out there????
I own nearly 200 of them. Go to Amazon.com and search for galaxies or galaxy. Read about every title that comes up--there will be a lot of them.
A few great ones:
"The Hubble Atlas of Galaxies"
"Atlas of Galaxies Useful for Measuring the Cosmological Distance Scale"
"The Color Atlas of Galaxies"-Wray
"Galaxies and How to Observe Them" Steinicke and Jakiel
"Galaxies" by Timothy Ferris
"Exploring the Southern Sky"
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Don Pensack
www.EyepiecesEtc.com
12.5" Teeter/Zambuto, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member
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csa/montana
Den Mama
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 76331
Loc: montana
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Quote:
1) You don't need a book on the Caldwell objects. There are no such things, merely some observer's personal list of DSOs.
However, for those that do, "Deep Sky Objects, The Caldwell Objects" by O'Meara is wonderful.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF
Masayumas 7.5,15,25W,35
Pentax XW5,10; XL7
TV22Pan
ES30
Paradigm 8,12,18
DreamCatcher Dobservatory
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~Steph~
Texas Wildflower
Reged: 06/11/05
Posts: 26279
Loc: North Texas
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And some people might think that Sir Patrick Moore is more than just "some observer"...  It's well-known that there are many people who disregard the Caldwell list as little more than fantasy, thinking it's worthless and useless. But there are others that are content with what it is and want to know more about it. Let's dispense with the commentary on what it is or is not, and let those who wish to utilize it and learn more about it do so if they wish, eh?
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Steph
Taking it one day at a time...
I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness
10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST
Serenity Observatory 
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esd726
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/30/04
Posts: 731
Loc: Howe, IN
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Bashing the Caldwells because of being "just a list" sort of makes most things dumb using that logic.
The articles in magazines describing (since that is why most people would by the book) DSOs are worthless since these objects are just ones they chose to write about.
"The Herschel Objects.." (title of one new popular book)
is only another chosen list. There are alot more than 400 DSOs they "found" (or the 600+ in the book).
Or shoot, even O'Mearas wonderful new book, "Hidden Treasures" is ONLY "merely some observer's personal list of DSOs."
The Caldwell list is just another narrowed down list for people to use. Not all in it are that easy, but still. Having a book, or giving the list a name, makes things easier and nicer.
If Orion came out with a book going into more depth on their DeepMap 600 that would be very handy and interesting  but still only a list of things ALREADY "found/named".
The Arp book looked nice. Haven't seen the other one until I used the link but looks like something else to maybe try out 
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No more scopes :-(
Edited by esd726 (11/19/07 02:53 AM)
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~Steph~
Texas Wildflower
Reged: 06/11/05
Posts: 26279
Loc: North Texas
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Okay, and let me also make it clear that there should be no more commentary in this thread about what is and isn't "a list".  Let's stick to the subject of the books, hmmmm?
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Steph
Taking it one day at a time...
I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness
10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST
Serenity Observatory
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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I'm still curious to see if anyone has experience with that first book astrodon was asking about.
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Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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camvan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/02/05
Posts: 2142
Loc: British Columbia
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this is a bit OT, but still directed towards the Herschel 400...but what size scope do you need to see deep enough to log all of these items? some of them are realistically beyond the ability of our 8" dobsonian. :question"
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Cameron
"Aperture can only be replaced by even more aperture. Dark transparent skies cannot be replaced by anything else." - Stathis Kafalis
Intes MN66
Meade SN8
handfull of cheap ep's
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Quote:
this is a bit OT, but still directed towards the Herschel 400...but what size scope do you need to see deep enough to log all of these items? some of them are realistically beyond the ability of our 8" dobsonian. :question"
The best place to ask this would be in the Deep Sky Observing forum. Be prepared for a variety of answers.
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Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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 John Flannery
sage
Reged: 12/03/04
Posts: 341
Loc: Dublin, Ireland
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Hi Cameron,
Steve O'Meara used his 100mm/4-inch refractor when viewing all the objects in the Herschel 400 Observing Guide. Jay Reynolds Freeman used a 60mm refractor doing the same list a while back and did a write-up in Sky and Telescope. I can't remember the issue number off-hand but he dubbed the instrument "Little Scope Red" 
The main thing to remember is magnification is what matters. The planetaries in the list will look stellar unless you bump up the power. Galaxies too are going to be equally challenging in some cases with a scope the size O'Meara and Freeman used. Your 8-inch Dob will do the trick.
Just to add that the Herschel 400 was conceived as a list objects viewable in average skies. Steve O'Meara observed from 4,000 feet at his home in Hawaii (mostly) -- can't recall where Jay had his dark site.
atb and good viewing!!!
John
P.S. On the point of observing lists, a couple of us were going to devise a Rosse Catalog at one stage -- all the objects viewed by the 3rd Earl from Birr Castle. Unfortunately, we haven't got around to it yet (clouds, etc!) but it might be neat. Hopefully won't need the 72-inch Great Leviathan! (which is still out of action for viewing through although it had a restoration job some time back). Some photos of Birr Castle on my Flickr site ... http://flickr.com/photos/92397104@N00/sets/
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Quote:
On the point of observing lists, a couple of us were going to devise a Rosse Catalog at one stage -- all the objects viewed by the 3rd Earl from Birr Castle. Unfortunately, we haven't got around to it yet (clouds, etc!) but it might be neat.
Might be? I hope the project gets off the ground. That would be an interesting list to peruse, no matter what telescope it would require.
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Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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John Flannery
sage
Reged: 12/03/04
Posts: 341
Loc: Dublin, Ireland
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Hi Tom,
The Webb Society ( www.webbdeepsky.com ) currently produce a CD with copies of all the observations made by the 3rd Earl. We were hoping use this to compile the list of actual deep sky objects and then re-observe them with a couple of different instruments. I've loaned the CD to a friend for the last 2 years (!) so need the proverbial kick to get me going on the project again
All the best,
John
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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And while we wait, maybe somebody will review Herschel 400 & The Caldwell List by Daryl West for us. 
--------------------
Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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