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half meter
Postmaster
Reged: 05/05/04
Posts: 12517
Loc: Great Lakes
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After receiving a discount coupon for Borders bookstore, I hit the familiar astronomy section. And I bought "The Great Atlas of ther Stars" by Serge Brunier. The book's amazing illustrations are by Akira Fujii.
I had thumbed through the one copy without plastic wrap several times previously and passed it by. But this time I bought it (still pricy including my 25% discount.)
Has anyone else looked at this large sized Atlas (11"x14")? I had previously noted several mistakes in the index when trying to look up objects. It has many plastic sheets that overlay full page widefield photographs highlighting objects of interest, and I wondered how accurately placed the overlays would be in the "shrinkwrapped" copy.
The reason I passed on this Atlas before was the notion that I didn't need widefield photography since I have all the latest computerized star maps down to 16 mag that provide far more identification and detail.
But this time, I bought it, and the widefield photos are exactly the reason. It hit me, standing there at the store looking at an 11"x14" photo of Hercules, that it appeared like my binocular views of that constellation the night before (but better.) I realized that what I'd been missing with the computer maps and the Nortons and all the other printed guides was a sense of realism. A sense of the sky as it used to be, before light pollution took away the splendor. This time, I bought it.
If I'd have read the intro, I'd have seen the following words: "Finally, to bridge the gap generally experienced between abstract astronomy charts and the true starry sky, [...] for the first time, we have reproduced these images in large format so that the constellations -- which are pictured here as they appear to the unaided eye or with binoculars under perfect observing conditions -- are represented on almost the same scale as their celestial models."
It's not a very advanced Atlas. And initally, it appeared less than satisfying. But right now I'm thankful I was able to suppress my bias and pick it up again.
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Gary
Collins I3 (Thin Film) Image Intensifying Eyepiece
Coronado Maxscope DS 90 <0.5A w/BF30
152 mm f/8 TMB/A&M Carbon Fiber APO; f/5 with 4" Borg ED Field Flattener/Reducer
20" Obsession/OMI Mirror/Servocat/Argo Navis
 First Light for the 30" Obsession at BEOTS!
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IDONTSEEIT
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 05/04/03
Posts: 900
Loc: NYC
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Half-Meter,
I just picked up a copy of that myself. Amazon had/has it for something like $33.95, with free ground shipping. I think the $49.95 retail price is a bit steep, since as you mentioned, it's not very advanced, and doesn't cover very much more than the biggest and brightest objects. But the large format, and wide-field, true to life photos of the actual sky are extremely usefull. I had only seen them in stores with the shrinkwrap on, and wasn't gonna drop 50-bux
on it to find out, but the Amazon price seemed reasonable so I took a gamble. I believe it's worth that special/discounted price.
Do you see any potential to using it in the field? It doesn't look very "dew-resistant" to me, and I don't know how well the images would be seen in the dark with dim, red or green, lighting.
Best regards,
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Joe,
C8 OTA on UA Unistar Heavy Deluxe
SV-102V on same UA Unistar Heavy Deluxe(not at the same time)
WO-Megrez 80-II ED on UA Microstar Basic
Orion 80ED on same UA Microstar Basic(also not at the same time)
Miyauchi Bs-60ic "Pleiades" 22X60
Orion UltraView 10X50's
Orion MiniGiants 12X63 & 15X63
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Fiske
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/14/04
Posts: 2057
Loc: Missouri / United States
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Half Meter:
You have much more self-control than I -- bought the atlas last year the first time I saw it. (Then had to do some fast talking with the Miles family CFO.) I love it, love the wide-field images, and am extremely respectful of the effort that went into the photography (after doing a bit of wide-field astrophotography myself). I would never attempt to use the book in the field, but often look at it while reading star-hops or books/articles about celestial objects. It's a great cloudy night anodyne (sp?) for photon deprivation. I've also got another nice photography atlas that deserves more use than I give it. I'll have to grab the title this evening and post it here.
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Fiske Miles
Nikon 8x42 LX / 12x50 SE Binos
Mini Borg 60ED, TV-101, AT80Ach, XT-8, C11/CI-700, 22-Inch Dob
Way too many Nagler eyepieces
http://www.fiskemiles.blogspot.com/
www.fiskemiles.com
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12565
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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About two years ago I bought a half dozen copies of this OUTSTANDING atlas. I use it as a teaching guide. No other atlas that I am aware of has the scale, superb photos and overlays combined such as this one. It has been a tremendous aid in teaching constelations to elementary school children. It is one of a select few books that I donate to school libraries when a school contacts me to conduct a full day program for their students. My opinion is it is an excellent resource for children and adults alike. All copies of this book that I have bought have come shrink-wrapped.
This is the book review I published here in CN Reviews back in 2003
The Great Atlas of The Stars, Serge Brunier / Akira Fujii, $34.97, used/new $29.95 Amazon, 112 pgs. 10.75x14.25” soft spiral bound. This is not a star atlas. It is a collection of Sky Photos of constellations with acetate overlays of constellation outlines. A fantastic way to see the sky and learn the shapes for anyone, young and old. Limited deep sky object info is easily excused. 30 exceptional constellation photos. Outstanding coffee-table book! An adult’s book that children will love to look at! I wouldn’t take this outdoors.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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half meter
Postmaster
Reged: 05/05/04
Posts: 12517
Loc: Great Lakes
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Joe, I don't think I'll be taking the Atlas outside. I should have checked at Amazon 
Fiske, I agree that it really is a cloudy night book, and one to have nearby when reading other books. One that comes to mind is Harrington's "Touring the Universe Through Binoculars", an otherwise fine book missing finder charts. I've never been accused of having self-control, though 
EdZ, that is awesome of you to share your hand-picked selections with schools  I remember how hard it was for my high school to get a copy of "Physics of the Solar System" so we could program our then-new computer (1973) to simulate Vespa's retrograde motion. Sorry I didn't find your review...I only searched the Forum!
As for the typos, here's an example: Try looking up M13 in the index. My copy directs you to page 24, where a brief reference to M13 is made in the description of M3. Jump to page 38 and you will find M13.
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Gary
Collins I3 (Thin Film) Image Intensifying Eyepiece
Coronado Maxscope DS 90 <0.5A w/BF30
152 mm f/8 TMB/A&M Carbon Fiber APO; f/5 with 4" Borg ED Field Flattener/Reducer
20" Obsession/OMI Mirror/Servocat/Argo Navis
First Light for the 30" Obsession at BEOTS!
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