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2. Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders (O'Reilly Group)
This is an excellent resource. The first 64 pages are explanations of astronomy in general and how to use this volume to locate various objects. The remainder of the book is broken down by constellation in alphabetical order. Each constellation chapter features a listing of various objects, RA-DEC, etc. Significant items also have an image from the Digital Sky Survey and map spanning 12 degrees with a 5 degree finder circle and a 1 degree eyepiece circle. Unfortunately, a) these circles are not to the Telrad standard, b) nor are the maps drawn to a consistent image size which prevents the use of a Telrad finder transparency. This is a small quibble but may be an issue for some. Excellent reference otherwise.

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This book is by the Thompsons and I browsed it with joy in a book store. As there already are more observing guide books on my shelf than our bad weather allows me to make senseful use of, it remained at the shop. If I had none of the other resources, I had bought it, no doubt.

Just in case you don't know: they have published "Astronomy Hacks", too. This is the best single volume source on practical astronomy topics I've ever seen! The book claims to be the resource to be consulted if there is no human expert to ask nearby - and I think that this is not exaggerated.

Clear skies,
Tom

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