Atlas of the Southern Night Sky

ATLAS OF THE SOUTHERN NIGHT SKY

Authors: Steve Massey and Steve Quirk

Published by New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd, 2007

ISBN 9781741105308 (hbk)

Reviewed By Vince Legge, Queensland, Australia

Clearly from the title this recent release is a dedicated Atlas of the Southern Hemisphere, and so as far as I know it is a first. The fact that it is Australian, and written by two well-known Aussie authors and amateur astronomers in the Australian astronomy community, well satisfies my southern prejudices.

As I work through some of the highlights of this book it is apparent that this book is more than just a set of night sky maps, and is suitable as a general astronomy guide for all ages and levels of experience. It certainly should be placed high on the priority list of "must haves” for any Southern Hemisphere entry level, or intermediate level stargazer.

In the past I have purchased many "Star Atlases" and have often been disappointed by the price vs. the overall quality of the publication. Not so in this case. Atlas of the Southern Night Sky is a beautifully bound hardback of some 280 pages on high quality glossy paper and is richly illustrated with charts and diagrams, and outstanding photos, most of which were taken by the authors. Currently selling for under 50AUD (plus p+h) this is exceptional value when compared to other atlases.

The introductory chapters consist of a quite concise but well explained overview of the night sky, finding your way around, some astronomical definitions, and some information about stars and various DSO’s, plus some notes on observing. Enough basics are dealt with to get a novice started without complicating the issue, which is, after all, looking at objects in the night sky, as opposed to needing to absorb large tracts of (dare I say boring?) scientific data.

Next we progress to the maps. First we have a set of typical wide field maps, but then the authors have adopted the approach of breaking the sky down by individual constellations. Each constellation has at least one page of information including notes on selected points of interest and some photos, plus an accompanying full-page map. The maps are quite clear and mostly don’t include objects fainter than Mag 6. Similarly, most of the points of interest noted are at the brighter end of the scale. This makes a lot of sense to me, since it always seems pointless to clutter things up with objects that won’t readily seen by persons using a small telescope, and this also eliminates the creation of false expectations in a beginner.

The authors include about 50 pages that deal with the Solar System. Starting with the Sun, then progressing to the Moon, with some nice lunar maps, then we look at each of the planets, plus some information about meteor showers and comets.

Some little "Tips & Tricks” are interspersed throughout the book, which at first I found quaint, but on reflection I recognise them as quite sensible advice to all field viewers; good points for beginners, and good back to basic reminders for old hands.

Finally we arrive at a reference section dealing with types of telescopes, how they work, and some explanations about tools like filters, eyepieces etc. and a really neat little introduction to Astro- imaging.

This book is much more than just a set of maps and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a "must have” for every novice in the Southern Hemisphere, and a "should have” for all Southern Sky observers.

Footnote about the reviewer:

I started out stargazing at 12 years old with a 2” Tasco refractor, and that was over 40 years ago. Over the years I have owned many different instruments large and small. These days my work takes me for extended periods into the Queensland bush and so my current collection is of small and portable scopes that I can transport in the back of a 4wd to bush work camps. At the time of writing these are a Vixen NA120S, a Synta PRO 80ED, and a Synta 127 Mak. I am always on the lookout for any products of benefit to users of small telescopes in the field, and I am a fiercely proud Australian.