Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders

Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders

by Robert Bruce Thompson & Barbara Fritchman Thompson
ISBN 0596526857
Paperback, 519 pp

Part of the O'Reilly 'DIY Science' series, 'Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders' is very a practical guidebook for deep sky observers. Unlikely many of the other entry- to intermediate-level books on the subject, this book isn't filled with long exposure colour photographs of galaxies and nebulae. Indeed, while the book does have a few black and white photos, these are carefully chose (and scaled) to suggest reasonably accurately what an observer would see with the naked eye through a telescope of moderate aperture.

Another welcome difference between this book and many of its rivals is the absence of an endlessly tedious section on hardware. While I'm all for amateur astronomers making sensible purchases, for the most part people are going to observe with what they have, and telling readers that they should have bought a bigger telescope or a better eyepiece does nothing to further their enjoyment of the hobby. Instead the authors briefly summarise the pros and cons of the three main telescope types on a mere half dozen pages, before quickly getting onto the topic of useful and mostly inexpensive accessories such as red flashlights, planispheres, star charts and optical filters.

The other half of the brief (60-odd pages out of over 500) introductory section to the book covers some deep sky basics. Again, the authors have sensibly taken a practical approach, focusing not so much on the science, though there's some, but more on what you need to know to locate and then understand the various deep sky objects observable with a telescope. So there's some stuff on understanding how to use star charts, some explanation of how deep sky objects are classified, and so on. It's all very businesslike, handled briefly but adequately. Experienced hobbyists will likely zip right past these pages, but for someone just starting out in the hobby there's a lot of solid information offered in a readable, largely jargon-free style.

With all this done, we're quickly presented with an alphabetised catalogue of the constellations visible from mid northern latitudes. At this point those observers lucky enough to be viewing the skies from the southern hemisphere will start to feel a bit left out. Not only are the southern constellations missing, but the roster of mid- to near-southern latitude constellations is rather patchy, including things like Sagittarius and the northern half of Puppis, but not Centaurus or Vela.

The catalogue entries themselves vary in length depending on the number of interesting objects located in a given constellation. A "good" constellation like Orion has an entry running to no fewer than sixteen pages for example. Each entry opens with a summary of the constellation in historical and mythological terms, with some notes on interesting features such as bright stars and unusual deep sky objects. A table lists the features discussed in the entry, giving things like visual magnitude and the position of the object in terms of right ascension and declination. A relatively simple but adequate star chart is also presented to help you understand the layout of the constellation and how it connects to its neighbours. It's a bit small to have any practical value beyond that though.

Moving through the rest of each catalogue entry, the reader is presented with detailed accounts of deep sky object, firstly the various clusters, nebulae and galaxies, and then at the end a series of double stars. Variable stars aren't explicitly covered in their own section, but many of the interesting ones, like Algol and Delta Cephei, come up in the multiple star accounts, as do some of the stars that have no other significance beyond being pretty, as with Mu Cephei.

The object entries themselves are remarkably thorough but well written, and while the angle is firmly practical, but at least among the showpiece objects like the Orion Nebula or Andromeda Galaxy there's usually enough relevant historical and scientific to keep things interesting. Because each entry tends to be quite detailed and comes with its own star chart and often a photograph, judging the depth of the catalogue from the length of the book can be misleading. In terms of raw numbers, there are certainly more objects in smaller books like the Collins 'Stars & Planets' or the Peterson 'Field Guide to Stars and Planets'. But while those books may have longer lists of things to see, the depth of coverage is comparatively less, and the accompanies star charts far less helpful than those provided here.

In fact, despite the substantial differences in style and to some degree approach, 'Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders' is actually more easily comparable to something like 'Turn Left at Orion', where the reader is led carefully through a small but carefully chosen selection of worthwhile deep sky objects. The book also has sense of developing observing skills, in part through completing the various observing lists, as well as the usual things like learning how to read the sky and use star charts.

So who's the book for? Ultimately it's a book ideally positioned for those starting out in the hobby and looking for something to stretch them beyond the what they're getting from astronomy web sites and magazines. There's a big enough range of objects to keep the reader engaged for a good year or two, as well as enough background information to help them develop their observing skills and understanding of the science. It's always hard to decide on the one perfect book for someone who has just bought their first telescope, but this one definitely ticks all the right boxes; highly recommended.

Neale Monks, Ph.D. is author of 'Astronomy with a Home Telescope' and writes regularly for a variety of hobby magazines.