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The Next Step, The Messier Objects, Atlas of the Messier Objects - Book Reviews
Dec 23 2009 09:08 AM |
PhilDurt
in Observing Books
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I know that in the Northern Hemisphere, Messier objects are wonderful sights to observe with the naked eye, binoculars, and telescopes. What is the ultimate book to help me get the most out of observing Messier objects?
In this review I will compare and contrast three books that are dedicated to Messier objects:
Each book varies on how much historic information they convey about Charles Messier. I’ve been to the Onizuka Visitor Center on Mauna Kea during new moon so I envy O’Meara’s sky conditions on the Big Hawaiian Island. I’ll start with O’Meara’s book.. Stephen James O’Meara throws the historic information assignment to David Levy. Levy doesn’t go into a biography about Messier but instead focuses on the comet hunter aspect. Levy weaves a little life and times information in also and I thought enough meat is here to get a feel for why Messier came up with his catalog.
Ken Graun goes a step further with more biographical information about Charles Messier. Graun does an excellent job and you really get a feeling for Messier, his friends, and the times. A timeline puts everything into perspective. Levy had about eight pages and Graun uses fifty pages with many wonderful illustrations.
Ronald Stoyan and his writing team go deep on Charles Messier. I don’t know whether to call this an Atlas or an Encyclopedia. First off this book is big, 10.5 x 12.5 inches. The Atlas has the combined mass of the two other books, The Next Step and The Messier Objects. If you want to find out the maiden name of Charles Messier’s mother it is here and tons more.
If it is a cloudy night and my astronomy fix comes from a book, I would have to put the Atlas on top followed by The Next Step. These books both contain many pages of historic material about Charles Messier that make a fascinating read.
Each of the three books has information about observing the Messier Objects. This is the separator for me. I want to improve my abilities to observe and what I really need is some information on sky conditions, eye conditions, and the optimum setup. Let me have it in a form that will allow me to plan for the best observing session. I have four items I presently use to make my observations; my naked eye, 8X56 binoculars, 130 mm APO, and a 305 mm SCT. Both The Next Step and The Messier Objects use a 4-inch APO when discussing what you will be able to see. O’Meara is hard to beat when it comes to observing. This man uses a very scientific approach and he discusses everything from limiting magnitudes, brat equations, and the observing site index - OSI. He discusses the eye in depth and covers averted vision, dark adaptation, eye components, and even hyperventilation. Graun covers the same ground but with a less scientific approach. Graun would talk about allowing 15 minutes to dark adapt the eye whereas O’Meara will discuss rhodopsin and how this visual pigment works to make an eye more sensitive to light. The Atlas really didn’t get into these subjects but they did assume I had access to a dark site and they had tables showing: Messier objects recommended for beginners. The faintest Messier objects. Messier objects most affected by light pollution. Nebular filters for Messier objects. I would give O’Meara the nod here for having some great information that I can use to improve my general observing.
I stated earlier that I want an observing guide first and foremost. Each book takes a different approach to this. Both O’Meara and Graun used black and white pictures throughout their book. As O’Meara stated, “Because my mission is to excite you about what you can see through a telescope, I decided to stick with black and white images only.” Graun went one step further and used the same focal length and film on all his black and white images. I greatly enjoyed this true feeling effect that both the authors used. O’Meara spent a considerable amount of time drawing each Messier object. Graun does not use hand drawings. The Atlas uses historic drawings in addition to some by the author, Ronald Stoyan but only for a select number of Messier objects.. While O’Meara uses that 4-inch Tele Vue Genesis for his drawings, Stoyan drags out the big guns and works with scopes ranging in size from an 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain to a 20-inch Newtonian.
After 38 pages O’Meara starts chapter 4 off with M1. Chapter 4 is the meat of this book. Each Messier objects gets one to three pages of write up. It’s the write up that kicks this book up a notch from Graun’s. O’Meara is great. I must quote him on M18. He says, “Contrary to what is sometimes stated – that M18 is best viewed at low power, when it appears small and concentrated – I find the cluster comes to life at 130 x, when the faint background stars of this rich Milky Way region enhance the view of the otherwise subtle grouping of 10th to 11th magnitude stars. A nice double star within it also adds a bit of sparkle.” O’Meara also involves the reader by asking questions like, “Can you make out the wishbone pattern of stars to the southwest (the swan’s head) and the dim stream of 12th to 13th magnitude stars outlining the southern tip of the upraised wing?” Graun’s presentation lacks this kind of write up. Graun devotes two pages for each Messier object. The format consists of the original Messier description, NGC summary, location, facts, and a one to two line description of the object using a 4-inch refractor at 48x. For instance Graun’s description of M18 using his 4-inch refractor at 48x is as follows: “A “weak” cluster that could easily be passed up (like M103) and missed. Pops out better with averted vision because there are about 10 stars below the threshold of direct vision with a small telescope.. Relatively compact.” I don’t even want to look at M18 after this description. When I read O’Meara’s description for M18, I’m dragging out the 130 mm APO and trying to get close to his recommended 130 power. The Atlas does a great job on the observation end but lacks O’Meara’s captivating exuberance. The Atlas will let you know which objects appear best using the eye, binoculars, or a specific size of telescope. The M18 observation section in the Atlas said, “that in binoculars M18 appears as a small, nebulous knot of stars. A 2.5-inch refractor shows about a dozen stars with a radius of 8’. The brightest cluster members are arranged in a triangular shape that gives some observers the impression of a letter S. The Atlas continued to say that large telescopes using high power would make M18 lose its charm.
I would say that if you are willing to discount O’Meara’s enthusiasm, the Atlas is the book for me. David Levy did the forward for the Atlas and he was impressed also.
In this review I will compare and contrast three books that are dedicated to Messier objects:
- The Next Step – Finding and Viewing Messier’s Objects by Ken Graun, Ken Press 2005
- The Messier Objects by Stephen James O’Meara, Cambridge University Press 1998
- Atlas of the Messier Objects by Ronald Stoyan, Stefan Binnewies, Susanne Friedrich, and Klaus-Peter Schroeder, Cambridge University Press 2008
Each book varies on how much historic information they convey about Charles Messier. I’ve been to the Onizuka Visitor Center on Mauna Kea during new moon so I envy O’Meara’s sky conditions on the Big Hawaiian Island. I’ll start with O’Meara’s book.. Stephen James O’Meara throws the historic information assignment to David Levy. Levy doesn’t go into a biography about Messier but instead focuses on the comet hunter aspect. Levy weaves a little life and times information in also and I thought enough meat is here to get a feel for why Messier came up with his catalog.
Ken Graun goes a step further with more biographical information about Charles Messier. Graun does an excellent job and you really get a feeling for Messier, his friends, and the times. A timeline puts everything into perspective. Levy had about eight pages and Graun uses fifty pages with many wonderful illustrations.
Ronald Stoyan and his writing team go deep on Charles Messier. I don’t know whether to call this an Atlas or an Encyclopedia. First off this book is big, 10.5 x 12.5 inches. The Atlas has the combined mass of the two other books, The Next Step and The Messier Objects. If you want to find out the maiden name of Charles Messier’s mother it is here and tons more.
If it is a cloudy night and my astronomy fix comes from a book, I would have to put the Atlas on top followed by The Next Step. These books both contain many pages of historic material about Charles Messier that make a fascinating read.
Each of the three books has information about observing the Messier Objects. This is the separator for me. I want to improve my abilities to observe and what I really need is some information on sky conditions, eye conditions, and the optimum setup. Let me have it in a form that will allow me to plan for the best observing session. I have four items I presently use to make my observations; my naked eye, 8X56 binoculars, 130 mm APO, and a 305 mm SCT. Both The Next Step and The Messier Objects use a 4-inch APO when discussing what you will be able to see. O’Meara is hard to beat when it comes to observing. This man uses a very scientific approach and he discusses everything from limiting magnitudes, brat equations, and the observing site index - OSI. He discusses the eye in depth and covers averted vision, dark adaptation, eye components, and even hyperventilation. Graun covers the same ground but with a less scientific approach. Graun would talk about allowing 15 minutes to dark adapt the eye whereas O’Meara will discuss rhodopsin and how this visual pigment works to make an eye more sensitive to light. The Atlas really didn’t get into these subjects but they did assume I had access to a dark site and they had tables showing: Messier objects recommended for beginners. The faintest Messier objects. Messier objects most affected by light pollution. Nebular filters for Messier objects. I would give O’Meara the nod here for having some great information that I can use to improve my general observing.
I stated earlier that I want an observing guide first and foremost. Each book takes a different approach to this. Both O’Meara and Graun used black and white pictures throughout their book. As O’Meara stated, “Because my mission is to excite you about what you can see through a telescope, I decided to stick with black and white images only.” Graun went one step further and used the same focal length and film on all his black and white images. I greatly enjoyed this true feeling effect that both the authors used. O’Meara spent a considerable amount of time drawing each Messier object. Graun does not use hand drawings. The Atlas uses historic drawings in addition to some by the author, Ronald Stoyan but only for a select number of Messier objects.. While O’Meara uses that 4-inch Tele Vue Genesis for his drawings, Stoyan drags out the big guns and works with scopes ranging in size from an 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain to a 20-inch Newtonian.
After 38 pages O’Meara starts chapter 4 off with M1. Chapter 4 is the meat of this book. Each Messier objects gets one to three pages of write up. It’s the write up that kicks this book up a notch from Graun’s. O’Meara is great. I must quote him on M18. He says, “Contrary to what is sometimes stated – that M18 is best viewed at low power, when it appears small and concentrated – I find the cluster comes to life at 130 x, when the faint background stars of this rich Milky Way region enhance the view of the otherwise subtle grouping of 10th to 11th magnitude stars. A nice double star within it also adds a bit of sparkle.” O’Meara also involves the reader by asking questions like, “Can you make out the wishbone pattern of stars to the southwest (the swan’s head) and the dim stream of 12th to 13th magnitude stars outlining the southern tip of the upraised wing?” Graun’s presentation lacks this kind of write up. Graun devotes two pages for each Messier object. The format consists of the original Messier description, NGC summary, location, facts, and a one to two line description of the object using a 4-inch refractor at 48x. For instance Graun’s description of M18 using his 4-inch refractor at 48x is as follows: “A “weak” cluster that could easily be passed up (like M103) and missed. Pops out better with averted vision because there are about 10 stars below the threshold of direct vision with a small telescope.. Relatively compact.” I don’t even want to look at M18 after this description. When I read O’Meara’s description for M18, I’m dragging out the 130 mm APO and trying to get close to his recommended 130 power. The Atlas does a great job on the observation end but lacks O’Meara’s captivating exuberance. The Atlas will let you know which objects appear best using the eye, binoculars, or a specific size of telescope. The M18 observation section in the Atlas said, “that in binoculars M18 appears as a small, nebulous knot of stars. A 2.5-inch refractor shows about a dozen stars with a radius of 8’. The brightest cluster members are arranged in a triangular shape that gives some observers the impression of a letter S. The Atlas continued to say that large telescopes using high power would make M18 lose its charm.
I would say that if you are willing to discount O’Meara’s enthusiasm, the Atlas is the book for me. David Levy did the forward for the Atlas and he was impressed also.
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