Books reviews Part 2

Astronomy Magazine Presents:
"Deep Sky Observing with Small Telescopes" by David J Eicher
"The Universe From Your Backyard" by David J Eicher
"Stars and Galaxies" by David J Eicher

I am going to review all three of these books in one fell swoop as they are similar in many ways and were all published in the mid to late 80's by current Astronomy Magazine edition David J. Eicher. David has been a prolific writer and editor, and has been writing for Astronomy since as long as I can remember. He is most famous for his sketches in the early Astronomy Magazine spotlights on deep sky objects, by constellations, and also for his work on Deep Sky Magazine, still viewed by many as the definitive source for all things Deep Sky. I don't have the entire collection, but I tried to get as many of the copies as I could (some of which I got directly from David himself at Astronomy when he was selling extra copies of the magazine!) All three of the books above are collections of articles from the very pages of Astronomy magazine itself, and the now defunct Deep Sky Magazine (which is now available in its entirety in pdf format at Astronomy Magazines Online Store).

"Deep Sky Observing with Small Telescopes"

One of the books that remain as one of the most used books in my visual deep sky observing arsenal is "Deep Sky Observing with Small Telescopes". I first came across this brilliant deep sky guide in the Physical Sciences/ Engineering library at the University of Queensland while doing graduate school. I continued to renew the book over and over again for quite a while. Surprisingly no one else booked the book. I even made copies of some of the more relevant parts of the book. I now finally have a copy of this brilliant book. Got it off amazon.com for an amazingly low price. This book features excerpts from Deep Sky Magazine and basically categorizes deep sky objects by class (open cluster, globular clusters, nebulae, galaxies) and starts off with an introduction into each class. This is then followed up by detailed examples of some of the better members of their groups (complete with eyepiece impressions, black and white photos and descriptions of what you can see at the eyepiece in different sized scopes, up to 6" scopes). All of these usually end with a sampling of the harder objects in their respective classes. The book also comes with a list of objects at the end of the book that list the object's magnitude, size, celestial coordinates and short notes. The one drawback to this guide is the lack of maps, but this can be easily remedied by using this book alongside a chart, say Wil Tirion's Sky Atlas 2000.0.

"Astronomy Magazines: The Universe from Your Backyard "

Astronomy Magazine used to be my definitive source for visual deep sky observing when I first got into the hobby of amateur astronomy in the early 80's, simply because of one column/article, their monthly spotlight on a single constellation and all the interesting objects found in each constellations. This was a good jumping off point for me as they featured brighter (as well as sometimes dimmer) fare. The articles were pretty detailed and provided physical data on these objects (apparent magnitude, size, coordinates) in the form of a table, as well as detailed descriptions on their appearance through different apertures, color astrophoto's of these objects, as well as my absolute fave, eyepiece impressions from Dave himself. This was the main reason I hung onto all the Astronomy magazines I bought throughout the 80's and 90's. The good people at Astronomy magazine probably knew how many people were ardent fans of this column from way back. So what do they do? They compile all their monthly constellation articles into one book entitled "The Universe From Your Backyard". Now I have all the articles in one book booyah. This book does one up on the former in that it also has a simple map showing the relative positions of the objects in relation to the constellation. Unfortunately this is no longer in print and is only available now on the used market. I bagged a excellent copy on Astromart. The book does pops up from time to time on amazon.com.

"Astronomy Magazines: Stars and Galaxies"

Other than the monthly constellation spotlights, Astronomy Magazines also ran observing articles spotlighting different type of deep sky objects by type from time to time. These articles were less predictable as they were not run on a monthly basis. The advantage of these articles however were that they were written by accomplished deep sky observers. These articles usually contained a table of objects covered with physical data. Most of these were very descriptive in nature so they were extremely helpful. Objects covered including observing the local galaxy group, observing galaxies with binoculars (yes it is possible!), observing the planetaries of summer. Occasionally you got articles on observing more obscure fare such as observing summer's dark nebulae. These articles were a lot harder to collect as well due to their random nature. I was so happy that Astronomy Magazine came through again and compiled and published a book featuring all these articles, entitled "Stars And Galaxies". Again this is only available on the used book market but it is worth hunting down in my opinion. A great addition to a deep sky observers library.

"Deep Sky Wonders" by Walter Scott Houston

"Deep Sky Wonders: Scotty Version"

This is one of my all time favourite deep sky books, written by the late Walter Scott Houston. There are two versions of this book now, one published in hardback and the other a paperback version. My observing buddy Andrew Durick was the one who introduced me to this book. After reading it, I knew I had to add this to my library! The book was named after the column in Sky and Telescope. Way back in the day, Scotty, as he was fondly known as used to pen a small column simply entitled Deep Sky Wonder's. It was the one column that held wonder for me as a teenager starting out in the world of amateur astronomy. This article was a like a breath of fresh air in a sea of technical articles, which comprised the old Sky And Telescope magazine. Scotty was here to teach, inspire and even challenge us as deep sky observers to push the boundaries of visual observing. His tools of the trade was a 5" binoscope. This book is a collection of his columns, that in later years blossomed into a full page article. The layout of the book is such. Unlike O'Meara's Deep Sky Companion series, the book is not split by objects, rather by seasons. Due to the nature of the columns/articles, you may sometimes see an object mentioned more than once in different articles. But Scotty always kept it fresh, infusing his articles with extra information, so the overlap was welcomed! Scotty was also not afraid to go against the norm and challenge visual observers to push the boundaries, and then write back to him if they succeeded. A fitting tribute to a great visual observer, this highly readable book is a must for visual deep sky observing enthusiast!

"Cambridge Messier Deep Sky Album" by Jack Newton

"Cambridge Deep-Sky Album"

This is one of the books I discovered whilst browsing in the Physical Sciences/Engineering library at the University of Queensland, and it was one of the books that was on constant loan by me for years. I only recently acquired a mint condition used book off amazon.com. I just had to add this to my ever growing collection of books on deep sky objects!  This "old school" hard cover book, published by Cambridge Press and authored by Jack Newton and Philip Teece would probably feel out of place and dated with all the new fangled sophisticated imaging equipment currently available. Most of the current CCD and DSLR images of deep sky objects available on the internet and in magazines now give newbies a false impression of what is actually visible at the eyepiece! Technology has come so far in that astrophoto's captured these days rival those taken by professional observatories! This is the unique part of this book. The photos taken by Jack Newton, a renowned astrophotographer, reflected the level of detail you could see in a smallish scope from dark enough skies (minus the colors of course). To me that was one of main draw cards of this book as I worked my way through all the Messier Objects with my 76mm and 150mm newtonian reflector from suburban and rural skies above Queensland, Australia. It was fun to compare my sketches with Jack's astrophoto's to see if I had detected spiral arms in a brighter galaxy, or even detecting one of the fainter ones in a star spangled starfield! The photos also had accompanying text and physical data about the objects like the size, type and apparent magnitude of the objects. What is even more helpful is that all the objects were imaged with the same gear, and they are all therefore to scale with one another, another plus. What this book will NOT do is help you starhop to the Messier's, so if that is your goal, look up Turn Left at Orion, another very highly recommended guidebook that I might add to my library someday.

"Touring the Universe with Binoculars" by Phil Harrington

"Touring the Universe Through Binoculars"

Another tour de force by veteran astronomy writer Phil Harrington of Star Ware fame, this is one of Phil's classic books. Many beginners are not aware that garden variety binoculars (i.e. 7x50 to 10x50 mm binoculars) can be used for serious observing. In fact a lot of veteran observers suggest starting with binoculars for astronomy, rather than purchasing a christmas trash telescope that comes with inadequate mounts with the consistency of a wet noodle. Phil's love for two eyed observing is very evident throughout the book. There is something to be said about observing with two eyes as opposed to monocular observing through telescopes. Sure for high powered views of planets and the moon, one needs a telescope. However the use of both eyes for observing brings with it added benefits. The comfort factor for one. Also studies have shown that there is a marked increase in how deep one can see using two eyes as opposed to one. In fact it has been shown that there is a 20% improvement. In effect, it is almost like using a larger aperture. For instance using a 80mm giant is akin to using a 100 mm telescope. I have personally compared the two side by side and I can say that the approximation is fairly accurate. The book covers over 1000 objects including inner solar system objects. If there there is a con with this book, it would have to "again" be the lack of finder charts. Its a good book for indoor observing program planning, not so much for in the field use.

So concludes part 2 of my book review. I still have several other deep sky observing books that I will review in upcoming blogs. Stay tuned for more....