The Constellation Observing Atlas (The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series)

This is a night sky observing guide focused on binocular or small telescope observations. The objects discussed by the authors are grouped by constellation. In almost all cases each constellation is given one page of text, one page with a map, and sometimes one page with a color image of one of the showpiece objects in that constellation.Here's the deal, though. With only one page worth of description, not very much is said. As an example, let's look at the information the authors provide on the constellation Cassiopeia, a fairly active part of the sky with lots to look at. We get a one paragraph of background on the constellation, one paragraph of history, a list of four nice double stars and one variable star, and then a list of three open clusters to look at. While the written text occupies the vast majority of the page, there is plenty of vertical room to work with, even if you consider one page to be a hard limit. There's a lot more going on in Cassiopeia, even for binocular observers than this! No mention of NGC 457, NGC 7789, NGC 654, Messier 52, NGC 659, I could go on. Additionally, no coordinates are given for any objects, no star hopping instructions are provided, and details on the objects that are provided are often quite sparse.I find the maps difficult to read. The print is very small and the contrast is extremely low. You could use it to help star hop to objects, but I honestly can't imagine trying to use it in low light. I appreciate the fact that the maps are attractive and in color, but I think they'd be more useful in black and white. I have also spotted a higher rate of uncaught typographical errors than I'd prefer in a book I would assume was professionally edited.So, the book is attractively assembled, and if you're just starting out in sky-gazing and this is your only book it can certainly be used to get you started. But there are just so many books that I think are better, even if you restrict consideration to those that group objects by constellation. Certainly there's nothing new here for folks who already have a decent sky atlas and books on the brightest deep sky objects and best double stars.

My husband says great book just what he wanted

I like the concept and I think the targets listed are well chosen. Unfortunately the charts the lists refer to are sometimes over the page. It would be better if you could always view the list and the chart at the same time. Also stars are often referred to by the full spelling of the greek symbol that identifies them, such as..."Omicron Eridani" But on the chart the greek symbol itself appears. For those of us who have not made memorising the greek alphabet a priority, this makes identifying some of the stars a bit tricky. My last moan is that the object names on the chart are just a bit too small to be easily read.I like the idea though, so I would buy a new version of this book if the above issues were adressed.

Hello, it is the typical book very,very comun,normal, I dont think that is not much quality, maps horrible..Thanks you very much.Best