|
This handbook is a guide to exploring the
classical night sky and its wonderful telescopic sights.
All 88 officially recognized constellations are
presented in natural groups which are related by their
origin and location in the sky. Each group is explained
by a fascinating story which tells what each
constellation represents, how it appears in the sky, and
why the other constellations of the group are close by,
or related in some other manner. Some of these stories
are classical myths which show how and why ancient
cultures saw the constellations as related groups.
Others are about more modern astronomers who sought
recognition by filling in the gaps between the ancient
constellations with inventions of their own. Both types
of stories are crafted to make the constellation groups
memorable, so that amateur astronomers can not only
locate and recognize the constellations more easily, but
also be able to pinpoint the celestial objects they
contain more quickly.
Specific instructions are given
for finding each constellation, how to spell and
pronounce the constellation and star names, plus the
origins of the star names. Finder charts show each
constellation group and a large area of sky around the
group. These charts also indicate pointer stars which
aid in finding the constellations.
More detailed
charts show how each constellation figure is visualized
through simple line drawings. For each constellation,
there is a table of about 10 to 30 telescopic objects
selected to include a wide range of difficulty. Some can
be glimpsed with the unaided eye, others require a 12 or
14 inch telescope. All the most prominent telescopic
objects are included, plus a varied selection of
interesting, but much more difficult objects. The tables
include each object’s celestial coordinates, type, size,
brightness, other information specific to each type of
object, and a recommendation of the appropriate
telescope size needed for good viewing.
There are
also photographs of constellations and telescopic
objects, detailed locator charts for the hard-to-find
objects, and plots of binary star orbital motions. The
same charts used to show the constellation figures are
repeated, with the addition of symbols indicating the
locations of all the selected telescopic objects.
An
index and seven appendices help the user find specific
objects or classes of objects.
|
|
