Expert guidance to observing jewels of the night sky (Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects - Stephen James O'Meara)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects - Stephen James O'Meara
Date:	18/10/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superbly written; full of helpful advice and fascinating information.

Disadvantages: None.

Amateur astronomy is a wonderful hobby that gives people the opportunity to view the many wonders the night sky has to offer.

For someone who's never looked through a telescope before, the range of objects on show can be bewildering. The Moon and other planets are, of course, popular targets for pointing telescopes at. Past the outer reaches of the Solar System are many other enticing targets, too. But what to look at?

The most famous astronomer in the world, Patrick Moore has compiled a list of 109 of his favourite astronomical subjects called the Caldwell Catalogue (Caldwell is Sir Patrick's 'other' surname. This was used to avoid confusion with the other famous catalogue compiled by Messier).

The Caldwell objects are amongst the brightest and most interesting astronomical targets and the variety in the catalogue is amazing. Spiral and elliptical galaxies, emission and reflection nebulae, open and globular clusters are all present in the list, giving the amateur so many tempting sights to track down and enjoy.

Their names are imaginative and romantic, inviting the viewer to see what the person who named it saw; the coalsack (a dark 'cloud' in space), the snowball nebula, the starfish cluster, and even the 'Outer Limits Galaxy'.

Sir Patrick did nothing else with his list except publish it. It has been left to one of today's most experienced visual astronomers, Stephen James O'Meara to produce a guide to viewing the Caldwell Catalogue.

'The Caldwell Objects' is one of the Deep Sky Companion series and took five years to write, with O'Meara viewing and drawing each object over several nights. The result is a simply stunning guide to the night sky; one that any amateur astronomer will treasure and use again and again.

The author first introduces the Caldwell Catalogue and how to use the book to find each object. The brightness of the Caldwell's varies massively; some will only be seen with large telescopes, others need a very dark sky to be visible. Hints for getting the most out of observing are given before the author plunges into describing each of the 109 Caldwell objects in turn.

The nature of each Caldwell is described first, whether galaxy, nebulae or cluster and any historical information given, too. Some of the Caldwell's have been known since antiquity; our ancestors had no light pollution to content with and were excellent observers.

The physics of each object is also explained and some are simply 'astronomical'. The galaxies, for example, are up to 20 million light years distant. The light from these distant 'star cities' began travelling the interstellar gulf towards the observer's retina before humans had evolved from their ape ancestors.

How to find the object is detailed with the help of a 'star map'. Star hopping, using the map is the way to locate each object of interest and the detail in O'Meara's map and text make this as easy as possible.

The author has drawn each Caldwell from his own observations. These drawings, together with the black and white photographs give the reader an accurate picture of what he or she is likely to see (much better than inviting disappointment by putting an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope with the description).

With just this level of detail, this beautifully presented book would be a must have for amateur astronomers. O'Meara is as gifted at writing as he is at observing, however, and his descriptions of what he sees in these deep sky jewels are simply captivating.

It is clear how much time and effort went into this book. The level of detail in the author's descriptions of each item in the catalogue is amazing. Each Caldwell is given up to ten pages to describe it, but the text is far from dry and boring.

With O'Meara's writing, the Caldwell Catalogue comes to life for the reader; these distant patches of light in the sky fire the imagination and make the hours until the next observing session seem to drag.

Anyone interested in deep sky amateur astronomy should get a copy of this book. At £23.53 from Amazon, it is not cheap, but with almost 500 pages of expert advice, represents good value for money; highly recommended.

Summary: A wonderful companion for the amateur astronomer.