Your Favorite Observing Books

[Preston Pendergraft]

For me the following are some of the best:
Night Sky Observers Guide Vols 1-3
Herschel 400 Oberving Guide by Stephen O'Meara
Cosmic Challenge by Phillip Harrington
Deep Sky Wonders by Sue French
Local Group and Galactic Neighborhood Guide by the Astronomical League


The NSOG volumes are probably the best for looking up objects in. The O'Meara book is outstanding for doing the H400 and makes the program much more fun. Cosmic Challenge is a great book and will get you observing at your limits no matter your scope or binos. Deep Sky Wonders in a word is just gorgeous, and with Sue's writing pretty much a masterpiece. I pull that book out just to read all the time. Looks good on a coffee table too. Local Group and Galactic Neighborhood by the AL is the most professional guidebook from the League I have seen. The authors/editors really made it a labor of love and it shows.

So those are my favorites of the 100+astro books I have.

[Ciel Extreme]

This is a bit of a slippery slope as a lot of books that aren‘t, strictly speaking, observing guides can nevertheless inspire you to go out and observe.

From way back in the past, I love Introducing Astronomy by JB Sidgwick, a book entirely without pictures but which featured a constellation by constellation (visible from the UK) tour of sights visible in hand held binoculars. I wore that book out.
The other that I liked from the 60s was Bernhard-Bennett-Rice’s New Handbook of the Heavens... back when M1 was spooky and mysterious.
The Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects by Skiff and Luginbuhl provided great inspiration around 1990, as did Kenneth Glyn Johns’ messier’s Nebulae and Star Clusters. And, of course, the entire set of Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer Handbooks were GREAT for introducing galaxy clusters, anonymous galaxies, clusters and nebulae, most of them quite exotic for 80’s vintage observers.
Another great: Hartung’s Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes
Nowadays: I like Buta, Corwin, et al: The de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies. Archinal and Hynes: Star Clusters and Kanipe and Webb: The Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, though I find this latter book deplorably organized and edited. The introductory section, however, is superb.

[Ivan Maly]

Among those that I have used extensively (by my standards) under the stars, and largely in the chronological order of doing so:

O'Meara's Deep Sky Companions, primarily the Messier and Caldwell volumes
Pennington's Year-round Messier Marathon
The above-mentioned O'Meara's Herschel 400 Observing Guide
The above-mentioned NSOG vol. 1-3
The previous poster's Herschel 2500 Guide (see the real title in Mark's signature - and what a marvelous book it is)

Not technically observing guides, but used by me with some regularity as precisely that:
The Hodge Atlas of the Andromeda Galaxy (really called so)
The Hodge Atlas of the Local Group (actually more authors and a longer title)
Probably the above-mentioned de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies too, for its specially scaled images

[Clear Skies]

I wrote my own.

[kemer]

I have nearly every book mentioned and agree that NSOG shouldn't be missed: it is generally the only paper edition I carry around with me anymore. I have all of O'Meara's books and find them finely crafted, too wordy (almost as if he is getting paid by the word), and I think he too impressed by himself and his small aperture prowess. The book I wouldn't miss, either in paper or digital, is Atlas of the Messier Objects, by Ronald Stoyan, Stefan Binnewies, Susanne Friedrich and Klaus-Peter Schroeder (Cambridge University Press, 2008). This book has it all: a captivating history, observation information, including images and drawings, and discussions about the astrophysics of each object.

While Victor's CSOG (http://www.clearskies.eu) isn't exactly an observing guide, I find I use it more than anything else these days. It has really fabulous images, carefully curated from DSS and published uncompressed: don't let their apparent small size on each page fool you, you can zoom in to see more detail than images from any of the previously mentioned books. I guess ultimately I'm a visual kind of person.

[Ivan Maly]

Strange that I forgot the Stoyan atlas - one of my most used books at the telescope. Although I did use O'Meara's Deep Sky Companions books (his Herschel 400 Guide is a different kind of animal) in the field quite a bit, now I consider them more of a modern-day Smyth. Smyth probably paid his publisher by the word, not the other way around. He was rich though.

P.S. To be clear, this is not a criticism. Their writing is not like the others', and this is why I read them.

[rmollise]

NSOG of course, and I still like to look at Burnham's. But my fave these days is Scotty's _Deep Sky Wonders_ either the compilation or just the columns. ;)

[ransanjaya]

NSOG is the best for everything.....!

[RolandosCY]

This is a neat thread....

Here is my take on the subject.

First and foremost, the three volumes of Burnham's Celestial handbook. Although outdated, their content is a never ending source of objects, and the captivating writing of Burnham makes them a real classic. I have to re-read them at least once per year!

The NSOG have been described as "the new Burnham". I can't agree in the context of the writing prose and marvelous sky-lore, but they are also quite important as a source of observing targets, and the fact that drawings illustrate lots of the described targets makes them very useful to me.

Deep Sky Wonders by Scotty (the compilation by O'Meara) also gets heavily used. Scotty presents a nice mixture of both obscure and well known targets which were ideal for me when my main telescopes were 10" and 12" newts. Even more so now that I almost observe every night for an hour or two with a 6" refractor!

The Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects by Skiff and Luginbuhl is a book I still use often for cross-reference in many objects I observe. Well written and presented, albeit with very few visual renderings.

I have four O'Meara books: The Messier, the Caldwell, the Hidden Treasures, and the Secret Deep. I agree that all are very wordy, and at times I wonder what sort of eyesight O'Meara has, as some of his descriptions with a 4" refractor are similar to what I used to get from dark mountain sites with a 12" dob! Yet, his more than 500 described objects combine a superb object database for any visual observer with a small to medium sized telescope. Like Scotty's book I often use his books alongside my 6" from my backyard.

The Atlas of Deep Sky Splendors by Hans Vehrenberg is another book I often use especially for identifying star patterns for starhopping.

Sue French's Deep Sky Wonders and the Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer Handbooks are not yet on my bookshelf, nor are Victor's guides, but relevant purchases are planned in the near future.

Finally, Alvin Huey's Observer guides, both the digital and the printed ones are always on my observing tables when I observe with the 18" (which guide depends on which objects I observe) - they are the ideal companions for medium to large scopes...

[Don Pensack]

Yeah, I agree. The NSOG just doesn't have enough objects in it. My own log is already twice the size of the NSOG.
Alvin Huey's Guides are marvelous, and make excellent in-the-field guides, if printed.
These days, though, I'm just going through the pages of Uranometria and attempting to see all the objects on each page.

[Persephone]

Hi everyone, would you say the Night Sky Observers Guides are the best for someone starting out in astronomy. I'm buying my soon to be 13 year old daughter a telescope and want to get her a book to go alongside it. Thanks for any help.

[Don Pensack]

No, that's a little above her needs for a while.
Try "Nightwatch" by Dickinson
Maybe for a lot of good beginner's advice:
"The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" by Dickinson & Dyer
And a good planisphere so she can learn the sky and see what's up when it gets dark any night of the year.
http://www.davidchandler.com/product-category/planispheres_star-charts/

[davidem27]

I'm absolutely in LOVE with my books.
I have observing guides ones and more wordy books.
Love everyone of that.
I think they are the most valuable part of the entire of my astronomical equipment.

But. There is a book that became soon the last one I pick when I want to plan sessions.
Not for its subject, but for the words inside.
That's Herschel 400 Guide by O'Meara. I simply don't love it.
Not a criticism, but a thought of mine.

There is a podium, for me, with three books standing all above the others.

3. Galaxies and of to observe them - Steinicke
2. Observing and cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters - Steinicke
1. The Complete Guide to the Herschel Objects - Bratton

It's very, very hard to put some of my books off the podium:

The Arp Atlas of peculiar Galaxies - Kanipe/Webb
The de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies - Buta, Corwin, Odewahn
NSOGs - Kepple, Sanner
Nebulae and How to Observe Them - Coe
Webb's Handbook - Various


Some have replicated concepts among them, but it's obvious.
But everyone has unique, preciouses pills of advices in it.

The Arp Atlas is an amazing, experienced guide and atlas for the 338 entries of galaxy. Really excellent layout and quality paper to the top notch.
The Vaucouleurs is unique for its content. Felt really good when I red it.
Nebulae is simple but very interesting.
NSOGs are similar to the Arp Atlas. But few objects.

The three books on the podium has something special instead of the others.

Galaxies has very, very well organized content and a complete discuss bout the subject.
Observing and Cataloguing sweats HISTORY.
The Herschel 2500 by Bratton is the complete valuable mix of history-practical and few scientific path for every objects of the William Herschel's giant work. The introduction of the book is splendid.

[obrazell]

Hi everyone, would you say the Night Sky Observers Guides are the best for someone starting out in astronomy. I'm buying my soon to be 13 year old daughter a telescope and want to get her a book to go alongside it. Thanks for any help.

At this level I would suggest the book Turn Left at Orion. It is a good beginners observing guide.

Owen