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Interstellarium...heads up !


cotterless45

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Looks interesting. Seems to be roughly equivalent to Uranometria so I'll probably get it for the collection and never use it. :rolleyes:

Interstellarum: mag limit 9.5, 150 maps (260x280mm), c 200,000 stars plotted, $244.99

Uranometria All-Sky Edition: mag limit 9.75, 220 maps (18x12 in), c 280,000 stars, $59.95

For field use I'll stick with Great Atlas Of The Sky - sadly out of print, as is Millennium Star Atlas.

Millennium Star Atlas: mag lim 11, c 1 million stars, c 8,000 DSOs

Great Atlas Of The Sky: mag lim 12, c 2.4 million stars, c 70,000 DSOs

Deepest available paper atlas is JR's TriAtlas C (free online to print out), mag lim 12.6.

Interstellarum promises to plot DSOs according to 4 "visibility classes". Will be interesting to see how that's done. I suspect it will be binning by magnitude.

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I've already pre-ordered the waterproof 'Field Edition' via Amazon for £115.

I see it's now gone up to £139.99

If it sells like the German language version, it'll be sold out and out of print in no-time... so don't hang around too long!

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Gave the double star feature a test drive last night. Really pleased the direction I thought the companion was positioned later agreed with the chart! It's a real snap to see this the way they use a single line instead of line through the dot. Nice!

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  • 6 months later...

It's been ages but I've managed to nab a copy of this great atlas today. By chance we were in Cambridge and I saw the University Press shop which looked interesting. Picked up the desk edition for £60 as the field ed is too pricey for my petty cash fund.

Lovely atlas and looking forward to using this in earnest. Pleased and look forward to using it for this sector of sky!

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It's been ages but I've managed to nab a copy of this great atlas today. By chance we were in Cambridge and I saw the University Press shop which looked interesting. Picked up the desk edition for £60 as the field ed is too pricey for my petty cash fund.

Lovely atlas and looking forward to using this in earnest. Pleased and look forward to using it for this sector of sky!

Enjoy it - this atlas has transformed my deep sky enjoyment and it's a lovely thing to look at and browse through.

The CUP shop has a great astro section; at some point I plan to get in there without the kids and spend some time having a proper browse.

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This looks like a beautiful reference! Can I ask what I feel is a dumb question though please - the cost is steep: how much more does it show than say stellarium? I could imagine that's its really nice to browse for planning a session.

Do you use it mosly in the field, and it avoids dark adaption loss?

Thanks and sorry for silly As :)

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With plug-ins Stellarium will no doubt show more but it's not about this, it a book, a really good pick it up and enjoy book. I love my desk one which I got after Stu bought one at Christmas time, I was very pleased with what I got for my 60 quid and from me I highly recommend it.

I don't use it outside very much but take notes prior to viewing, there are so many things I see in it that I never knew existed, I have only ever had Norton before this and many from the internet, this blows them out the water for enjoyment. Software programs have their uses though don't get me wrong.

Alan.

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Agree absolutely with Alan, it is a wonderfully *enjoyable* book...curled up on the sofa wandering through the charts. I find new things every time. I was lucky enough to receive Interstellarum (Desk Ed.) for my birthday, but I'd happily buy it again instantly if, heaven forfend, anything nasty happened to my copy.

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Sometimes there is no substitute for a 'paper book' rather than the software resources that we are all getting accustomed to and this is one one of those products. I recently had the pleasure of reviewing this for the Sky at Night magazine and I loved it - it has pride of place in my book collection!

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Thanks for answering my question - I didn't mean to sound like a philistine :) . Truth is I'm tempted - it looks great - for the reasons you all mention. I find Stellarium etc great - but I need to zoom in a lot to get the detail. Great when I know what I'm looking for! I'd love the idea of browsing on paper nicely layed out detailed charts beforehand, and I don't normally print out charts - so handy to have the book in the field. I find that I lose dark adaption with phone apps.

Maybe I'll ask Santa for it ;)

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Niallk, you won't be disappointed I'm sure! There's an incredible amount of detail and very entertaining to just browse it. It's nice to have a deep reference without having to login to anything. Refreshing!

I can't see myself using it outdoors much as I dont want to damage it, but it's easy enough to take a photocopy of a key page for a given session. For the cost of a meal out for two this will keep you busy for years to come!

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It's going on the wish list!!

You guys should be getting commission :)

I rely totally on Stellarium on the laptop, and Sky Safari on the phone at the scope. I often pick up on target suggestions to try from the helpful folk on this forum - in their observation reports and sketches.

(Should be a government health warning for your wallet on entering this site...)

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Niallk,

I am sure no one thought that of you. I love software on the laptop and desk top too, I have 5 laptops :eek:  and they are all crammed with programs though my real favourite I can't get onto newer windows so I have had my friend put the older XP Windows in a couple of them. Buying this book actually gave me a use for my magnifiing Loupe that I used when I did 6X7 film positives, I was going to throw it away which would have been a watse, but it is great on this book, the detail they get into the page is incredible.

Don't forget what Ocsar Wilde said about to temptation, the only way to deal with it is to yeild to it. Hand in pocket time we are not giving up :evil: .

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I don't think I truely know what dark adaptation really is. I just get sitting in a cumffy position on a target and I will get a cry out the window or door from Daniel "Daddy I've pressed the wrong button on the computer" the urgent nature of his cries makes me believe sometimes that he has changed the orbit of the ISS.

I don't find it such a problem when viewing planets, this is more for me about relaxing at the eyepiece and the Moon makes me walk into things after, half blind, but DSO is another matter altogether.

Alan

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the Moon makes me walk into things after, half blind

Alan

:) I thought I'd ruined my eyesight when I first looked at the (fullish) moon with my 15". I'd say the 18" will do a good job of blinding you alright ;)

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It's going on the wish list!!

You guys should be getting commission :)

I rely totally on Stellarium on the laptop, and Sky Safari on the phone at the scope. I often pick up on target suggestions to try from the helpful folk on this forum - in their observation reports and sketches.

(Should be a government health warning for your wallet on entering this site...)

I am sure you'll enjoy it. For me, being out under the stars is about as being as unplugged and analogue as possible. That's why I have a manual dob. But it's also why I forked out the most I've done for any book ever for the field edition of this atlas. I simply prefer it to software and apps when I'm outside - it's not better, necessarily, just consistent with the way I like to enjoy the heavens. It's a real joy to use outside and has increased my "hit rate" no end. On cloudy nights I like to browse through its pages dreaming of the next accessible moonless clear night.

And yes, the people on this forum are very naughty boys and girls who will cause you to part with a lot of hard earned. But they'll also save you from spending it on the wrong thing.

Let us know how you get on with it!

Paul

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