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Evening all!

Coming into yet another weekend of armchair astro action because of the weather, I'm looking for some advice on a Star Atlas. I've got a few books like Turn Left, Philips guide to stargazing, the 2013 guide and then there are the last 6 months back issues of Sky at Night magazine. I've also got the set of the Telrad charts to go with my finder, but I want more!

I want to get a star atlas of some sort. I've seen a few on amazon and the reviews for them all seem pretty positive which is making it a bit harder to decide.

So, how do these things fare with a bit of damp and dew? Are there any which use that glossy/laminated type paper designed for a bit of damp in the field? Are they the type of things people take out observing, or do people tend to leave them indoors and just use them for research? With the loss of the local book shops, it's tricky getting your hands on a copy before deciding to commit which is a shame.

I've been looking at The Cambridge, Norton and the Sky & Telescope pocket atlas which seem to be about the most popular, but are there any other hidden gems which people use and like?

Cheers everyone!

MMM

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I'm not in a position to give a comparison between different volumes but can say that I have used S&T Pocket Sky Atlas and have been extremely happy. Using it in the field is no problem having used my copy when I have had to pack up observing because everything has been dripping with dew with no adverse effects.

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Hi Ya Mountain, just another thought - which ever atlas you get you need to make sure that the orientation in the finder is the same as the atlas - alot of the finders are straight through - not sure which one you have, i got an atlas a while back when I had the dob and also bought a RACI (Right Angled Correct Image) finder - this matched the atlas I have (Sky Atlas 2000) cause the straight through finders give you an upside down and reversed image - if the atlas is as how the sky looks - you have to do a little fiddling - as the star field your after looks totally different in the finder than in the atlas - getting the RACI finder was the best thing I bought as the charts then matched the finder view.

I don't use it so much these days as I have GOTO on the mount - but had problems with the straight through finder as, with the light pollution I have - I wasn't sure wether the object was not in the field of view because of the light pollution - or because I was looking in the wrong place???.

Using the charts outside - I had them laminated - as they get wet - cost me a fortune though - but as soon as I had the RACI finder - I then knew for certain that I was in the right place. Paul.

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Hello all,

apologies for radio silence. Time out for the first half of the rugby and Chinese!

Must admin the S&T atlas does appeal to me. Am I right in saying its about A5 in size? If so, it will fit nicely into my scope case.

Northern Soul Man,

I have a Telrad mounted on my scope, along with the default finder scope, but to be honest, I rarely use the normal finder - I love my telrad! I find it much easier to look at charts which show the sky as it looks and then deal with the reflection issue after.

Hi Nick,

take me back to school days covering my books with laminate or wall paper. It's a good idea if a bit fiddly. The thought has crossed my mind and it's good to hear that other have tried and succeeded with the same. I fear however I might me a bit too 'fingers and thumbs' and would worry about screwing it all up somehow. And thanks for the linky - just going to take a closer look at that lot now :-)

I did see somewhere - though I can't recall where, a larger star atlas which had a chart on one page and a photograph on the opposite page. I quite like that idea, although would be more useful indoors for research I expect.

Well, I thank you all for your words of contribution. I'll probably go for the S&T due to its size and reputation, but I expect I might still get a larger volume of some sort for reading in the armchair.

Thanks again everyone,

Tony

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Hi There,

Most folk have a couple accumulated over the years. The S&T is particularly good at the scope, dew resistant and small size, I also use Norton. On a netbook I have Stellarium, Cartes du Ciel, halo and a number of others!

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Thanks for the recommendation Damian. I've got Stellarium on my PC and a version of it on my galaxy tablet. Sometimes though, you can't beat paper and ink! Having made the decision on S&T (all but anyway) I'm going to check out Norton amongst others, but not rush into it straight away. Maybe one for the xmas list. :angel4:

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Pocket Sky atlas, so good in the field. I got some self adhesive vinyl and covered each page and edges, it's good.

If you're keen then there's Tri Atlas

http://www.uv.es/jrt...s/triatlas.html

Nick.

Hi again,

just been checking out the link. Well impressive! I'm amazed how much work this guy is putting in and is happy to share with everyone. I've pulled down some of the PDFs but expect for me and my scope, I'll concentrate on the first series first. There's enough there to keep me going for a few evenings.

Thanks again for the link,

Tony

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Thanks Alan,

that's similar to what I was looking at - I wish I'd taken better notice of what it was now. Good place to start though. Much appreciated.

I've literally just stumbled across this:

http://www.deepskywa...nter-atlas.html

Which looks to be a very useful Sky Atlas which somebody has kindly compiled and is giving away digital copies for free - incredibly generous of them because it's clear, this would've taken a lot of time to put together!

Thanks Grant

I've had a look at these too and pulled down a copy of what's there. I still can't believe the amount of data and research some people are happily will to make available. I had already downloaded the A3 version of the atlas before I saw the link for the A4 version, so I've got both. I can see me borrowing the laminator from work soon!

This will keep me busy for a while now - much the Mrs disgust I expect given that I work as an IT engineer by day and will now be spending a fair few hours in front of the computer at home. Anyway, beats that Come Dancing Strictly programme :-)

Thanks for sharing,

Tony

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Hi Tony, you touched on an Atlas that has a chart on one page and a photo on the other, there are two that I have : Now quite dated, The Photographic Atlas of the Stars, Arnold, Doherty and Sir Patrick Moore, and the other, The Cambridge Photographic star Atlas, Mellinger and Stoyan. both follow the same theme. The night sky has been photographed on one side of a page and a black on white image of the photo on the opposite page, with all relevant Astronomical information given. These follow the Constellations throughout the year. The latest and up to date publication by Mellinger / Stoyan, is Digitally photographed in colour. Very good for the armchair and a nice large magnifying glass, perhaps a large glass of whatever else you may fancy as well, on those wet and cloudy nights :)

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Hi Tony, you touched on an Atlas that has a chart on one page and a photo on the other, there are two that I have : Now quite dated, The Photographic Atlas of the Stars, Arnold, Doherty and Sir Patrick Moore, and the other, The Cambridge Photographic star Atlas, Mellinger and Stoyan. both follow the same theme. The night sky has been photographed on one side of a page and a black on white image of the photo on the opposite page, with all relevant Astronomical information given. These follow the Constellations throughout the year. The latest and up to date publication by Mellinger / Stoyan, is Digitally photographed in colour. Very good for the armchair and a nice large magnifying glass, perhaps a large glass of whatever else you may fancy as well, on those wet and cloudy nights  :)

Hi John,

that's good info. thanks. I shall have another look now. I ordered the S&T atlas yesterday and hope to have that by the end of the week. I'm beginning to find that there is too much month at the end of the money this month and having to wait until the 5th until payday. In reality, I'm never going to be able to wait until xmas - just not that patient so will probably make my mind up and order next month! I'm also due to spend a couple of weeks away from home in the coming months so will need some reading material to take.

Well, tonight is another wet and wild night here, so settled down with the Betty Stoggs from the Skinners Brewery in Truro. The armchair/computer based astro is tough work sometimes!

Thanks once again,

Tony

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my most used atlas is the sky and telescope pocket atlas as it includes more targets than most people see in a lifetime and is small enough to hold in the hand when observing/star hopping.  I also use the cambridge double star atlas for doubles and general observing but it (I presume like the cambridge star atlas) is a little big and unwieldy for most regular use compared with the S&T.

if I have a particularly tricky object and really want to follow the stars in the eyepiece rather than the finder (as I do with the other two) I use the deep sky hunter ones referred to above. I printed and laminated the A3 ones and they are excellent.

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Grant .  Thanks for the link to Deepsky atlas have downloaded and printed out  makes a great reference book two pages back to back in plastic sleeves in ring folder. 

I had plenty of spare time paper and ink to do all 112 pages

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Hi Tony,

Some excellent suggestions above. With regard to atlases with photographs of the night sky & charts side by side, if you're looking for an overview of relatively large parts of the sky with several constellations in (as opposed to the smaller / more detailed areas shown in charts like S&T Pocket Atlas) then you could do a lot worse than Philip's Night Sky Atlas.

As I said, much less detail than many of the suggestions above, but does fill a niche in my view. Usually stocked in Waterstones and the like as well so you could possibly check it out in person before you buy.

Just a thought.

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Hi everyone,

thanks once again for all the advice shared in this thread.  Very useful to me, and many others too.  I just wanted to wrap things up on this one.  Last week I took delivery of the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas which looks a good read.

I'll still be looking at a larger atlas for just general browsing at home, so thanks for the suggestions on the photographic publications.  I'll make my mind up soon enough and I'll pop one on the xmas list.

Now all I need to do is be a good boy!
Cheers,

Tony

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