going old-school... - sky atlases!

[ak47]

although stellarium served me pretty well on the field , i want to give the old fashioned way a chance and use a sky atlas.

i think this way i will get to know the night sky better , and also not risking my precious macbook out in the field.

anyway i found these 2 options, both with great reviews

1. pocket sky atlas 

   pros: compact and convenient for field use, fairly cheap.

   cons: not laminated, "black stars on white background" only, maybe too compact?

2. sky atlas 2000.0

   pros: laminated and durable, white stars on black background - i think prefer this option

   cons: damn expensive!

if you were on a budget (but able to pay more for something more useful that really worth it's price tag)

which one would you choose as your first (and the only for now) sky atlas ?

[emadmoussa]

Pocket star Atlas..It's almost exclusively my star chart even though I've got 2 more sitting around. Sometimes I use Google app when I get stuck...

[emadmoussa]

Just noticed your name is AK47...LOL I should take a cover then

[ghostdance]

Pocket Atlas for me too, when I'm not Stellarium-ing, great resource....I also have the Cambridge (old. non ring bound ed) but that's for looking at & gawking, indoors. And, ahem, I have a tiny wee thing called Stars, published by Gem books which I use for quick lookups of constellations. Cheap, but actually really useful for me as on the larger charts without constellation lines I still have a hard time ID'ing a lot of em....

[ronl]

Sky & telescope pocket Sky Atlas is not laminated, but it's pages are

waxed, which means any dew can be wiped off, also the pages lie flat,

as it is ring bound, I find it a very useful sky atlas, as long as you pre-plan

your session, and it's a reasonable price. 

[ghostdance]

Forgot to say - yes agreed on Google Stars, also Stellarium & SkYe (or whatever it's called) mobile app. Pretty nice for bedtime research on the phone (can't have the light on - wakes my wife. 'swhy I can't catch late night baseball on the TV either, sigh).

[hobsey]

Finding this thread quite interesting as I'm looking atlases.

When I go camping later on in the year, I'm going old school and using the AZ4 instead of using my goto EQ mount and as we all know the CG5-GT sounds like a coffee grinder when slewing so I don't want to disturb the other campers.

[ak47]

just ordered "pocket sky atlas" on ebay

thank you everyone!  

[oldfruit]

+1 for the Sky and Telescope pocket atlas.

[AndyWB]

Yup, I find the Pocket Sky Atlas good. I covered mine in sticky back plastic - It's not the tidiest, but it helps...

[chiltonstar]

I have both, plus a few others.

The pocket atlas is great, and I use it a lot, but it is a bit light on detail sometimes cf Sky Atlas 2000 or Stellarium - eg look for P- Cygni.

Chris

[L8-Nite]

although stellarium served me pretty well on the field , i want to give the old fashioned way a chance and use a sky atlas.

i think this way i will get to know the night sky better , and also not risking my precious macbook out in the field.

anyway i found these 2 options, both with great reviews

1. pocket sky atlas 

   pros: compact and convenient for field use, fairly cheap.

   cons: not laminated, "black stars on white background" only, maybe too compact?

2. sky atlas 2000.0

   pros: laminated and durable, white stars on black background - i think prefer this option

   cons: damn expensive!

if you were on a budget (but able to pay more for something more useful that really worth it's price tag)

which one would you choose as your first (and the only for now) sky atlas ?

I have both, but the Sky Atlas 2000.0 along with its "Companion" guide can keep you busy for a lifetime, and worth every penny in my opinion. The companion has data and descriptions for "all" of the 2700 galaxies, nebula, and star clusters shown in the Sky Atlas 2000.0

Edit: Photos for comparison. 

[laser_jock99]

Not all editions of Sky Atlas 2000 are laminated. I had to retire my paper version to the study as it kept getting damp.

The laminated version is very sturdy and good for field use- though you'll need a sizable desk to lay it out.

http://www.365astronomy.com/sky-atlas-20000-deluxe-laminated-p-2662.html

[Dave_D]

i have the delux unlaminated spiral bound version that's practically as new and has never been used under the sky... must be about 20 years that i've had it. are they worth much?

[mapstar]

The tri atlas and deep sky hunter atlas are excellent and free.

I downloaded both and have the the tri atlas B version printed off in A3 Matt laminate and ring bound (not cheap).

It is a very detailed map down to mag 12 stars so hopping is easy.

The deep sky hunter is less busy but easier to read I recommend either.

[hobsey]

The tri atlas and deep sky hunter atlas are excellent and free.

I downloaded both.

I don't suppose you still have the link do you?

[mapstar]

Here they are :-

http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/triatlas.html

http://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html

See which one you prefer. If you take the PDF on a memory stick to a printers they will sort you it out on A3 then you could get matt laminate pouches to put them in

[hobsey]

Well done.

Thank you very much.

[mapstar]

Star hopping is great with a decent star chart. The tri atlas I had printed is on Matt laminated 180gsm paper spiral bound.The Matt laminate pouches would be a bit better as I get dew creeping in from the edge's of the pages and probably cheaper.

Thereis more detail on the tri atlas but The deep sky hunter is easier to look at.

I've been thinking of getting the deep sky hunter printed off and doing it in pouches next time.

Looking forward to this winter's sessions

Damian