New Atlas arrived

[Stridor]

Received my copy a couple of days ago from Amazon; had been waiting ages for it to be released again!!

[chiltonstar]

Interesting how many old favourites (eg Eta Ori) are not included in it! The authors seem to have been quite selective, eg not including line of sight pairs etc. It's odd it is in the charts though marked as a double.

Chris

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

My copy arrived this morning,via E-Bay.

it was £5 cheaper than the Amazon equivelent,though sold by a U.K. based supplier,it quoted a suspiciously lengthy delivery time......

Low and behold,the customs information on the postal packaging showed it having travelled all the way from AUKLAND,NEW ZEALAND!!!!

So,in other words,my book has travelled half way round the Planet and was STILL CHEAPER than Amazon!

Then,again,I wasn't particularly bothered about the wait,as the weather has been absolute rubbish,as far as observing is concerned.

[alan potts]

Well I ordered the atlas on the back of what I saw posted here and I have to say I am not disappointed, quite the opposite, I'm pleased. In a completely different league to the normal atlas from them which I consider rubbish. I paid a bit over the odds but it's worth it.

Alan

[laudropb]

Glad you like it Alan.

[alan potts]

Laudropb,

I have to say that had it not been for the fact you took time to photograph it and upload them to site I may well never have known how good it was, so many thanks for doing that, I can see I will use this a fair bit. I ordered the Sky and Telescope pocket atlas, basically because it was only a few quid, I think I could have saved my pennies.

It really is a very good all round atlas for anyone, though I like the Interstellarum Deep Sky, that is a superb book.

Alan

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Well,to complement the Atlas,I've just ordered a copy of 'Double Stars for Small Telescopes' by Sissy Haas, directly from 'Sky and Telescope'.

It costs $22.99 from them,plus $11.00 international shipping (ouch!).

So a total outlay of $33.99.

I'll see how that translates into £Stirling,but it's still got to be cheaper than Amazon,surely.

[Paz]

On 1/12/2016 at 20:12, chiltonstar said:

Interesting how many old favourites (eg Eta Ori) are not included in it! The authors seem to have been quite selective, eg not including line of sight pairs etc. It's odd it is in the charts though marked as a double.

Chris

I think this atlas intentionally focuses on gravitationally bound systems - the introduction spends a lot of time explaining binary an multiple systems.

[Dave In Vermont]

On 2/11/2016 at 10:03, MAN or ASTROMAN said:

Well,to complement the Atlas,I've just ordered a copy of 'Double Stars for Small Telescopes' by Sissy Haas, directly from 'Sky and Telescope'.

It costs $22.99 from them,plus $11.00 international shipping (ouch!).

So a total outlay of $33.99.

I'll see how that translates into £Stirling,but it's still got to be cheaper than Amazon,surely.

Here's the easiest site for currency conversion I've found:

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=GBP

Hope it helps,

Dave

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Thanks Dave.

Rounded up,that makes the book £23.45 ,as opposed to £32 something,when I checked Amazon the other day.

[lunator]

I picked mine up at Astrofest.

It looks good. I haven't used it in anger yet as I still have a list of other doubles I collated and I am working through.

The interest in bound systems is good but if they have remove the optical pairs that are "pretty" then that is disappointing as they can provide a good way to introduce double to the novice observer.

Cheers

Ian

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Got details from my bank today,,re the cost of the Sissy Haas book, direct from 'S&T:

BOOK plus P&P                                   £23.58

'Non Stirling transfer fee'               £0.64

'Non Stirling Purchase Fee'             £1.50

total:                                              £25.72

 

   Approx. £7.00 saving on the last Amazon 'new' price that I saw.

   'Used' copies were priced at £27 plus.

[N3ptune]

Oh! this Atlas looks really interesting, I put it on my wish-list totally. --> I have to be reasonable and not to buy it right now from Amazon.

 

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Remember that the 'Cambridge double star Atlas' shows the whole range of celestial objects-not just double stars.

Though,of course,the 'meat' of the Atlas is the Doubles,hence the in-depth text,and observing lists.

So it makes a pretty good all-round Atlas,down to about magnitude 7.5.

P.S., -Just as I was typing,the Postman has knocked,with my Copy of the Sissy Haas book!

Thoughts on it to follow.

 

 

[lunator]

The Hass book is a useful addition

I have enjoyed using it 

Cheers

Ian

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

I've had an initial read of the Sissy Haas book,and I have to say that I like it-a lot!

The author gives a brief introduction to what double and multiple stars are,explains the difference between Binaries and Optical doubles,splits and positional angle etc,then gives four simple Constellation charts showing easy 'Showpiece' Doubles to get the uninitiated beginner started on Double Star observing.

The bulk of the book is a list of 2100 Stars selected from the Washington Double Star Catalogue on the basis of their ease of splitting with Amateur equipment and their inherent beauty in the eyepiece.

The book is mostly concerned with the aesthetics of Double Stars,and I'm quite happy to go along with this approach.

The lists themselves are arranged by Constellation,alphabetically,and most Stars have a description either by the author herself,or another observer or both.It's very interesting to contrast how different observers have recorded the colour of the Stars (and some of the 19th c observers are quite poetic-fanciful even-in their descriptions!).It just shows how subjective colour perception can be for different observers.

This book exceeds my expectations,and I very much look forward to using it in future (for a very long time),in conjuction with the 'Cambridge Double Star Atlas.

A worthy addition to my Library.

 

[laudropb]

The Sissy Haas book is a very good addition to a double star observers library. I would just point out that many of the PAs are from quite dated epochs.

[chiltonstar]

14 minutes ago, laudropb said:

I would just point out that many of the PAs are from quite dated epochs.

Ditto the separation data given.....

chris

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

22 minutes ago, laudropb said:

The Sissy Haas book is a very good addition to a double star observers library. I would just point out that many of the PAs are from quite dated epochs.

Yes,I did notice that about the P.A.s, Thanks for pointing it out for any prospective buyers of the book.

I will check PAs in the Cambridge Atlas, or the WDSL online if necessary,when drawing up any observing lists.

Actually,the book illustrates ,nicely, how PAs change over the years with a diagram of the double star Porrima (gamma Virginis) and their  apparent orbits.

[lunator]

My recommendation is not to look at the PA.

I use the separation to decide if a pair is spiltable in the conditions and then use the sketch I made to check against the WDS PA information to check I got the split. This is particularly key with the tricky close/tight pairs.

Cheers

Ian

[laudropb]

The WDSL is a very useful site. This is how I check my observations too.

[cloudsweeper]

That looks great - I can sense your excitement.  Plenty to keep you busy for ages.  When I stop blowing cash on eyepieces (current count = 9), I'll have to add more to my own meagre astro library!

Doug.