Star chart / Deepsky atlas

[Eastman]

Hello all,

Not really a beginner but I am in search of a good Star chart or deepsky altlas. I already have the pocket sky atlas, its oke but i like to have a atlas with more stars in it. 

When I compare it to what I see in the eyepiece I'm missing out a lot of star to make the starhop easy. Now I found the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas. Its Spiral-bound and printed in red-light friendly colors on dew-resistant paper, it has a limiting magnitude of 9.5 and over 200,000 stars. Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas

Anybody knows this Interstellarum deepsky atlas is any good, tips on other maps are welcome too.

 

Thanks in advance, Gert

[John]

I have the Pocket Sky Atlas and Interstellarium. I find both very good. The Pocket Sky Atlas is the most used and comes out to the scope with me with Interstellarium acting as a further, deeper resource but kept indoors.

Interstellarium does have a nice way of indicating (broadly) the class of scope that might be required to see a particular object.

I find the Pocket Sky Atlas shows enough stars for most star hopping challenges though.

 

[PaulM]

Pocket Sky Atlas is good my write up here

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have several star atlases. I usually start with the Sky and Telescope Pocket Atlas to determine my observing programme for the night. In fact last night I just used this atlas my 15x70 Apollo Binos and the reclining chair and star hopped to various DSOs.

If I am going to undertake observing with my 12" Dob I will use the Interstellarum atlas. Although I have both copies of the Uranometria atlas which goes pretty deep and I found that I prefer the Interstellarum. My only wish is I should have bought the Field Version.

[Paul67]

Coincidences. it was only last night I was eyeing the Interstellarium altlas and although quite expensive it looks very good, especially for someone who's eyes aren't getting any better.

[Eastman]

31 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

If I am going to undertake observing with my 12" Dob I will use the Interstellarum atlas. Although I have both copies of the Uranometria atlas which goes pretty deep and I found that I prefer the Interstellarum. My only wish is I should have bought the Field Version.

Thanks Mark, thats what I'm looking for, a atlas that goes pretty deep. The field edition nearly doubles in price. But I think its a once in a lifetime investment.

[Paul67]

Found this thread if you haven't already seen it.

 

[Eastman]

14 minutes ago, Paul67 said:

Found this thread if you haven't already seen it.

Thanks Paul, interesting tread indeed.

[John]

I had Uranometria 2000.0 All Sky Edition and the Deep Sky Guide for a while but found Interstellarium more accessible, as well as being somewhat more portable !

 

[cletrac1922]

I have a book called Night Sky

Not sure just for Southern Hemisphere, or north as well

Page by page description of every constellation

I know with my 10" dob, when searching for a deep sky object, and as panning using the finderscope, multiple stars, visible, do not know name of

John   

[Knighty2112]

Excellent atlas, although as I have a goto mount I don’t use it to star hop, but just get a general overview of deep sky objects. 

[Demonperformer]

I am a great advocate of the Triatlas and, although the main site seems to have gone AWOL, you can get the downloads from here. Select the image scale/magnitude you want and then just print out the pages you require when you require them and build up the atlas as you go along. The second edition can also be put on an iphone.

[Knighty2112]

Hi Gert. I know you were asking specifically about hard copy atlases, but if you have an access to a tablet at all (either an Android or Apple one) then a great app that I use that can show greater star details too is Skysafari Pro 6. There is an add on you can buy which will increase the number of stars in the app. The app also allows you set set limits on the magnitudes which normally shows most of what I can see in the EP FOV too, so you can fine tune the amount of stars that you see with it. I use this when tracking down asteroids as I can tune what stars I see in the EP so I can spot the asteroid much easier if in a busy starfield. Works a treat!  

Images below to show how star magnitudes can be altered to suit, and when you zoom in also.

[Eastman]

Thanks @Knighty2112 that looks very useful as well.

[Nyctimene]

Gert,

I'm using a variety of star maps (Uranometria II, Pocket Sky Atlas, Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas) or map-guide combinations, as the Night Sky Observer's Guide, or (in German only) the excellent Gerhard Stropek's Deep Sky Beobachteratlas. None of them fulfills all demands simultaneously; e.g. the maps don't give information about the surface brightness of DSO's, so I have to consult the Uranometria Guide or the NSOG. But the Interstellarum Deep Sky atlas comes close to an astronomical "Swiss Army's knife" and is my first choice at the moment, complemented by the PSA for a first orientation. But I find myself drawn more and more to the use of SkySafari 5 Pro with it's extended capabilities of customizing and the immense database, that is useful when observing with  the 18".

Said that, I'm keen on the latest release of the Oculum Verlag - the "Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide", that complements the IsDSA and, at the moment, is on the way to me (in the waterproof Premium version only available by the participation in the crowdfunding project). 2000 POSS red/blue composites, 800 drawings by Uwe Glahn, made at his 27" DIY dob, and Ronald Stoyan; all matched exactly with the IsDSA. It's available in the paper version (German) for around 80€ (of course, no affiliation etc., as usual). In analogy to the IsDSA, I guess, there will be an English version within the next one or two years. For all interested owners of the IsDSA, have a look:

Stephan

[Eastman]

Thank you all for the information.

After reading this tread a couple of times I made a choice. I also liked the idea of a application on my tablet but I am a kind of person who like to nose around in a book too

So I bought the Skysafari 5 Pro app and the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas will make a great gift for my birthday so I hint my wife?.

Just went out and gave the Skysafari 5 Pro a try, this is working really great. This is making starhopping a lot easier. Only one target for the night (M 11) because the clouds came rolling in from the west.