TLAO or IGAW?

[JamesK]

Hi,

As I have previously posted, I am a beginner with a 76x700mm reflector telescope- which apperantly isn't but has virtually identcal specs to the Celestron Firstscope 76mm (which probably has better optics- on reflection ).

Anyway, I'm looking to buy a good book to help me find the cool stuff floating around up there. The Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders is about £7 cheaper on amazon- even though it has a similar RRP.

From what I can see- IGAW seems to have more stuff in it- altough as smaller proportion of them will be visable in a small telescope (altough i woundn't mind reading about the other stuff, to be honest). TLAO seems to have less stuff, but more sutible for the smaller telescope.

What I'm asking is- which is better for me? I mean- if ILAW has all that TLAO has, and it's cheaper, and has other interesting stuff, I don't mind sorting through to find find the stuff I need.

Thanks in Advance,

James.

P.S. The Pinwheel Galaxy still elludes me- is it out of my range or should I just keep looking?

[John]

The usual recommendation for newcomers to the hobby is "Turn Left at Orion" which is excellent and very accessible. It's not so much how much stuff is in a guide but the way it helps you to actually find the objects in the sky that matters - a decent success rate when starting out helps keep the interest alive.

The Pinwheel Galaxy (AKA M101 in Ursa Major) can be seen in your scope as a very faint smudge of light but it's not the easiest galaxy to find by any means. M81 and M82 in Ursa Major would be easier to find - they are often the 1st galaxies that newcomers spot.

John

[Doc]

M101 is pretty hard to find unless you have dark skies as John has said M81/82 is a must.

As is Turn left at Orion.

[JamesK]

Well, after looking at all the raving about Turn Left, on this site and others, and on the review pages of amazon, I've ordered it. Hopefully we'll get some clear skies over Easter, and a chance to try it out. Thanks for the Feedback.

[The Warthog]

I have, and have used TLAO, and I also have a copy of Nightwatch, which is another useful guide to the skies. I have been using Nightwatch for quite a long time.

[step_hen]

Turn Left at Orion is def the better choice, especially for smaller scopes like yours, and mine!

[Andrew*]

If you've already ordered it, well, there's not much I can do about it, but I would recommend IGAW over TLAO. I find it just as easy, if not easier to understand and use, and is much more difficult to "outgrow". It has everything that TLAO has and much more.

While TLAO will do you for now and your current scope, if and when you get more in to the hobby and decide to upgrade, you will quickly run out of targets.

Andrew