This handbook is a guide to exploring the classical night sky
and its wonderful telescopic sights. All 88 officially recognized
constellations are presented in natural groups which are related by
their origin and location in the sky. Each group is explained by a
fascinating story which tells what each constellation represents,
how it appears in the sky, and why the other constellations of the
group are close by, or related in some other manner. Some of these
stories are classical myths which show how and why ancient cultures
saw the constellations as related groups. Others are about more
modern astronomers who sought recognition by filling in the gaps
between the ancient constellations with inventions of their own.
Both types of stories are crafted to make the constellation groups
memorable, so that amateur astronomers can not only locate and
recognize the constellations more easily, but also be able to
pinpoint the celestial objects they contain more quickly.
Specific instructions are given for finding each constellation,
how to spell and pronounce the constellation and star names, plus
the origins of the star names. Finder charts show each
constellation group and a large area of sky around the group. These
charts also indicate pointer stars which aid in finding the
constellations.
More detailed charts show how each constellation figure is
visualized through simple line drawings. For each constellation,
there is a table of about 10 to 30 telescopic objects selected to
include a wide range of difficulty. Some can be glimpsed with the
unaided eye, others require a 12 or 14 inch telescope. All the most
prominent telescopic objects are included, plus a varied selection
of interesting, but much more difficult objects. The tables include
each object s celestial coordinates, type, size, brightness, other
information specific to each type of object, and a recommendation
of the appropriate telescope size needed for good viewing.
There are also photographs of constellations and telescopic
objects, detailed locator charts for the hard-to-find objects, and
plots of binary star orbital motions. The same charts used to show
the constellation figures are repeated, with the addition of
symbols indicating the locations of all the selected telescopic
objects.
An index and seven appendices help the user find specific
objects or classes of objects.
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