Deep-Sky Observing with Small Telescopes: A Guide and Reference

Novice and more experienced observers can both get many benefits from this collaboration on deep sky objects. The title is correct, as there is no information here on observing the solar system. The term "small telescope" really isn't defined in this book; the various authors of each chapter mention sizes from 2 to 6 inches (I get the sense from reading through that a 2.4 inch/60mm refractor and a 6 inch/150mm reflector are what they mainly focused on). I bought this book for double star and open cluster information, and its loaded with them, but globular and galaxy hunters will be very happy here. Since this book was published a few decades ago, the epoch used is 1950, which will probably not matter to many users. In this day when goto telescopes are commonplace, just keying in the appropriate NGC or IC number will bring you to an object. If you are using setting circles instead, cross reference with epoch 2000 coordinates are easy to find on the internet or in many other reference books. With star hopping, the epoch used won't matter at all, of course. Many of the objects listed have a comment about them, and all have the magnitudes and sizes in minutes of arc stated (seconds arc seperation for double stars). The double star list alone has over 1000 of them and will keep you busy for decades. The open cluster list has about 110, roughly one-quarter the number of the Collinder Catalog, but as this book was written by observers in North America nothing below M6 (roughly -40 degrees) is listed which shortens the list considerably. The same is true for globular clusters and galaxies, though Omega Centauri's inclusion is almost mandatory. Having all this reference information in your hands next to your telescope is very convenient. Unless you live in Australia/New Zealand or southern Africa, you can't make a mistake looking for a copy of this book.

I found this book to be very helpful in selecting objects to observe. The book is very well laid out and objects are classified into different categories, making it easy to navigate. I particularly liked Dave Eicher's eyepiece impressions and his description of objects. A very good guidebook for owners of small telescopes!!!

How do you know if you can see an object with your small telescope? This book is the answer. Deep sky objects are listed on a Sky Atlas but it do not show how bright they are. This book not only lists the objects but lists the brightness (magnitude) and provides helpful hints about oberving some of them. The book is arranged by type of object then by constellation for easy reference. This book was invaluable when I completed the Herschel 400 object list.