The Universe from Your Backyard: A Guide to Deep Sky Objects from Astronomy Magazine

This is a nice introduction to deep-sky observing (star clusters, nebulae, galaxies) with a little information on double and variable stars thrown in. It consists entirely of out-takes from David Eicher's column in Astronomy magazine (by the same name). It's good, it's brief, and it covers essentially all the major deep-sky objects within each constellation. All that said, I don't know what the reviewer above is talking about. The book is about deep-sky observing. There is little to nothing here about individual stars. She must be thinking about some other book.

This is one of the best introductory observing guides for amateur astronomers that I have seen. Written for owners of small to medium telescopes, this book contains a diverse selection of objects for virtually every constellation in the sky. Many of the southern constellations are included as well for those of you lucky enough to live under those spectacular skies.I spent the last month reading through this book during my lunch breaks and used it for a few observing sessions with a 12" scope. I plan to use it for many more! The artwork, photographs, and sketches in this work are a pleasure to view. This is a keeper.The observing notes about each object are very well written. Some of the science may be slightly off (i.e. distances), since this book was written in the 80's, but this doesn't affect what you see in the eyepiece which is the main focus of Eicher's notes.The book consists of many four-page chapters. One or two constellations are covered in each chapter. This consists of a page of outstanding photographs, a nice illustration of the constellation depicted as a mythological figure, discussion and observing notes, a map of the region, eyepiece sketches, and a chart with some basic details on all objects covered in the text (i.e. position, size, magnitude, etc.).The only negative thing I found is that many of the objects that Eicher discusses in the text are outside the boundaries of the included maps! The maps themselves aren't too detailed so a good star atlas is an absolute must if you use this book during an observing session. Many of the objects surveyed are quite dim and require a bit of starhopping, which the included maps are inadequate for.

This book is perfect for research. It has information on all the constellations and in-depth picture of each. It doesn't have a mythological summary of each, but the pictures are fantastic. Each star of the constellation is described.