| Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects expands on the famous Messier catalog of 109 observing delights by adding another 109 equally appealing deep sky objects to observe. The Caldwell list includes such fascinating objects as the Bowtie Nebula, the Cat’s Eye Nebula, the Ghost’s Goblet, the Horseshoe Cluster, the Bubble Nebula, the Blinking Planetary . . . and that just includes the named objects among the first 15 Caldwell objects. Also included is a list and descriptions of 20 additional spectacular non-Caldwell/non-Messier objects. This book is the ultimate road map to Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore’s catalog of 109 star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies that didn’t make it into the Messier list. The book was written by Stephen James O’Meara, a contributing editor to Sky and Telescope magazine and has a foreword by Patrick Moore, the tireless British champion of astronomy and compiler of the Caldwell catalog. Each of the 109 Caldwell objects is illustrated with a photo, a superb finderscope locating chart, and a detailed hand-drawn eyepiece sketch which shows the object’s appearance in a 4” refractor. A first-hand visual description in included, with the object’s history and astronomical significance explained in vivid and engaging detail. For example, the essay on Omega Centauri (Caldwell #80) is over five pages long and well worth reading for the sheer pleasure of it. A review by a Sky & Telescope contributing editor said, “This wonderful observing guide is a testament to what experience, persistence, and dark skies can reveal to the patient deep sky observer. O’Meara’s essays are interwoven with a tapestry of background material that lends depth and richness to the observing experience. His skilled observations and side jaunts to obscure targets give both novice and seasoned skygazers fresh vista to seek and explore.” You can expand your observing universe and test your viewing skills with this excellent observing guide. It is a must for budding night watchers, both as a guide at the telescope and as a fascinating read when the skies are cloudy. In a review, Chet Raymo, author of 365 Starry Nights and An Intimate Look at the Night Sky, said, “Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects is an indispensable guide for anyone who observes the night sky with a quality amateur telescope from a reasonably dark place. Here are tips for viewing – and understanding! – more than one hundred entrancing galaxies, star clusters and nebulae available to the backyard enthusiast. With its wealth of scientific and historical information, and its poetic sensibility, the book gave me immense pleasure even before I left my easy chair.”
Hardback, 484 7” x 10” pages, published in 2002. 110 line diagrams, 146 black and white photos, 103 eyepiece finder maps, and 4 tables. The author, Stephen J. O’Meara, has spent much of his career on the editorial staff of Sky & Telescope magazine. His many astronomical achievements include being the first person to sight Halley’s Comet on its 1985 return, noticing the dark “spokes” in Saturn’s B ring before the Voyager 1 spacecraft imaged them, and determining the rotation period of the distant planet Uranus. He received The Texas Star Party Omega Centauri Award for “advancing astronomy through observation, writing, and promotion, and for his love of the sky,” and the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O’Meara in his honor. |
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