Pocket Star Atlas (Black stars/white background)

$24.95

Availability: Out of stock

This compact (6" x 9") set of star charts has a convenient spiral-bound lay-flat design. It's a wonderfully detailed star atlas that's handy to take on trips and use at the telescope or with binoculars . . .
Our Product #: APOCKET
Sky Publishing Product #: 59317
 

Product Description

The Sky and Telescope celestial atlases (such as the famed Tirion Atlas 2000.0 series) are the standard by which all other star charts have been judged for a half century. Now Sky and Telescope has raised the bar with this new Pocket Sky Atlas. Thanks to its compact size, convenient spiral-bound lay-flat design, and easy-to read labels, there has never been such a wonderfully detailed star atlas so handy to take on trips and use at the telescope or with binoculars.

The 80 charts in this second printing contain more than 30,000 black stars on a white background to magnitude 7.6. The stars are individually sized in ten one-magnitude steps according to their relative brightness. Some 1,500 deep-sky objects are included, color-coded by type (including 675 galaxies to magnitude 11.5 shown oriented as they are in the sky). The color-coding shows double stars, variable stars, and special objects. Open clusters, globular clusters, galaxies, bright nebulas, dark nebulas, and emission nebulas are also color-coded, and are drawn to scale if they measure over 20 arc minutes in size. All of the Messier, Caldwell, and Herschel 400 objects are plotted and identified. The best double stars are named, and three dozen red (carbon) stars are marked. The charts show the constellation boundaries. The same stick figures outlining the familiar constellation shapes that are used in the monthly star charts in Sky and Telescope and Night Sky magazines are shown to help you find your way around the sky. In the back are special close-up charts of the Orion Nebula region, the Pleiades, the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, and the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The easy-to-read chart labels are legible even in dim light. Facing pages show contiguous areas of the sky, and indicators in the margins of each chart give you the chart numbers of adjacent parts of the sky. There is minor overlap between each pair of charts on facing pages, but substantial overlap between the non-sequential charts of adjacent sky areas, to help keep you from losing your way as you move from chart to chart. The scale is 1° in declination per 3/16" at the equator, and 2-13/16" per hour of right ascension. The 110-page 6" x 9" softbound book easily fits into a car's glove compartment so you need never leave home without your star charts. An Index lists all the named stars and identifies the chart(s) exh can be found on. The Index does the same for all galaxies shown on the charts; all open and globular clusters; all bright, dark, and planetary nebulas; and other items of interest. Separate Indexes list the charts for all 109 Caldwell and 110 Messier objects.

Tech Details

Weight 13 oz.
Warranty 1 year

Reviews

Review by:
This atlas is a bargain at $20 and I recommend it to every amateur astronomer. I consider it an essential element in my "ready bag" of observing equipment. (Posted on 10/4/2019)
Review by:
I love the layout of this atlas with its spiral lay flat design. The charts are easy to read with black stars on white background. Really like the degree scale on the inside cover which makes star hopping easier - I plot out my star hopping using the 5° fov of my finder. The chart layouts tell you when each section is sky high depending on months and evening, midnight, and morning. Plenty of DSO objects shown to keep you busy for a lifetime. I first bought the Jumbo edition because a "pocket size" sounded too small to use. But then I decided to get the Pocket size version also - plenty big enough to really use in the field and small enough to easy pack in a carry-on bag when flying. Mine stays in my eyepiece/equipment case - readily available there when I travel to a dark sky site. I don't leave home without it. This is a handy detailed sky atlas everyone should have. (Posted on 9/16/2019)
Review by:
This was my first book on astronomy and even it retrospect it is hard to imagine making a better choice. The enthusiasm of the author is contagious and the information is educational. It is very well suited to a beginner but also comes in handy as your understanding grows. Highly recommended.
(Posted on 9/9/2019)
Review by:
By the measurement of how often it gets used, this is easily the best star atlas I've ever had. Never leaves my eyepiece case and gets used on every observing trip. Every chart is thoughtfully laid out and well illustrated. Easy to read by dim red LED. Small enough to go everywhere.

Only complaint is that it doesn't have an index for the charted carbon stars which it calls special attention to in the introduction. This is a shame because that's otherwise a fantastic inclusion! (Posted on 7/24/2019)
Review by:
I have used everything from the large and heavy book size atlases to one page all sky star maps. This is the perfect compromise between light weight and completeness. The 80 plus pages of star charts and close-up maps show an incredible number of stars, nebulae, galaxies and other interesting objects. The scale is excellent--definitely not too small-and the individual charts include extras such as red carbon stars and clearly marked double stars. The perfect atlas for me and, I would guess, at least 90% of amateur astronomers out for an evening's viewing of the sky. (Posted on 7/22/2019)
Review by:
I went without a Pocket Atlas for 15 years...and I don't know how I survived those 15 years! It's got most of what you need for a night outside for most astronomers. Will you need something that goes deeper at a dark sky site with a 25" telescope? Yes. But this atlas is a great bang for the casual observer's buck. (Posted on 7/22/2019)
Review by:
Got this when it was first released. Outstanding work. Easy to read charts with enough stars and detail to make it worthwhile without being cluttered. As is mentioned in other reviews it is easy to read under the sky in low light. Overall this is the best all around atlas I own, which includes Nortons, Popular Sky atlas as well as the historical AAVSO Variable Star atlas. I even prefer this atlas to my 3 volume set of Uranometria! (Posted on 1/11/2019)
Review by:
I moved away from this type of atlas after the phone apps caught and surpassed them. I now use the SkySafari app, the Pro version that costs less than this paper book.

My wife is a librarian, and trust me, I understand the sentimental attachment to paper. But in the field, the phone apps blow these away. Just hold up your screen, and see what you see.

I could only see a use case for this atlas in pre-planning a session. But then again, Stellarium is free, dude! (Posted on 1/2/2019)
Review by:
I love this sky atlas. It is portable and provides plenty of targets for modest aperture telescopes. It is very easy to locate the correct page for your target area and while small enough to be portable it is also large enough to be easily read. The binding and pages are durable. Objects are color coded to make it easy to identify which type you are looking at and symbols are the standard symbols used in other atlases. The pages are group by the constellations visible in roughly 2 month periods. There are also several close up charts for more detailed study of several showpiece targets. (Posted on 12/2/2018)
Review by:
I use this pocket chart at almost every observing session. Small enough to pack easily, with enough detail to make finding the more significant objects easy. I like the messier listing at the back - pints tot he correct map page for easy access. (Posted on 10/24/2018)
Review by:
Sturdy, compact, and easy to use in the field. The white background and black stars are quite visible under a red flashlight. (Posted on 10/10/2018)
Review by:
I enjoy the S and T pocket sky atlas. It's a good size, has lots of objects (galaxies, messier, NGC, double stars systems, etc). It uses a metal ring type binding as the spine for easy open and close. The inner pages seem water resistant ( they may be completely waterproof, I don't personally know since I haven't used it in harsh dewy conditions, at least not yet that is). The outside cover/back page is slightly susceptible to water in that it curls a little bit on corners and outer edge but this doesn't bother me. Seems like a great sky atlas to me. CW (Posted on 8/4/2017)
Review by:
I love this atlas. It is small, which is important to me because it fits in my toolbox eyepiece case. It also opens up flat so I don't have to wrestle with it to keep it from closing. The pages are sturdy so it takes a lot of abuse. And the maps themselves are sufficiently detailed to keep me busy for years to come. (Posted on 8/4/2017)
Review by:
I have had this atlas for years, it is well made and detailed. The atlas has been very handy to use when star hopping and imaging. Print and objects are easy to see in low red light. This atlas will help the novice observer become more familiar with the night sky. (Posted on 8/4/2017)
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