Is the ultimate printed star atlas coming?

hi all,

I was browsing the posts on the www.cloudynights.com forum last night and found a reference to a site called www.skygx.com/ . . . certainly looks like the ultimate printed star atlas. Have a look at the sample pages. It looks pretty impressive!

I was thinking of getting the paperback Millennium Star Atlas when it is published in early 2006 but a poster on the C.N. forum was saying Uranometria has more deep sky objects listed. Is this true? I guess it might because the MSA is based on the Hipparcos satellite data which just mapped star positions and wasn't specifically plotting non-stellar objects as well.

there's something about having a printed star atlas in your hand . . . charting programs don't quite get it just right.

John

John - certainly *does* look impressive.

The project, as described on the web site strikes me as being rather unconventional - no publisher has been identified yet. But certainly the prototype charts look very clean and easily readable.

As to the difference between MSA and Uranometria, I've no idea. And I don't know how this new atlas stacks up against them either. As a heathen using only planetarium software, I'm afraid I wouldn't be in a position to hazard a valued opinion

Judging the project simply by the website and the prototypes though, I'd say this is one to keep a close eye on. Thanks for the links.

Dave

I was thinking of getting the paperback Millennium Star Atlas when it is published in early 2006 but a poster on the C.N. forum was saying Uranometria has more deep sky objects listed. Is this true? I guess it might because the MSA is based on the Hipparcos satellite data which just mapped star positions and wasn't specifically plotting non-stellar objects as well.

John,

The MSA came out in 1997 and uses the Hipparcos/Tycho catalogue as its starbase. Uranometria 2nd Edition uses the more precise Hiparcos/Tycho2 catalogue released in 2000. Perhaps the new MSA is updating to Tycho 2 - I don't know but I should think that's unlikely. For the likes of us anyway, it probably doesn't matter! Regarding DSOs, yes, this is true. The MSA has c. 10,000 while Uranometria has c. 30,000. This includes 25,985 galaxies and some people suggest that Uranometria's charts are too cluttered with obscure faint galaxies. Doesn't really bother me and I prefer the actual size of the Uranometria volumes to the MSA volumes as well as the charts themselves.

What I really like about Uranometria is the excellent third volume Deep Sky Field Guide, which is an invaluable source of information as well as being an index for Vols 1 and 2. The MSA has no comprehensive DSO index.

Because of the small scale of the charts in both atlases, I would recommend you use a larger scale atlas such as SA2000, BSA, CSA or similar to complement it.

I can show you a volume of both side by side if you wish. Drop up to me sometime or I'll bring them along to the next SDAS meeting.


Gordon

The sample maps certainly look great. If they don't have a publisher yet then I doubt this will be for this years stocking!#

BB

thanks guys for that info . . . with the calibre of people involved in the project I think this will be hard to beat if it ever gets published. Some of the contributors have other "day" jobs so the atlas sounds like a labour of love whenever people get free time. That will probably mean the publishing goal is more long term.

many thanks for the offer of looking at the two atlases Gordon. If you were able to bring them along to the next meeting I'd appreciate it. I picked up the Field Guide (1st edition) for $15 on eBay last week (have to wait 'til my sister comes home from California in mid-December to get it though!)

thanks again,

John

John,
Like all amateur astronomy this is a labour of love. We are after all people doing a job during daylight hours and wasting drinking time at night. And if you believe that you have never been to one of our meetings.