Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook (19th ed) 19 Sub edition by Ridpath, Ian (1998) Hardcover

by ian-ridpath-arthur-p-norton-ian-ridpath-editor

First time in paperback! "Once in a blue moon a book appears to dramatically and forever change its subject; in short, the work becomes an indispensable resource for generations. "Norton's Star Atlas" is such a work".--Leif J. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief, "Sky & Telescope".

Genres: Astronomy, Reference, Science

Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

Reviews

[Stacy Lohman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Type of Resource: Handbooks

Description:
This is considered to be the most famous star atlas in the world - known by generations of amateur astronomers as simply "Nortons". It is designed to be a leading reference handbook for astronomers. The handbook has been revised and redesigned by a team of astronomers, bringing the information fully up-to-date and reflecting new and exciting developments in observational astronomy. The star maps have been re-plotted to a new level of accuracy and legibility for the Standard Epoch of 2000.0, using state-of-the-art computer techniques specially developed for this 20th edition.
Call Number: R 523

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Aprilleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reference volume starts with not quite 50 pages of useful information about celestial coordinates, dates, time, astronomical instruments (including binoculars and the different types of telescopes, as well as mounts and a variety of common accessories), and imaging.

This is followed by another 50ish pages of information about the objects in our own solar system, including the sun, the planets and their moons, as well as comets, meteors, and artificial satellites. Of particular interest is a stunning four-page map of the moon’s Earth-facing side along with four accompanying pages of features identified by name and location.

Next comes about 30 pages worth of information about stars, nebulae and galaxies, including stellar evolution and galaxy classification, and a series of 18 star charts (includes stars of magnitude 6 or brighter) and accompanying tables.

This is an amazing reference work, and reasonably affordable as star atlases go. For use out in the field with your telescope, however, I think there are much better options (the binding, for example, should be spiral for ease of use). This is the kind of reference you use to plan a viewing session at home.

[tgrantl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not optional for amateur astronomers. Not as detailed as Uranometria, but perfect for casual observation with binoculars or small scopes.

[Iain Watson]

Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook, 20th Edition (2003)