|
Reflector Book Review:
Deep Sky Wonders
Category: Observing
|
 |
Deep-Sky Wonders
by Walter Scott Houston,
Edited by Stephen James O’Meara
Sky Publishing Corporation
49 Bay State Road
Cambridge, MA 02138
Telephone: 800-253-0245
Hardcover, 309 pages, $29.95
ISBN: 0-933346-93-X
Walter Scott “Scotty” Houston is a
name many astronomers know well. Author of the Sky
& Telescope's Deep Sky Wonders column from 1946
until his death in December of 1993, he was a passionate
amateur astronomer to the end of his long life. Houston’s
last column appeared in Sky & Telescope in July
1994 issue, and since that time, amateurs have had to
scour back issues to excavate Houston’s gold mine of
observational knowledge. Enter Stephen James O’Meara.
O’Meara has been on the staff of Sky
& Telescope magazine since the late 70’s, and was
editor of Houston’s column from 1990 until his death.
O’Meara began the compilation by working with photocopies
of the nearly 550 individual columns spanning Houston’s
career. He sorted, organized, and collated each of the
works and produced a chapter for each month of the year,
into which he inserted Houston’s colorful prose, descriptive
history, and observational commentary. O’Meara begins
each section with some light annotation, but most of
the words in this book are Houston’s, and as a collection,
they jell beautifully into a seasonal observer’s guide
that challenge Burnham’s for the sheer elegance and
depth of feeling that emanates from the pages.
Upon receiving the book, I quickly
turned my attention to a few of my favorite deep sky
objects and marveled at the timelessness of Houston’s
descriptive prose. Before I knew it I had been reading
for over an hour and could have spent several more lost
in the beauty of Houston’s finely knit web of description,
quotes from other authorities, and the words of his
readers. An example from his description of NGC 2403,
a little known but beautiful galaxy in Camelopardis:
“My 4-inch Clark refractor shows it as a lovely gem.
I logged it as an ‘ocean of turbulence and detail’ as
seen with a 10-inch reflector under dark Kansas skies
in the 1950’s. In 1992 I saw it with a 20-inch telescope
from the Florida Keys - a view that transformed it into
a hurricane of cosmic chaos.” (pp 28-29)
O’Meara’s compilation of Houston’s
works has quickly taken its place as one of my favorite
cloudy night books. It is also a valuable resource for
planning observing sessions. It’s organization by month
lends itself well to selecting some prime targets for
easy observing, with a generous dose of difficult challenges
for the more adventurous. This book is destined to be
an instant classic.
John Rummel
Madison, WI
Reviewed in the May 2000 issue.
|
