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Reflector Book Review:
Atlas of Compact Groups
of Galaxies
Category: Observing
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Atlas of Compact Groups of Galaxies
by Paul Hickson
Gordon & Breach Science Publishers, 1994
820 Town Center Drive
Langhorne, PA 19047
ISBN 2-88449-115-5 (Hardcover - $68.00)
ISBN 2-88449-116-3 (Softcover - $32.00)
221 pages
Compact groups of galaxies have been
the subject of considerable interest since the discovery
of the first group, Stephan's Quintet, in 1877. The
Atlas of Compact Groups of Galaxies presents
optical images of all 100 of these groups, assembled
from CCD images obtained at the Canada-French-Hawaii
Telescope (CFHT). The work is the result of a search
undertaken using the entire set of Palomar Sky Survey
red-prints in the collection of the University of British
Columbia for small groups of galaxies satisfying well-defined
selection criteria. The atlas combines the best available
optical images of the groups with a concise tabulation
of relevant group data.
Paul Hickson is an associate professor
in the Department of Geophysics and Astronomy, University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He received
his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology
in 1976, where he became interested in compact groups
of galaxies. His other current research interests include
cosmology, astrophysics, and the development of large
optical telescopes.
The Atlas of Compact Groups of
Galaxies is not for the beginning amateur astronomer.
Instead, it is aimed primarily at the professional astronomer,
or someone pursuing an advanced degree in astronomy.
However, it should have great appeal to the advanced
amateur who is interested in CCD astronomy or observing
faint galaxies.
This is not your standard "coffee
table book." The format is more like that of a text
book, and yet somehow appealing. The images are attractively
laid out, and crisply printed in black and white reverse
images, with the galaxies black, and the sky background
light grey. There is abundant information about each
group covered, with the data on the left-hand page and
the images on the right. Some effort would be required
to decipher all this information.
But if you are a galaxy nut, and your
favorite astronomy book when you were growing up was
the Hubble Atlas of Galaxies by Alan Sandage,
this is a book for you. You might not be taking it out
to your telescope for a hard night of power observing,
but as a reference for those "faint fuzzies" you thought
you saw in your giant Dobsonian at the Texas Star Party,
it could be valuable.
The hardcover price, at $68, is a
bit steep, so if you are considering the purchase of
the Atlas of Compact Groups of Galaxies, you
might think of buying the paperback version at $32 instead.
Then you won't feel so poor when you find it on your
bookshelf a few years from now.
Ed Flaspoehler
former Reflector Editor.
Reviewed in the February 1995 issue.
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