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Reflector Book Review:
MESSIER OBJECTS:
A Beginner’s Guide
Category: Observing
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MESSIER OBJECTS: A Beginner’s Guide
Kathy Machin and Sue Wheatley
Astronomical League Sales, 1997
P. O. Box 572
West Burlington, IA 52655
30 pages paperback, $5.00 plus shipping.
The Astronomical League has revised
and re-issued one of its classic OBSERVE manuals under
a new title: MESSIER OBJECTS: A Beginners Guide.
The new book, revised and updated by former A.L. Messier
Coordinator Kathy Machin, and League Publications Chairman
Sue Wheatley, it the quintessential beginner’s
observation book. The descriptions were written by Kathy,
who has been observing Messier objects for years. For
this book, she has analyzed all her own descriptions,
published descriptions, and those of Astronomical League
members who have sent in their observations to her as
the Observing Awards Coordinator. Thus, these are probably
the clearest, most concise descriptions of the Messier
objects available.
Like its predecessors, this book is
arranged by the seasons. Kathy has listed the objects
within a season in the most efficient way for searching.
That is, she has you looking for Messier objects that
are near each other, rather than merely in numerical
order or by constellation. The goal is to keep the observer
from wasting time moving their scope across large areas
of the sky, to do “all of the Messiers in Scorpius,”
for example.
Three new spreadsheets have been included
as Appendices to help observers in their quest. The
first is a listing of all objects by Messier number,
the second by constellation, and the third by object
type. Within the text, each Messier object is annotated
with its chart number on two of the present day’s
most widely used star charts, SkyAtlas 2000.0, and Uranometria
2000.0. While neither of these is required for finding
the Messiers, observers will need a star char of some
kind, and these are two of the best. Also included are
the Right Ascension and Declination, the magnitude,
and the size of each object. Many people submitted sketches
and photographs to the authors during the compilation
of this book. Printing costs prevented the use of everything
submitted, but there are still some very fine astrophotos
and drawings included, usually at least one on each
page. This gives AL members an excellent forum for displaying
their talents.
Several other contributors deserve
to be mentioned. Emil Bonnano of Houston, who is the
author of the MegaStar software, allowed the use of
charts generated by his software on the inside covers.
A map of the Sagittarius Star Cloud can be found on
the inside front cover, while the Virgo Cluster is on
the inside back cover. Brian Skiff of Lowell Observatory
and Brent Archinal of the U.S. Naval Observatory provided
technical advice, and Don DeWitt offered suggestions.
And finally, Marion Bachtell and Dave Bachtell, of Astronomical
League Sales, contributed part of their budget to make
this book happen.
MESSIER OBJECTS: A Beginners Guide
is a fine replacement in the spirit of its predecessors,
but with improvements that most observers will find
more than useful. It is clearly laid out and chock full
of hints and tips for both beginning and experienced
observers. At $5.00, it is more than a bargain. Says
Kathy in her forward, “We hope you enjoy this book.
We hope it becomes dog-eared and wet with dew from many
nights under the stars.”
Ed Flaspoehler
former Reflector Editor
Reviewed in the August 1997 issue.
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