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Too bad. Previous copies of this atlas which I have purchased were printed with white stars on a black field. Unfortunately,this copy I bought from Amazon was the reverse, "black stars" on a white field, a whole different visual experience.
"The Cambridge Star Atlas" has these same charts in a smaller version at the back. Star clusters, nebulae and galaxies are color coded and piques one's interest in taking another look at well known, and not so well known galactic wonders. The ISBN for this purchase is not the field version which has white stars on a black background (as shown in the "Look Inside" option). However, the stated ISBN version has excellent charts each, when folded out, measure 16X24 inches or 3 square feet.
It shows all stars to magnitude 8 i believe, and comes with a handy transperent insert which you can use to check the magnitude of stars and also has the telrad rings on it, so you can use a Telrad to point to things more accurately. I recently got interested in Astronomy, and saw the need for a good in-depth star chart. I must say that the Sky Atlas is wonderfull.
Without the Tirion, I never would've found half the stuff I've seen over the years.As one reviewer said, this is best suited for the smaller scopes and that is true to some extent, as you can outgrow it with a larger scope. I navigate through the sky with this set of star charts and a 50mm finder, and that's it. Even something like Stephan's Quintet is missing. However, don't let that deter you as there are plenty of objects on the charts that I can barely see in my 16". I guess Wil just set a limit, and left it at that.So, to enhance their use, I use Megastar. This review is actually for the loose leaf, un-laminated field edition of the star charts.
So I now had a real map of the sky that actually showed some detail.In the 90's I had the series laminated and it was the best thing to do since the paper charts, no matter how sturdy, wear after a few years of heavy use.Since I built my 16" scope and started getting into the Herschels, I discovered many objects missing from those original charts. No computer, no setting circles. There is no option to review it on the current listing, so I'm doing it here.My wife bought me this set in the mid-eighties and it opened up a whole new world in the sky for me. Megastar, designed for deep sky observers, is great for finding everything the Tirion won't, but it doesn't give the perspective these large-format charts do. The Tirion field edition is "da bomb." Highly recommended. Before, I was stuck with the Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazine star charts, or the very confusing and hard to read Norton's Star Atlas.
I've checked the latest version at Scope City and many of those obscure objects are still missing even in that latest edition.
Lamination is also critical to have as the first night out with the "free" charts I printed from my computer they were ruined.This is the master reference to take to the observing site. I thought that was a cute idea when I bought it. Now I know how important it is. This book has instantly become one of the two most important documents I take to the field. I reiterate, "Don't leave home without it." It's heavy, and bulky to hold (I take a collapsible table when observing) but there is nothing like having the complete data at your fingertips. Once I have determined my position and orientation using a plenisphere there is nothing I can't know about any part of the sky. Spiral bound lays flat.
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