--click on image to download--
This free download features:
Utility as a companion to Andrew Sullivan's Mag 7 Star Atlas or in conjunction with any other star atlas like the Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas.
An all-sky constellation map indexed to the various star charts in the Mag 7 Star Atlas.
Quarterly maps of the night sky (Dec 15, March 15, June 15, September 15).
Basic data about deep sky objects on the star maps.
Links to wonderful astrophotographs of the best open clusters, globular clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.
Lots of miscellaneous information -- historical anecdotes, HR-diagrams, measurement methods, etc.
Links to Ian Ridpath’s Star Tales, which has delightful narrations of the myths associated with each constellation.
I've always loved astronomy because it is such a foundational science and yet the scientists all seem very pleased with themselves if their data only turns out to be wrong by an order of magnitude or so. Things are always moving very fast. What we think we know today will probably be greatly modified within a decade.
Amateur astronomy is a way of stepping through a door into the enormity and delightful strangeness of the universe. When I haul out my telescope, I almost immediately find myself lost as I try to star-hop from the tiny dots on my sky maps through the teensy burning embers in my eyepiece. Sky maps are essential tools -- especially for those of us who prefer finding our own way to using a computer-guided telescope. Astronomy is a learning hobby. Learning to use the charts is one part of it. But then, too, learning about the nature of the stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies is even more fascinating.
I've got a whole shelf of different sky atlases that I have tried over the years, ranging from a home-made laminated Star Wheel, to The Sky Crew Star Atlas created by my friend Paul Qualtieri, to the hefty Jumbo Edition of Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. None were quite what I wanted. The star wheel is handy for naked-eye observing, but too small for use with a scope. The Jumbo Edition is too heavy and inconvenient.
Last winter I discovered Andrew L Johnson's Mag 7 Star Atlas, and it is just what I have always wanted. It prints out beautifully as 21 individual maps on 8.5" x 11" paper. On any given night I'm only going to need three or four of those maps. I can slide each of them into a separate plastic sleeve and have completely dew-proof charts to use for the evening.
The only thing missing was the information -- the knowledge, the tiny bit of nightlore necessary to serve as a useful reminder or to ignite a burning need to go back to the books. I decided to create what I felt was needed. I've done so in a 19-page booklet crammed with data . . . and hopefully enlivened with the kinds of curious anecdotes that will add more depth to an evening of observing. The idea is to stuff one of these pages back-to-back with the associated chart into each of your three or four plastic sleeves. On one side you have a map of the stars and deep sky objects. On the other side you have information: stellar classifications, distances, magnitudes, angular size, and much more. In the on-line version there are links to beautiful images taken by amateur astrophotographers for most of the deep-sky objects.
If you find the booklet useful or have ideas about how to improve it, please comment below.
Once again, you can download my free Observing Notes for Andrew Johnson's Mag 7 Star Atlas here -- or by clicking on the cover image at the top of this page.
