The Backyard Stargazer

The first thing most people ask me is how do you know the name of THAT star or THAT constellation? Or that point of light is a planet? With a little bit of work anyone can learn to find their way around the night sky – most of us can already recognize a few star patterns like the Big Dipper or the Belt of Orion.

But to really learn what’s where and where you can expect to find what you are looking for, you need to spend many nights under the stars just looking. And a good star atlas can’t hurt either.

Most amatuer astronomers collect star atlases like baseball cards or matchbox cards. I currently have three.

The big one, the one that stays on the desk, is the Sky Atlas 2000.0. This comes in various editions – laminated for the field, white on black or black on white, with or without bound pages, you get the picture. It’s the big book of stars and it’s a sight to behold.

The one that goes with me to star parties and comes out at night with me is Sky & Telescope’s Pocket Sky Atlas. This has just enough detail to keep more advanced users happy but simple enough to use for beginners. Plus it’s small and can fit in your backpack. It’s also perfect to take along on a trip in case you get a nice clear night and need to find your way.

Last but not least is Will Tirion’s Bright Star Atlas. It’s a nicely sized reference guide, halfway between the full blown Sky Atlas and the pocket sized Sky and Telescope version.

There are a lot of other books out there. I would also recommend a copy of Sky and Telescope or Astronomy for the current month to get yourself started. They will alert you to anything new – a comet, nova or meteor shower in the sky, and let you know what planets are up and where to find them.