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Although the reprints of these titles are
not always in step, their contents are identical as they are
printed from page layouts produced by me on Quark XPress. All
star charts and line diagrams are by Wil Tirion.
The book was first published in the UK in
1984 by Collins. It is now in its 4th edition, completely reset
and with improved colour charts and Moon maps. This edition
made its appearance in the UK in 2007 September and in the US
in 2008 January.
The first US edition was published by
Universe books under the title Universe
Guide to Stars & Planets, but
that has now been completely superseded by the Princeton
University Press edition. A German translation is published by
Kosmos of Stuttgart under the title Der
Kosmos Himmelsführer.
The book is squarely aimed at keen
observers who want to know the best celestial objects within
easy range of binoculars and small to medium-sized telescopes
(up to about 200 mm aperture). Separate charts for each of the
88 constellations are accompanied by descriptions of their main
features, with a guide to the size of instrument needed to
observe them. Preceding this, a section of all-sky charts shows
the sky as it appears in mid-evening each month from northern
and southern latitudes. This book is usable throughout the
inhabited world.
Following the star charts comes more
general text on stars and nebulae, galaxies, the Sun, Moon and
planets, and information on instruments and observation.
One innovation for the 4th edition was
online charts showing the positions of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
against the stars for a 5-year period. These are available on
the Collins website along with other topical information.
Note: Do not
confuse these books with Dorling Kindersley’s Handbook of Stars and Planets (published in the US as the Smithsonian Handbook of Stars and Planets). The books are entirely separate, although
Amazon mixes reviews of the two on its website.
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