The year-round Messier Marathon field guide Book

Among the deepest satisfactions of amateur astronomy is knowing your way around the sky. From the familiar guideposts of the brightest stars, you confidently point your binoculars or telescope toward the Andromeda galaxy, the Hercules cluster, or the Lagoon nebula. This book was written for the person who wants to become deeply familiar with the most famous list of deep-sky wonders, the Messier objects. Using bright guidepost stars and detailed sky charts, the novice soon learns how to find the nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies that every amateur astronomer should know. Also you need not run this marathon just a few weeks a year. Even at the worst you will have about 90 of the 110 objects visible throughout the year! The observing techniques taught in this book are both easy to learn and powerful, suitable not only for the novice but also for the experienced amateur. By following the sequence of charts presented in the second half of the book, a beginner using Harvard Pennington's methods should be able to locate and identify 25 to 30 Messier objects at any time of year before midnight. By working systematically against time, by running the Messier Marathon the observer quickly hones crucial observing skills and soon gains a deep familiarity with the night sky. Once each year, on a moonless night during late March or early April, observers have an opportunity to test their skills by trying to observe all 110 objects that make up this list.