“A Comprehensive Field Guide To The NGC” is a four-volume field guide with over 7,000 images of NGC objects that has been compiled by Bhavesh Jivanlal Parekh of Portland Oregon.
Parekh notes, “This started out in late 2018 as a nice-to-have tool for me and a couple of my observing buddies. However, the endeavor took on a life of its own.” The result is massive four-volume field guide with numerous cross-references, a ten-page index, and 7,047 large sized images, laid out on over 650 folio size, water-proof pages.
All 7,047 images were originally captured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (DSS) and most are from the DSS2. “It has been a labor of love for me,” says Parekh. “I have shared various iterations of the book with quite a few fellow astronomers and included their input and feedback to make it a better product that I hope will be a useful tool for other astronomers.”
He continued, “My goal was to have a tool that will not just sit on a bookshelf but will be used in the field. As someone mentioned to me, the best telescope is the one you take out to the field. That is true for a field guide with an extensive amount of information.”
The field guide is divided into four volumes by seasons: two volumes for autumn/winter and two for spring/summer. Each season’s volumes list constellations alphabetically and then the objects in NGC numeric order within each constellation.
Each volume is 150 to 180 pages. The books are spiral-bound on the long-edge for easy page-flipping and taking up little space on already crammed observing tables. Images are printed in 3.25” x 3.25” size for easy visualization and show the field of view, as well the actual size of objects.
Additionally, users of Dobsonian telescopes will find that the printed images will match the view through your eyepiece with a slight angle variation based on your focuser/secondary mirror position and observing location/time.
The front section includes cross-references between NGC objects and their counterparts in the Messier Catalog, Arp Objects, Herschel 400 Objects, Caldwell Catalog, and a complete sky atlas of constellations (with clear identification of seasons, and page reference). You need only one book to complete multiple observing programs.
Volume 1 and 2 (Autumn/Winter) are priced at $125US and Volume 3 and 4 (Spring/Summer) is $125US as well. All four volumes are priced at $225US.
You can learn more here.
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