Observer's Handbook 2007 - five thumbs up!

What a sap I am! I mean, I have to admit that something called "The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada," really turns me on. I guess I like it because it carries with it that aura I associate with the early days of science when the various royal societies in England and elsewhere were so critical. The name conjures up the aroma of pipe smoke, over-stuffed chairs, and people sharing the secrets about the latest species of beetle discovered in some far-off corner of the world by a sicnetist/adventurer.

Anyway, when this group publishes something they call a "Handbook" - and they have been doing so for just one year shy of a century - I pay attention. Well, I paid attention about 35 years ago and bought one - and now I've bought my second. Considering it comes out every year I guess that doesn't sound like much of a recommendation, But don't be mslead. All it means is that in most of those years I really didn't have the spare change, and when I did have it my astronomy activity was at a low ebb. So that says something about me, not the handbook - the Handbook is excellent, especially if you're past the beginner stage, although there's stuff in here the beginner will find useful. There's also stuff in here that over-powers me. Like I don't really need a list of all the moons in the solar system - especially since most of them are tiny, insignificant chunks of rock or ice that are far too dim for my largest telescope to detect. And I could go all year without knowing the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.

So what's the Observer's Handbook 2007 all about? three things:

1. It has a several helpful observing article on a wide variety of topics.

2. It has day-to-day (and night-to-night) highlights of all the basic stuff that interests us - where the planets are, variable star data, occultations, etc.

3. It contains a wealth of the sort of data tables you usually find in almanacs - such as a chronological list of all the space exploration missions, or a listing of the ifnest NGC objects by season, or a short list of very useful Web sites, or the times of sunrise and sunset, etc.

There are no photographs.It's 292 pages are text, tables, and charts. It's emphasis is usefulness. And generally, it is timely information, though some of it is timeless.

Some sample titles romthe Table of Contents:

Limiting Magnitudes, Weather Resources on the Internet, Deep Sky Challenge Objects, Times and Time Scales. There's stuff here I need to plan any observing session - and there's stuff here I didn't even know I needed or would find interesting, but I do.

So does this belong on every amateur's bookshelf? I don't think so. You can do lots and lots of star gazing without it. I have. But I'm also delighted I have it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone serious about this hobby.

You can get one at the Society Web site for S32. But there is a big discount for folks buying several and I got mine off Astromart because a club had bought more than they needed and were selling the extras for $20 each.