The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies

Description

Galaxies - the Milky Way's siblings - offer a surprising variety of forms and colours. Displaying symmetrical spiral arms, glowing red nebulae or diffuse halos, even the image of a galaxy can reveal much about its construction. All galaxies consist of gas, dust and stars, but the effects of gravity, dark matter and the interaction of star formation and stellar explosions all influence their appearances. This volume showcases more than 250 of the most beautiful galaxies within an amateur's reach and uses them to explain current astrophysical research. It features fantastic photographs, unique insights into our knowledge, tips on astrophotography and essential facts and figures based on the latest science. From the Andromeda Galaxy to galaxy clusters and gravitational lenses, the nature of galaxies is revealed through these stunning amateur photographs. This well illustrated reference atlas deserves a place on the bookshelves of astronomical imagers, observers and armchair enthusiasts.

Michael Koenig has a doctorate in astrophysics and studied galaxies professionally for many years. As an amateur astronomer he photographs galaxies from his own observatory, which are displayed on www.astro-images.de. Stefan Binnewies has more than thirty years of experience as an astrophotographer; his images are published in magazines and books all over the world, and on his website at www.capella-observatory.com. Phillip Helbig worked in cosmology and gravitational lensing at Hamburg and Jodrell Bank Observatories and the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute. Although no longer employed in academia, he regularly attends conferences and writes book reviews for The Observatory, as well as the occasional journal paper.

'Kudos to Cambridge University Press for providing this English translation of Koenig and Binnewies's Bildatlas der Galaxien: Die Astrophysik hinter den Astrophotografien (2016). ... Michael Koenig, who has a doctorate in astrophysics, is also an astrophotographer, so if you know one thing about this atlas, it's that the images are top notch. But the science here is top notch, as well. The authors explain the current state of research for more than 300 galaxies and related objects. ... Phillip Helbig has done a nice translation here; the chapters are all quite readable, an admirable result given all the technical language involved. Whether you're looking for a reference book to flesh out your observing notes or a photo book to lose yourself in on a cold winter evening, you won't go wrong if you pick up The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies.' S. N. Johnson-Roehr, Sky & Telescope: The Essential Guide to Astronomy 'Koenig and Binnewies, both amateur astronomers, neatly gather together this well-organized collection of galactic history and photography. Originally published in German, the work was translated by Helbig who employs his background in cosmology and gravitational lensing to provide clear and succinct narratives. The book begins with a short history of the discovery and study of galaxies. The rest of the book is organized into sections according to galaxy type. Each section is prefaced with a brief introduction to the morphology and major characteristics of that form and then presents dozens of example galaxies. Over 250 [galaxies and galaxy] clusters are individually highlighted in this collection. Each galaxy entry includes a high definition photograph and short narrative about its notable features, size, location, and composition. This text is ideal for amateur astronomers who wish to know exactly what they are seeing in the sky, and laypeople will find value in the beautiful images and interesting details highlighted in the text.' J. M. Cook, Choice 'The book starts with a very brief chapter on the historical context and classification schemes for galaxies ... Introducing each section is a useful short chapter on the basic astrophysics around the particular class ... Each galaxy has at least one page dedicated to it ... And there is good coverage of southern-hemisphere objects too. The pictures used throughout this book are excellent ... Each image is accompanied by details about the telescope and camera used, the overall exposure time, and the photographer. And a nice touch, which emphasises the attention to detail in this book, is that the direction of North is indicated with every image. The book is well referenced ... is ...excellent ... for both reading and dipping into ... It will be a welcome resource for anyone interested in studying, observing, or imaging galaxies ... I whole-heartedly recommend it.' Callum Potter, The Observatory 'What makes The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies great for me is the really fantastic full colour images and that each galaxy has information on how that image was taken. This is really useful to the Field of View that was achieved with a certain diameter telescope and what camera was used along with the exposure times. This makes the book a brilliant reference book.' Astronomy Log