On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 10:50 AM, <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
Clicking on the link, you will also see the Sky Atlas 2000 by Wil Tirion is available, brand new for 1,200 bucks. A used one is $125. I have two of them, one is laminated. Didn't think I had such valuable pieces of paper :) - No not for sale.
I have both the field and desk editions of the Tirion atlas. Interestingly, I never used them much. Old habits die hard I suppose, because most of my adult life I always tended to grab my Skalnate Pleso (Rocky Lake) atlas that I bought at Hansen Planetarium back in the mid-seventies. A friend who worked for the Grantie School District laminated it for me so it is waterproof and perfect for field use. I still have it to this day, in a thin birch-ply wooden slipcase I made for it a long time ago. The slipcase sports some colored marker graffiti courtesy of my then young daughter, lol. The Peterson Field Guide charts were very good at the eyepiece due to their compact size, and the white-stars-on-black background like all good field charts. I did get some use from Uranometria. The smaller pages photocopied easier. Then along came the Millenium Star Atlas about ten years ago and that sucker just blew me away. Absolutely love it. Today, the atlas I use most at the eyepiece is the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas. A great little set of charts. Not the one to use for the obscure stuff, but very handy and a good size for transporting and using at the telescope. I would be interested in seeing the Great Atlas. I wonder if it was produced by the same people who did the Skalnate Pleso?