Is "Annals of the Deep Sky" the Best Astronomy Book Series?

[@glenndawes813]

Hi Dylan, this is Glenn Dawes, one of the authors of Astronomy 20XX. Ken, Peter and myself discussed your post. I wanted to thank you for the kind words for our publication. There will be an Astronomy 2025 but it will be our 35th and last yearbook. There are many reasons, besides our age, why we have stopped. There is no doubt the printed word is dying. In fact as the Numbers we sold has dropped the unit cost for producing them in Australia has skyrocketed. With regards to the annals series we love them and were totally blown over when they had an entire volume on the wonderful Magellanic clouds. When we were growing up our main reference was also Burnhams, regards From the Quasar crew

[@DylanODonnell]

Hi Glenn! Thanks so much for leaving a comment! I’ve enjoyed your publication and appreciate everything you’ve done to keep it going as long as it has. Thanks also for confirming those details, it will be very sad to see it go, so the last edition will certainly have some gravity. If there’s anything I can do to help in the meantime just let me know. Thanks again! 🫡

[@EdDarter]

Physical printing costs are getting prohibitive sadly. I used to write for an RC helicopter magazine here in the UK but that folded about 5 years ago because the publisher couldn't sell the magazines at a price that was sustainable, especially when large newsagent chains would also charge the publishers an eye watering amount of money for shelf space!

[@deansongberg6891]

Alyn Wallace book, photographing the night sky is an absolute encyclopaedia when it comes to nightscapes. Sure it's not for deep space astro but goes into almost everything associated to photographing the night sky. I'm so grateful to own a copy and that he was able to produce it before his passing. A true legacy.

[@franks2725]

Dylan, thanks for creating this video. I own pretty much every book you mention and many others--my collection is near 100 books. They are all interesting and informative to me and I'd have a difficult time saying one is more important than the other. I admit that I am much happier flipping back-and-forth through the pages of a hardcopy than scrolling my screen. When I started this hobby in the late 1990's I was a visual astronomer and the internet wasn't what it is today, and I'm grateful for that timing, as I learned about the night sky, not just how to type a name/number into a software program. While I appreciate the level of automation that exists now and how that's help build the hobby, I still enjoy being able to manually point my scope to where an object is via simple star-hopping skills I learned through books (it baffles me when folks seem amazed that's possible). Annals is awesome and I hope both that it survives to the end and that I'm around long-enough to own what would be the entire collection.

[@barrycraig1549]

Turn left at Orion. I've always liked that one because now that I'm doing more imaging and EAA, it's nice to see the objects sketched out compared to what I can image.

[@davidjiannotti1537]

I was a printer for 27 years. Worked in retail and magazine / catalog. It raised my kids and put them thru college. I had to throw in the towl in 2022. Was hard putting that many years into a trade and having to start a new. Enjoy your channel. Keep up the good work.

[@DylanODonnell]

Interesting to hear. I will miss magazines, they've been a big part of my life too. It's sad to see them folding. (no MAD pun intended)

[@Ben_Stewart]

Here in Canada the Royal Canadian Astronomy Society publishes a great annual publication.

[@richardpallechio257]

The Night Sky Observer's Guide Volumes 1, 2 and 4. I had to order Volume 1 used. These books have been very useful. I also have the Observer's Sky Atlas by Erich Karkoschka, which has also been very useful for me.

[@SuperNova-py1ec]

This is why I love your channel. Great thumbnail title. I looked up volume one of “annals of deep sky” and this was $184 Australian dollars on UK Amazon. I really enjoy physical books and have signed copies from Brian Cox and Tim Peake. Agree that kindle is kind of useless when compared to physical books. Thanks for sharing.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey glad you enjoyed it! Yeh stay away from Amazon for this series. It’s like the jazz blue book.. you have to buy it from a weird drug dealer on the corner.

[@nightscapejournals]

Well said. Annals is a staggering series - a long overdue updated Burnhams, but turned up to 11. I almost feel the original authors bit off more than they could chew - it’s that good and detailed. I just hope the obsession and passion that kicked it all off has the longevity to get to Vulpecula! I’d never really noticed before, but a lot of the early letters of the alphabet are in the southern hemisphere!!

[@DylanODonnell]

It’s such an epic undertaking isn’t it?? What an incredible series. Hopefully they still have time for the rest of the alphabet :)

[@sinsolosin]

I love your screensaver Dylan!

[@HamishBarker]

Re classic books, this one is not your bag I know, but I build telescopes and make optics. and for that, the absolute classic which I learn something from EVERY TIME is Jean Texerau's "How to build a telescope". When I get stuck with how a mirror figuring project is going, I dive back in and sure enough, Texerau points out the problem and the best way to deal with it. Of course, published originally by willmann bell. Still available from S&T Shop@sky.

[@Astrogator1]

I thought about buying some of the annals a few years ago, but thought that each book only for a few constellations was really expensive. You reminded me of them (Amazon were up to 200 euros 😮). Happily I know of an astronomy shop that has all of them for much less. Now have first 2 and wow!! Can’t wait to get some more. Totally agree paper is best for text books. Thanks for reminding me

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey congrats ! I refer to them constantly now :)

[@naveenravindar]

I can't wait to get my hands on these! I've been using night vision on a large dob and there are just so many galaxies and other objects I can see now. It really is hard finding sources that go in depth for all of these obscure fuzzy things hanging out in the sky. I'm about to give up on finding good online references. The few astronomy books I do have make it so much easier to find information on objects when I need it. I hope they keep making these

[@DylanODonnell]

You’ll love these then!

[@andywilliams3692]

It was so sad to lose Australian sky and telescope. They offered a digital version but I just don’t like it. A house is not a home without a regular magazine delivery 🤗 My go to bible is ‘imaging the southern sky’ by Stephen Chadwick and Ian cooper. It’s part of the Patrick moore’s practical astronomy series. I believe you can still pick it up for sale online. I know both of these guys and their knowledge is encyclopaedic. Well worth a look 😊

[@77BlackKnight]

One book i enjoy is Sizing up the Universe. The cosmos in perspective. with Niel DeGrasse Tyson. One of the best perspective books out there and amazing pictures and a view through the cosmos. Clear skies.

[@LearnToStargaze]

You mentioned you're putting together a book? I'd love to hear more about this :-) I think for ebooks, the price per MB only kicks in if you price the book over $9.99 USD ($11.99 AUD). I've found that for astronomy books, paperbacks & hardcovers make up 99% of Amazon sales anyway.

[@DylanODonnell]

If I succeed all will be revealed! (It’s actually finished but I’ve got a lot on my plate)

[@vladtheimpaler1329]

Who DOESN"T love Annals?! 😅Good stuff!🖖

[@johngiromini5745]

I have talked with Dennis Webb as he is a member of the Fort Worth Astronomical Society, our local star viewing cluster. Very interesting fellow. When I first read about "Annals of the Deep Sky", it struck me that the content would take decades to complete due to the detail of the data. Recently, I have taken a fancy with the Moon, and came across a book, "Exploring the Moon with Robert Reeves". It is similar to the format of AOTDS: a treasure trove of pictures and data.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey that’s cool. And I know Robert! Lovely guy too.

[@jamiboothe]

I have three books I would recommend, The Cambridge Photographic Star Atlas, the non photographic version, and Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep Sky Objects by Christian B. Luginbuhl, and Brian A. Skiff. I also own the set of Burnham books, which is an amazing set for its time. The Photographic Atlas is amazing because someone actually went and did large sky surveys of the heavens, from an Earth perspective, through all the land regions that would be optimal for physically viewing the sky with your naked eye. Next to each fantastic image, is a star atlas type of traditional map of each region. This gives the reader the ability to literally look up, and see the night sky and compare the traditional star maps that we have used for hundreds of years.

[@DylanODonnell]

Great tip, thank you!

[@cosmoscarl4332]

Kind of like eyepieces huh? There are tons of great and useful books out there. The backyard astronomers guide for one. I believe it is in its fifth updated form, though I have the third edition.

[@hawkesworth1712]

My neighbour loaned me a copy of Astronomy 2024 Australia that he picked up at the Port library and when I returned it to him - as someone who has written a few novels - I was disappointed to hear myself say exactly the same thing you said. It's nice to be able to hold and read the printed word but its days are numbered.

[@alainmaury5941]

I can only agree that the number 9 of the annals is the best. Jeff came to my observatory during a week to observe all these objects :). I also have the whole collection so far and intend to continue purchasing the other numbers when they are released. It's a super Burnham Celestial Handbook and of course much more up to date. Other than that I really like the books about the history of astronomy, I recently read "the immortal fire within" about E.E. Barnard, and also "the Glass Universe" by Dava Sobel, both really interesting, and I could not stop reading when I started. Hopefully books do not dissapear in the future.

[@DylanODonnell]

Wow that’s amazing!

[@Mandragara]

The issue with online knowledge is that it is less curated and is often wrong or simply incomplete. As you point out, it can actually take more time finding information online than flipping through a good reference. I wonder what the future will be

[@DylanODonnell]

Yeh the info is in the nasa ADS but I don’t want to parse 20 papers to work out the overview. annals has done it for me.

[@TexasEngineerScotty]

Charles Bracken's "The Deep-sky Imaging Primer" is an all-in-one shop for the information a newbie needs to move from visual to AP. When I was a kid I had my dad's 1950s something printing of the "golden nature guide to the stars". we would lay in the front yard and identify everything we could and watch for meteor showers. In my teen years I would write a letter every year to Celestron to get a new catalog and proceed to just drool over it. At one point I saved enough money for a C8 and if it would have been as easy to buy one back then as it is now I probably would have had several 1980's SCTs and no engineering degree. As it is I went overboard once I got older and now have a 5"SE, C-9.25", Edge HD11" set up for DSO and I break out the Edge HD 14" for Planetary. I blame those catalogs.....

[@davidstanden480]

TexasEngineerScotty, I got into Astronomy when I saw a Celestron ad in a 1977 issue of Scientific American. I sent away for Celestron's catalog. I drooled over those scopes in their catalog for months while I saved up for my first scope. A C-8. It was Christmas and my parents chipped in $100 towards it. Bought it mail order from Edwin Hirsch in Thompkins Cove, NY. Best Christmas ever!

[@sjpp71]

Thanks to your video I have acquired some of them. Now there's a lot of Annals in my bookshelf (are you happy? Are you happy? 😂). No, seriously, great books, looking forward to complete the collection, I hope they manage to put out the full collection

[@BennyColyn]

The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies is an awesome reference with very nice pictures on all things extragalactic. But Annals takes the cake, there's nothing like it. I hunted down volumes 1-7 a little while ago when they were between publishers. Finally, Rogelio Bernal Andreo's "Mastering Pixinsight" is a reference that trumps "Inside Pixinsight" in my opinion, especially with the annex containing the "missing manual" for many PI processes.

[@DylanODonnell]

Great tips, thank you!

[@bofblog]

It's sad to see the slow demise of books...I started with Norton's Star Atlas which I still have, love Burnhams Guides, a historic achievement bought them from a guy who said they where outdated., the oldest book in my collection is by John Herschel published while he was still alive and you feel the people who have read it...long live the book..it's a wonderful tactile thing

[@DylanODonnell]

That’s amazing !

[@tmrdarkstar85]

I too refer to my pixinsight book as the bible. Glad I am not the only one. The Astrophotography manual is another great one. I got that the same day I bought my telescope from my local telescope shop. I also found it uploaded to the internet as a PDF years later and have it saved on my drive. I can't go to my local telescope shop without buying gear and my wife cant go without buying several books 😄

[@marshawilcox]

Thanks, Dylan. I learned about Burnham from you, and now the Annals - just purchased a set; well, all but vol 1- not available. Thanks again!

[@DylanODonnell]

Oh amazing ! You’re going to love them! So detailed.

[@marshawilcox]

Just found Vol1 at Abe Books. Looking forward to spending time with them. :-)

[@cemoguz2786]

in Turkey books about niche things are reallly hard to get even online. When they do price is not justifiable. When I got a digital copy on a telescope making. I had to ask my friend that have acsess to illegal and very exlusive webside to download from.

[@blobrana8515]

My favourite books are Collins 'Stars & planets' and Burnham's Celestial Handbook.

[@tpolakis]

Dylan, regarding "Burnham's Celestial Handbook," I have been a part-time employee of Lowell Observatory, on and off in the past few years. Indeed, the Rotunda now has an entire display about Robert Burnham, including his original typewriter. Much of this attention was prompted by my friend Tony Ortega, who wrote the definitive story about Burnham's life, and Lowell historian Kevin Schindler has been instrumental as well. Along the walk to the Pluto Telescope on the campus is a plaque honoring Burnham, an effort that was spearheaded by my wife, Jennifer.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey thanks ! Yes Tony and some others have let me know of the updates which is really great :)

[@boetschge]

The "Annals of the Deep Sky" is the most comprehensive and complete Encyclopedia that is in Existence. Once it is completed (which will take some more Years, given the depht and Quality of Information) it will (and already is) replacing the legendary "Burnhams Celestial Handbook“" (for those who know it). Already I anticipate the No. 11 , hopefully it doesnt take too long :-) Finally, an interesting Video! CS, Marc

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks Marc!

[@boetschge]

Mr.McDonnell, I would really apreaciate your continious support on printed Media and Books. It is not replaceable ... kindle is not goining to work for the next 50 Years, and al the now common digital Codes are going to be obsolete within the next fifty years or so ... what will be left of our Timebeing? If not the written Word ... think about it ...

[@PilotPhteven]

Don't have any of these books. And kinda doubt I would. Considering how much is available online. And information is always evolving Something that you can't update in a book.. and you end up with a dust collector in the shape of a book somewhere with perhaps wrong or outdated information, in a field where accurate information is kinda important.. And the question, at least for me, is how often I would actually need access to that information to justify the shelf space a book would take up. Especially the annals with exotic targets that I wouldn't be able to image myself.

[@DylanODonnell]

Yeh it depends on if you’d use it. I’m always hunting for more info on exotic targets so mine get rifled through a lot particularly when online sources fail me.

[@brandonrunyon]

H. A. Reys "The Stars" is where I do ALL my research.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Dylan.

[@WilliamBlakers]

Those clouds have it comin to em. Not the Astro "insert year" books though

[@lookbackintime]

TELESCOPES, EYEPIECES AND ASTROGRAPHS is a great reference.

[@michael.a.covington]

I started writing books in the 1980s because the books I wanted to read didn't exist. I think books, as projects, need to continue forever, even if they end up being distributed digitally. (BTW, Burnham's is great! I have not only the 3-volume set, but also the unfinished ring-bound set from 1969.)

[@michael.a.covington]

BTW, one publisher -- Springer -- does seem to be entering the future confidently, pubishing lots of scientific books of all kinds, both digitally and on paper. They cater to mathematically inclined authors, especially if they do their own typesetting with LaTeX. They have realized that digital technology should make books more abundant, not rarer.

[@DylanODonnell]

Great tip, thank you Michael !

[@Mrpaulgs]

I want to buy them, can't find a source. I would buy all 10 issues of the Annals. Amazon has 2 of them for $90 each - I don't think so.

[@DylanODonnell]

American Astronomical Association is the main source .. because the original publisher / distributor folded :(

[@dirkfierce2525]

I use The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets by Ruben Kier all the time.

[@lawrencesaville3345]

Just ordered Vols 1 & 2 to kick off the collection............

[@DylanODonnell]

It’s such a good collection! Will be authoritative for decades. 👌🏼

[@jreichle59]

I always use The Astrophotography Sky Atlas

[@johnmcbryde715]

Hey Dylan, i'm sure, like me you enjoy a Dikens cider when delving deep into the Annals.

[@VikingTeddy]

I knew I wasn't the only one snickering at the comments 😁

[@DylanODonnell]

We all love a dickens cider!

[@Seano09]

What is the difference between the different years of Astronomy 20xx Australia books? Do they update objects every year? I would be keen to check them out as im always wondering what to target next but wondering what the difference in volumes is

[@DylanODonnell]

It highlights month by month what the best events are. So you know a year in advance about all the upcoming transits, eclipses, conjunctions, oppositions, known comets etc super helpful as it’s specific to our end of the earth.

[@StuffyToaster]

I much prefer a text book reference, particularly when I only have a vague idea of what I’m looking for. I can scan a book far more efficiently than I can trying to Google terms I’m not sure of, plus you bypass all those fake “Best (insert search term here) of 2024” click bait sites.

[@memelissa2]

I hate seeing the death of the printed word. Any book I really care about I have an actual copy of on my shelves. Any kind of reference book I prefer a hard copy. Just as the burning of the library of Alexandria set back man-kinds knowledge, I can't help feeling like we're one EMP away from losing it all again. No, I'm not paranoid, but I do acknowledge that unforeseen things happen.

[@DylanODonnell]

It’s true.

[@barryfialkov3939]

Does it ever stop raining in Byron?

[@DylanODonnell]

Apparently not! I’m dying here.

[@barryfialkov3939]

@@DylanODonnell Tell me about it - I moved here to build an observatory for the dark skies and it's been hell

[@DylanODonnell]

@@barryfialkov3939 ​​⁠I’ve been here almost 15 years and this has happened for 2 or 3 of the summers. This one has been the worst though. At least the sun came out after the floods.

[@GregMcCall]

are each of the 10 volumes just updating the same info or are each volume covering different parts of the sky?

[@DylanODonnell]

They are going through the whole visible sky. They started at A and vol 10 is up to D! 😄 there’s some bias in those letters though.

[@joeyg9872]

Luna Cognita 1 ,2, and 3

[@cosmoscarl4332]

Cambridge star atlas is great!

[@AmatureAstronomer]

Interesting.

[@PafMedic]

GM Dylan…Excellent Video,I Would Love To Own That Book Even Tho I Dont Share That Sky😂,I Enjoy Reading,And The Act Of Turning Pages❤❤❤But…Dont I Recall A Past Video Of Yours,Maybe Even 1-2 Years Old…That You Said No To Books And Charts Cause Its Killing Trees😂…So Can I Order This.?..Being Serious,lol

[@robertogrossige67]

Bad boy with Birkenstock! An...nals !

[@TheCosmicGuy0111]

Nice!

[@pompeymonkey3271]

Norton's Star Atlas

[@cryhavoc38]

nearly midnight here, working on servers, watching DO vids :)

[@DylanODonnell]

Livin the dream!

[@ColinRichardson]

That second "n" is very important in that title.

[@Lasserubinskov]

Great. Now I have to learn to read too 😠

[@DylanODonnell]

Apologies

[@_Astrovert]

No Anus jokes????? Now that was some serious restraint there! Nice video!

[@JML_Astrophotography]

3 videos in 4 days danggggg

[@DylanODonnell]

What’s going on? 😅

[@richhudnut5110]

I think that hobby books are great, but they all are shrinking... Don't know if you are into amature radio "and you should be for cloudy nights" they are in the same spot for published hard coppies on the how to's...

[@DylanODonnell]

Yeh it’s seems like commercial viability is really tanking.

[@pigeond]

what's going on here, three new videos within four days?

[@DylanODonnell]

Crazy, I know! These bonus ones are mostly discussions so easier to film and get out :)

[@bashermans6012]

My book would be Nikon (double)D 7500 for dummies.

[@DylanODonnell]

Double !

[@antonvietrov2852]

The Astrophotography Manual by @astroshed is my favourite

[@cosmoscarl4332]

Remember me? I'm the guy who thought you were serious when you said NASA was faking astrophotography images. 🤣

[@DylanODonnell]

Haha thanks for sticking around! I’m only an idiot 80 percent of the time. It’s up to you to figure out which 80.

[@landspide]

Toight...

[@PetraKann]

I don’t get it. What’s the joke?

[@DylanODonnell]

On this high-brow intellectual channel?

[@vladtheimpaler1329]

Gen Z only does pictures...

[@EH-pm1ke]

I don’t like books anymore they take up space, and they have no search function

[@OhanSmit]

Bro you have the bible too XD omfg

[@DylanODonnell]

Praise the lord. Turn to Warren 1:5 … calibration.

[@OhanSmit]

PREACH!

[@brodymk45]

is that a fortnite llama gif on your computer

[@DylanODonnell]

Well spotted you sweaty boy.

[@viewintospace]

Based on your average video this one was NOT funny!!! You talk about books and you are NOT funny..... books = no fun..... you see the correlation.... I see it! Besides some minor details that they are these days outdated the moment they leave the press and that they are bulky and you need to literally read them.... Read = Work = again no fun..... I think I could not make my point clearer..... 😉

[@DylanODonnell]

Hahahaha more dick jokes soon I promise

[@CalebKam]

First

[@vladtheimpaler1329]

Show off... 😁

[@DylanODonnell]

Sup Doc :)