This book starts with a foreword by Patrick Moore. Why a foreword by Patrick Moore? Because the Caldwell list is Patrick’s list – his full name being Patrick Caldwell-Moore, and he didn’t want to use the Moore (M) for fear of confusing with that other “M” list – the Messier objects.
This is the second contribution of Stephen James O’Meara to the Deep-Sky Companions series of books.
When you have mastered the Messier catalogue, and it is time to move on to a new list of interesting Deep-Sky objects, the Caldwell catalogue is ready and waiting. Another 109 fine objects to discover, with a major difference from the Messier catalogue – the Caldwell catalogue lists Southern Hemisphere objects as well.
So if you live in the U.K., North America or Europe and you want to “bag” all the Caldwell objects, you’ll need to do some travelling.
Another change and major improvement from the Messier Objects is the inclusion of an Index in this catalogue.
Thicker, heavier, and hence more pages than the Messier Objects, the Caldwell Objects follows the same format as its predecessor. Each object has accompanying text (superbly written!) a black and white photograph of the region, and a black & white line drawing of the general area.
Once again, this is a book I refer to on a weekly basis and use extensively to plan my imaging sessions.
Also, on my Nexstar 11 GPS control pad there is a single push button entry for Caldwell Objects (I don’t have to dig down into the menus) so it is even quicker in the evening to set up on these particular targets 🙂
The book was published by Cambridge University Press, 2002 – 500 pages of pure enjoyment!
You can purchase the book at Amazon or any other good retailer.