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Annals of the Deep Sky is a comprehensive reference that guides amateur and semipro astronomers into every mind-boggling corner of the observational universe. Each volume presents extensive descriptions of prominent stars and deep-sky objects. No other popular work in astronomy provides the comprehensive historical background and astrophysical appraisals of prominent stars and celestial objects.
Volume 10 explores the constellations of Draco, Equuleus, Eridanus and Fornax, each with a bounty of fascinating stars and nonstellar objects. Draco contains numerous double stars, such as the wide pair Nu Draconis, two fifth-magnitude stars that look alike but are nonetheless very different. One of Draco’s most popular deep-sky objects is the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), the first planetary nebula to be decoded spectroscopically, by William Huggins in 1910. Modest Equuleus can at least boast the spiral galaxy NGC 7040, discovered by Mark Walrod Harrington in 1882. We include a brief, but strange, backstory of Harrington. Eridanus, too, may be a small constellation but it contains the intriguing galactic group associated with NGC 1723 and a “lopsided” galaxy, NGC 1637. Fornax is replete with interesting galaxies, including NGC 1097 with its peculiar nucleus, the shell system NGC 1344, and the “three-ringed” galaxy NGC 1326. And don’t neglect S Fornacis, an odd sun that occasionally exhibits superflares.
