Pearls of the Southern Skies

A Journey to Exotic Star Clusters, Nebulae and Galaxies The celestial objects of the Southern Hemisphere are fascinating to astronomers everywhere. The southern stars, nebulae, and galaxies have exotic names like Omega Centauri, the Tarantula Nebula, Canopus, the Vela Supernova, the Coal Sack, and the Magellanic Clouds. And there's more: the Southern Milky Way is crammed with clusters and nebulae of great interest to resident astronomers of the southern hemisphere, and to the many visitors from the north who relish the opportunities to view the clear, dark skies of the interiors of southern Africa and Australia with binoculars, telescopes and cameras. 'Pearls of the Southern Skies' depicts 71 Deep Sky Objects photographed by Dieter Willasch and described in detail by Auke Slotegraaf. The text and pictures are laid out season by season, and accompanied by 15 easy-to-use full-colour location charts. AUTHOR: Dieter Willasch is an astrophotographer who has split his time since 2001 between Germany and South Africa. Auke Slotegraaf is a mathematician and astronomer. He is the director of the Deep Sky Observing Section of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. 71 colour photographs