Bücher von Wolfgang Steinicke

Die Geschichte der Entdeckung, visuellen Beobachtung, Beschreibung und Katalogisierung von Nebeln und Sternhaufen im 19. Jahrhundert ist faszinierend ¿ und sie wurde bislang noch nicht erzählt. Höhepunkt der Entwicklung, die mit William und John Herschel begann, war der ¿New General Catalogue¿ von John Louis Emil Dreyer. Der NGC ist mit seinen 7840 Objekten nach wie vor der meistverwendete Katalog der beobachtenden Astronomie.¿Nebel und Sternhaufen¿ behandelt Sternwarten, Instrumente, Astronomen, Methoden ¿ und eine große Zahl von Objekten. Es ist ein umfassendes Nachschlagewerk für alle, die sich für die neuere Geschichte der Astronomie und insbesondere die visuelle Deep-Sky-Beobachtung interessieren ¿ es gibt weltweit nichts Vergleichbares.

Nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies are outside our solar system. They belong to the 'deep sky' and lead the observer to great distances and at the same time the view goes far into the past. The light of the most distant galaxies took billions of years to reach us. No less fascinating is our home galaxy, the Milky Way, offering many bright nebulae and star clusters.The book covers three important topics related to deep-sky objects: history, astrophysics, and observation. When beginners observe an object visually, not knowing anything about it, they will only perceive a faint spot of light - nothing really exciting. So, to get the right 'cosmic' feeling, the view should be enriched with stories about the object's discovery, distance, physical nature, or evolution. Supplied with this kind of information, deep-sky observing becomes a fascinating activity - braving the cold and darkness. Over time, advanced fields such as observation techniques or astrophotography come into play. The book informs the reader about all these topics and offers a comprehensive collection of interesting targets.

The New General Catalogue (NCG), originally created in 1888, is the source for referencing bright nebulae and star clusters, both in professional and amateur astronomy. With 7840 entries, it is the most-used historical catalogue of observational astronomy, and NGC numbers are commonly used today. However, the fascinating history of the discovery, observation, description and cataloguing of nebulae and star clusters in the nineteenth century has largely gone untold, until now. This well-researched book is the first comprehensive historical study of the NGC, and is an important resource to all those with an interest in the history of modern astronomy and visual deep-sky observing. It covers the people, observatories, instruments and methods involved in nineteenth-century visual deep-sky observing, as well as prominent deep-sky objects. The book also compares the NGC to modern object data, demonstrating how important the NGC is in observational astronomy today.

This book is a unique work satisfying the need for a modern, comprehensive review of all major aspects of galaxy observation.