Professor E. J. Hartung first produced a comprehensive and highly respected guide for southern observers in 1968. Now the book has been thoroughly revised, expanded and beautifully illustrated, enhancing its essential character as an indispensable source of information for the active observer of the night sky.
Nearly 200 objects are illustrated (more than 60 in colour) and much new background material has been included about the constellations and celestial coordinate systems as well as a more modern description of the stars, nebulae and galaxies. New tables include a 'southern Messier' list of objects.
David Malin is the Photographic Scientist at the Anglo-Australian Observatory and is well known for his pioneering techniques in astronomical photography, a field in which he is internationally recognised as the world leader. In 1985 he was awarded the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and an Henri Chrtien award from the American Astronomical Society. He has produced many scientific papers and popular articles on astronomy and is the co-author of Catalogue of the Universe and Colours of the Stars. His most recent book, A View of the Universe, won the 1994 Eureka Prize.
David Frew is one of Australia's best-known amateur astronomers and is a regular contributor to Sky & Space magazine. He holds a degree in Applied Geology and is a science teacher at a Sydney secondary school.