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Deep Sky Surfing Atlas
Introduction
The aim of the Deep Sky Surfing Atlas is to provide high-quality detailed maps of the sky showing all deep sky objects that can be viewed in binoculars and small to medium-sized telescopes.
The atlas contains 271 maps, each showing a region of the sky about 15 degrees square in area. Each map is accompanied by a table describing the objects visible in the map.
The atlas shows:
stars down to about magnitude 9.0
globular clusters down to magnitude 11.0
open clusters down to magnitude 11.0
galaxies down to magnitude 11.0
diffuse and planetary nebulas down to magnitude 11.0
a dozen or so of the most well-known dark nebulae
a few well-known asterisms
all deep sky objects on the Messier, Caldwell, R.A.S.C., Saguaro and Orion lists (see below), including those fainter than magnitude 11.0
The atlas is produced in PDF format. The images are very large in order to produce good quality prints. Consequently, they may look a bit ragged when first viewed in a PDF viewer, since they have been scaled down to fit in the window. Zooming in to 300% will give a better idea of how they will look when printed.
Organization of the atlas
The 271 maps in the atlas are divided into groups according to declination. There are naturally more maps in the groups corresponding to middle latitudes, since more real estate needs to be covered.
The following table shows the breakdown:
| Declination | Maps | Count |
|---|---|---|
| +89° | 1-8 | 8 |
| +75° | 9-20 | 12 |
| +60° | 21-35 | 15 |
| +45° | 36-53 | 18 |
| +30° | 54-77 | 24 |
| +15° | 78-113 | 36 |
| +0 ° | 114-158 | 45 |
| -15° | 159-194 | 36 |
| -30° | 195-218 | 24 |
| -45° | 219-236 | 18 |
| -60° | 237-251 | 15 |
| -75° | 252-263 | 12 |
| -89° | 264-271 | 8 |
Around each map is a border which contains the numbers of the maps that continue the view in the corresponding directions.
Parsa's Note: The eight maps for 89° and -89° are essentially the same map for circumpolar regions. However, each is rotated by 45° (3 hours RA).
The maps
For ease of downloading, the maps are grouped into sets of eight:
Maps 001 to 008 Maps 073 to 080 Maps 145 to 152 Maps 217 to 224
Maps 009 to 016 Maps 081 to 088 Maps 153 to 160 Maps 225 to 232
Maps 017 to 024 Maps 089 to 096 Maps 161 to 168 Maps 233 to 240
Maps 025 to 032 Maps 097 to 104 Maps 169 to 176 Maps 241 to 248
Maps 033 to 040 Maps 105 to 112 Maps 177 to 184 Maps 249 to 256
Maps 041 to 048 Maps 113 to 120 Maps 185 to 192 Maps 257 to 264
Maps 049 to 056 Maps 121 to 128 Maps 193 to 200 Maps 265 to 271
Maps 057 to 064 Maps 129 to 136 Maps 201 to 208
Maps 065 to 072 Maps 137 to 144 Maps 209 to 216
Map legend
Here are the symbols used to represent the various types of deep sky objects:
| Symbol | Abbr | Type |
|---|---|---|
 | GC | globular cluster |
 | OC | open cluster |
 | GAL | galaxy |
 | DN | diffuse nebula |
 | PN | planetary nebula |
 | AST | asterism |
 | DRK | dark nebula |
Data table
Each map is accompanied by a table showing information about each deep sky object. The information is displayed in two lines; the second line is omitted if there is nothing to display. The columns are:
First Line
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The principal catalog name of the object (e.g. NGC 829) |
| M | The Messier catalog identifier |
| Type | The object type, as in the table in the preceding section |
| Constellation | The constellation |
| Magnitude | The magnitude |
| Size | The size of the object |
| C | The Caldwell catalog identifier |
| R | The R.A.S.C. catalog identifier (see below) |
| S | The Saguaro catalog identifier (see below) |
| O | Indicates the object is the Orion catalog (see below) |
| Star Count | The number of stars (reported mainly for open clusters) |
| B | Indicates that the object can be viewed in binoculars (see below) |
Second Line
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Common | The common name of the object (e.g. Dumbbell Nebula) |
| Notes | A description of the object, combining information from the NGC and Saguaro catalogs |
Dreyer descriptions
The deep sky objects in the NGC catalog are described using a shorthand notation developed by the catalog's editor, Johann Dreyer. This notation combines abbreviations that indicate the object's brightness, size, shape, impressiveness and various other characteristics.
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Impressiveness codes:
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Brightness codes:
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Size codes:
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Shape codes:
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The complete list:
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Examples:
| M103 | Cl,pL,B,R,Ri,*10..11 | open cluster, pretty large, bright, round, rich, stars of magnitude 10 to 11 |
| M31 | !!!eeB, eL, vmE | magnificent, most extremely bright, extremely large, very much extended |
Index of maps by constellation
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Sources of data
Nearly all of the data used to generate the maps and tables are publicly availabe on the Internet. The main sources are as follows:
Stars
The star data comes from the full version of the HYG database, prepared by David Nash. This database contains data on 87476 stars down to magnitude 9.0, and is available at: http://www.astronexus.com/hyg
Parsa's note: One failing of these charts, in my opinion, are the star designations. I do love star names, but the stars with names are labeled only with the name. Bayer and Flamsteed designators are not given for those stars. This isn't too much of a problem for stars like Rigel or Spica, but who the heck knows where the stars Kafaljidhma or Zibal are located?
Constellation boundaries
The constellation boundary data came from NASA.
Deep sky objects
The data for the deep sky objects comes from the database prepared by the Saguaro Astronomy Club of Phoenix, AZ. This impressive work contains information on over 10,000 deep sky objects. It's available at: https://www.saguaroastro.org/sac-downloads/
Messier catalog
The Messier catalog is the most well-known catalog of deep sky objects, and contains most of the brightest objects visible from the northern hemisphere. It was created by the comet hunter Charles Messier in the late 1700's. Ironically, he prepared the catalog in order to avoid mistaking deep sky objects for comets. There are many, many sources for Messier catalog data; the following site includes photographs of each: https://www.messier.seds.org/. These objects are shown in the "M" column of the atlas tables.
Caldwell catalog
Patrick Moore developed the Caldwell catalog for amateur astronomers to advance beyond the relatively easy objects in the Messier catalog. These objects are shown in the "C" column of the atlas tables. The list can be found at: http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/caldwell.html
R.A.S.C. catalog
Alan Dyer of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has published a list of 110 "Finest N.G.C. Objects" beyond the Messier list. The list can be found at: http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/rasc-ngc.html. These objects are shown in the "R" column of the atlas tables.
Saguaro catalog
A. J. Crayon and Steve Coe of the Saguaro Astronomy Club, Phoenix, AZ, have compiled a list of 110 "Best Objects in the N.G.C." beyond the Messier list. The list can be found at: http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/sac110bn.html. These objects are identified in the "S" column of the atlas tables.
Orion catalog
Orion Telescopes and Binoculars publishes a DeepMap™ folding star chart showing the location of roughly 600 deep sky objects. Ray Cash's web site lists 537 of these objects: http://www.raycash.org/dm600.htm. These objects are flagged in the "O" column of the atlas tables.
Dark nebulae
Only a very few dark nebula are displayed.
Binocular objects
Deep sky objects are flagged as viewable through binoculars if they appear in any of the following lists:
- The Astronomical League list of binocular Messier objects lists A, B, and C.
https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/binomess/binomess.html - The Astronomical League list of non-Messier deep sky binocular objects
https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/dsbinoc/BINODSKY_LIST.pdf - The Astronomical League list of southern skies observing program binocular objects list
https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/sskybino/ssbinoc2.html - Benjamin Crowell's BinoSky list at
http://www.lightandmatter.com/binosky/binosky.html
Constellation Figures
The green lines showing traditional constellation figures were added by the author, after consulting several standard star atlases.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the following people and organizations for developing and publishing the data sets used in building the atlas:
A. J. Crayon, Steve Coe and the Saguaro Astronomy Club of Phoenix, AZ: deep sky database, and Best of the NGC list.
David Nash: HYG database of stars.
Alan Dyer and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada: Finest NGC Objects list.