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And this looks like another one for the Trekkies. Endless vistas, looking
like those seen from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, adorn the pages of
The Photographic Atlas of the Stars by H. Arnold, Paul Doherty and Patrick Moore
(IOP, £39.95, ISBN 0 7503 0378 6). But these are no TV studio backdrops,
they are the real thing. The atlas presents 35mm human-eye views of the night
sky as seen from Earth. Arnold travelled the world taking the photographs, which
are backed up by Doherty’s maps and Moore’s text. Amateur astronomers will have
little difficulty in locating the major (and minor) constellations and other
features but, unless they have the learning capabilities of Lieutenant Data,
only the committed will be able to distinguish one photograph from the next.