Edward Emerson Barnard's Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way was originally published in two volumes in 1927. Together these volumes contained a wealth of information, including photographic plates of the most interesting portions of the Milky Way, descriptive text, charts, and data. Only 700 copies were printed, making the original edition a collector's item.
Reproduced in print for the first time, this edition combines both volumes of Barnard's Atlas. It directly replicates Barnard's text, and contains high resolution images of the original photographic plates and charts, reordered so that they can be seen together. It also includes a biography of Barnard and his work, a Foreword and Addendum by Gerald Orin Dobek describing the importance of the Atlas and additions to A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way, and a pull-out section with a mosaic of all 50 plates combined in a single panorama.
- Foreword by Gerald Orin Dobek
- Preface from the original Atlas
- Introduction from the original Atlas
- Bibliography from the original Atlas
- Catalogue of 349 dark objects in the sky
- Biography of Edward Emerson Barnard
Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923) is revered as one of the greatest observational astronomers of all time. He made many important contributions to astronomy, including discovering the fifth moon of Jupiter, making him the first person to discover a new moon of Jupiter since Galileo; discovering the star with the greatest proper motion, Barnard's Star, in 1916, which is named in his honor; and through his observations of a nova where he noticed the gaseous emissions and deduced that it was a stellar explosion.
"One of the greatest astronomy books of all time is back – and it's better than the original [...] Professor Dobek brings to this book his knowledge of the astrophysics of dark nebulae and their observation, and a deep love, appreciation, and sensitivity for the cultural and historic worth of this work [...] This is a must for every astrophysics department, every library, and every astronomer who loves the sky, the romance of the subject, and its magnificent history."
- Dr Graeme White, James Cook University
"Dobek has arranged the original material to show the plates and charts on facing pages and produced a summary chart showing the locations of all the plates across the sky. It is a handsome volume, and Dobek has added to its appeal with a foreword and a short biography of Barnard."
- Astronomy and Geophysics
"This is a really beautiful Atlas."
- The Observatory
"This wonderful book is a great tribute to a talented and meticulous astronomer."
- BBC Sky at Night Magazine