Rony De Laet, a Belgian national who holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Science (Chemistry), has been an enthusiastic amateur astronomer since his teens. He has had articles published (in Dutch) in the monthly Flemish VVS Astronomical Magazine, and his special talent is in producing photo-real computer drawings of the night sky. His work was on exhibition at the International Astronomical Sketching Exhibition, called "In the Footsteps of Galileo," at the Blackrock Castle Observatory in Ireland (from February until May 2009) and then later at Birr Castle, the historic site of Ross's 1845 72-inch telescope (now restored and open for visitors).

Reveals how amateur astronomers can do serious deep-sky observing without having to invest a lot of time and in expensive or complicated instruments

Includes finder charts matched with face-on and edge-on views of our galaxy to help visualize the location and properties of the observed deep-sky objects

Contains many attractive wide-field eyepiece sketches that, unlike photographs, show exactly what the dark-adapted human eye sees

Serves as a perfect travel companion for stargazing vacations, where baggage restrictions limit the amount of reading material one can take

Includes supplementary material: [...]

Preface.- Chapter 1: Navigating the Sea of Stars.- Chapter 2: Welcome to the Milky Way.- Chapter 3: January.- Chapter 4: February.- Chapter 5: March.- Chapter 6: April.- Chapter 7: May.- Chapter 8: June.- Chapter 9: July.- Chapter 10: August.- Chapter 11: September.- Chapter 12: October.- Chapter 13: November.- Chapter 14: December.- Chapter 15: Taking it further.- Glossary.- Index.