Across the Universe of Books

 The Astronomical Pocket Diary

Factual errors in grey. Corrections by Norbert Haley in italics.

Good Things Come in Small Packages.  That’s an old cliche’, for sure, but sometimes true nevertheless. I definitely found it to be accurate in the case of Norbert Haley’s The Astronomical Pocket Diary! This book makes an excellent reference for the working amateur astronomer; especially the Solar System observer. And did I say ‘small’? I meant really small--this little book packs a lot of information in its 3.5" x 5" format, and unlike many similar resources it will even fit comfortably in your eyepiece case!
I ‘met’ New Zealand’s Norbert Haley online, and once I found out that he was the author of The Astronomical Pocket Diary, I asked if it would be possible for me to receive a ‘review’ copy, and mentioned that quite a few of Skywatch’s articles have been reprinted in The Reflector and in Tom Clark’s Amateur Astronomy Magazine. Even if the review I’d write of his book didn’t get reprinted anywhere else, Skywatch has a pretty good circulation for a little club newsletter, and is now available online, meaning that I just might be able to get the word out on this Kiwi publication in the U.S! Norbert assented, and it wasn’t long before the Pocket Diary was on my doorstep.
My first impression of the book was that it is quite professionally printed--especially as small time astronomy publications go. Typography is clear and legible, even under a red light (the text is, it must be mentioned,  a little small for my 45 year old eyes, but it is meant to be a pocket diary, after all). I was also given an impression of ‘high density’ by this pub! This little calendar packs quite in information punch!
But what exactly does the Pocket Diary offer? Flipping over to the back cover (the Diary, by the way, comes slipped into  a nice clear plastic cover, which should help ward off dew), we find the following features being touted:

Quite a list! Where to start? Why don’t we look at March 1st? The first thing you’ll notice is the large date numeral printed over a graphic representation of the Moon’s phase. This graphic is large enough for you to get a good idea of Luna’s phase, and glancing over to the days on the facing page, it’s easy to see whether the Moon is waxing or waning. But it’s really not necessary to rely on the graphics--as we’ll see, the Moon’s complete ‘condition’ is always spelled out for us!
Below the Moon we find a series of numbers. Beneath the 1 March Moon picture, for example, we read ‘+17.+7.+2'. Somewhat cryptic, I’ll admit, but actually easily understood. What these figures mean is that the Moon is 17% illuminated and waxing (‘+’), it is at 7% of its distance range and coming closer gaining distance (again, ‘+’), and is 2° north of the celestial equator (+=north, of course). Pretty snazzy. We know a lot about the Moon’s current state from one little graphic symbol and a few numbers! Want to know more about what Luna’s doin’? The next line is another series of numerals and symbols (in a very small font--I understand that space was at a premium given the small size of the calendar, but some of the fonts the author uses really are too small...I had trouble making them out in the light of day while wearing reading glasses!). Be that as it may, I was able to decipher ‘0933(088)1541(n50)2142(275)’ for 1 March. This indicates that the Moon rises at 0933 hours at 88° from true north, that it transits the local meridian at 1541 hours at an altitude of 50 degrees, and that it sets at 2142 hours at 275°. Again, an absolute wealth of info in just a few characters--I just wish they were a little easier to read!
Now is a good time to talk about locations. Obviously any calendar dealing with specific astronomical events will only be accurate for a fairly narrow range of geographic locations. The author can provide a sheet of ‘conversions’ with complete data for your area, and also may be able to provide you with a ‘custom’ edition for your location (or even one with birthdays of friends, etc. printed on the appropriate days!). Contact Mr. Haley for further details.
 Continuing on with March 1st, above the Moon picture/date for each day we find a graphic representing high and low tides for the date in question. The author mentions in his explanatory matter that the tide/times are only available in ‘some editions,’ this is not a bad thing since most astronomical observers will probably not consider this information vital. It was certainly not a big loss for me, as some of the symbols used for tide conditions were so small as to be illegible--with my eyes, anyway.
Going back to the Moon graphic, you’ll find that on certain dates occultations are marked with times given. If the event takes place when the moon is very low, the author has helpfully done the characters for the occultation time in grey, alerting us to that fact. This will be a major attraction this calendar for occultation chasers/fans!
Below and to the right of the Moon graphic/date, we find the events for each day listed. On March 1st, we see that the Moon is 1° South of Saturn at 22:36 (for the location of this edition of the calendar). Browsing through the days, you’ll find that most major astronomical events--meteor showers, moon phases (bold), solstices and equinoxes, etc.--are noted. In addition, the calendar is replete with MANY ‘earthly events:’ birthdays of prominent figures, anniversaries of historical events, etc. This was one of the few things I did not like about the Astronomical Pocket Diary. Most of us have other calendars which do an adequate job of alerting us to these dates. When I’m thinking astronomy and paging through the days to see what interesting events are in the offing, I really don’t have any desire to be reminded of when the U.S. Civil War ended or when Miles Davis and John Wayne were born! I would prefer to see the events confined to those of astronomical significance. A benefit of eliminating these non-astronomy happenings might be that the astro events could be presented in a larger font, making them easier to read. If more events than those relating to what’s going on in the sky are desired, I’d rather see just ‘space’ related dates like those featured in the online JPL Space Calendar.
The Pocket Diary does a pretty good job with the Moon and astro events, but what can it tell us about the configuration of the starry sky? Well, those constellations printed as the background of each page are not just for decoration! The constellations on each left hand page are those visible above the western horizon an hour after Sunset. Those on the background of righthand pages represent the constellations visible above the eastern horizon an hour before Sunrise. Clever, very clever!
Continuing on, beneath each Sunday (always on the left-hand page, but, curiously, the day of the week--Sunday, Monday, etc.--is one of the few bits of information the calendar doesn’t tell us) we find a graphic representation of the Solar System.  This ‘Orbitgraph’ gives us a view of the Sun’s family from high above the ecliptic. In addition to giving you the position of the planets in their orbits (which can be ANIMATED by flicking the little book’s pages to show you the movements of the planets!), the Orbitgraph, can also be used to locate the actual planets in the sky by aligning the diagram with the real heavens per instructions! How well does this work? Apparently pretty well. But I had a problem at first!
The Orbitgraph, and, upon closer examination, the whole calendar, seemed distressingly ‘off’ in all its information and predictions! Nothing, not the positions of the planets or the phases of the Moon matched reality! Nothing was accurate. Then I realized what was wrong...the author had sent a review copy alright, a copy of the 1998 edition (it says ‘1998' prominently on the cover, but I guess this hadn’t registered)! I had just assumed, from what Mr. Haley told me, that I’d receive a misprinted or leftover Auckland edition of the 1999 calendar. Obviously I misunderstood! I’ve received quite a few yearly publications of this sort to review for Skywatch or to share with the club, and this is, I must say, the first time somebody’s sent me last year’s version!
 And truthfully, having a current copy  would have made the job of reviewing this little work a bit easier. I was able to check the Diary’s accuracy and the efficacy of the Orbitgraphs by using computer software to view last year’s sky (accuracy seemed quite good). But, in truth, not being able to use the Astronomical Pocket Diary for actual observing made it a little difficult for me to give the book a good evaluation as to its usefulness in the field. It really does offer a great deal of data (including a good bit more than I’ve talked about here), and from my browsing of it indoors it seems to me that it would be a good tool, especially for you Solar System nuts out there. I’ll give it a conditional ‘pass,’ but I would have liked to have been able give this nice little effort my unconditional approval.  Without being able to use it on a night to night basis in the real world, though, I’ll have to limit myself to saying: “It looks pretty darned good!”
For further information on the Astronomical Pocket Diary, including prices and custom editions, contact the author, Norbert Haley, directly at:
Norbert Haley
Poste Restante,
Auckland, New Zealand
norb@kcbbs.gen.nz
http://members.tripod.com/adm/popup/roadmap.html
The correct URL is: http://members.tripod.com/~apd2/apd.htm

--Rod

 
hmm ...  here my thoughts on this article:

Its always a lesson for me to read articles which have a personal slant and in places even a grumpy opinion about my diary. It certainly gave it praise, but also some strange comments:
"beneath each Sunday (always on the left-hand page,  but, curiously, the day of the week--Sunday, Monday, etc.--is one of the few bits of information the calendar doesn’t tell us)"
Well..  contradicted itself there..  pointed out the correct day-of-the-week and continued on to deny it.   If I had printed the word "Sunday" "Monday" etc on each page  there would have been 365 more black little words.. to clutter the page.
To make it absolutely clear now..  on the left-hand page there are always two days only. The upper one is "the Saturday" of that week, the one below is "the Sunday". On the right-hand page there are five days, from Monday to Friday. The middle one is Wednesday, in german it is called "mid-week".
I thought of a compromise, when I get around to it, I will print the weekday-names on the first week's page. I have to admit that it takes a bit of lateral thinking to "decode" the diary in its entirety, but it is indeed designed to be used over many years, so I have to keep my yearly customers in mind, who keep writing to me that they, after deliberation, cannot find a single thing I could improve.  However, some people who are fascinated by the diary, but only read it once, and never order it (again), have strong opinions on how to improve it, and often contradicting ones. I suppose I can't make everyone happy.

The smallness of the writing is of course due to the massive amount of information the diary should and must contain. I have chosen the "largest small typeface" I could find, AvantGarde.
I have played a lot with various type-faces and sizes, but this is so far the best. I often wanted to try a serif-typeface, but none has survived the "readability test" against AvantGarde. If any of you typography-cracks has suggestions, please fire away.

About "wrong edition" and "late ordering"
If Rod wants a current copy for another "in the field" review, he should order one.  If he orders before November he will get the next year's version. If he orders after that, there is no guarantee:

Where possible I will try to reprint them, but failing that ...

If I can communicate quickly (by email) with the person, I will ask if it is alright to send

When I contacted him, it was alright to send a completely wrong edition.  That's what I did. And I find it a bit worrysome to hear:

"the whole calendar, seemed distressingly ‘off’ in all its information and predictions! Nothing, not  the positions of the planets or the phases of the Moon matched reality! Nothing was accurate."

Jesus Christ... I got a shock ... I hope nobody is just glancing at the article and misreads that paragraph.

"I was able to check the Diary’s accuracy and  the efficacy of the Orbitgraphs by using
computer software to view last year’s sky  (accuracy seemed quite good)."

Well..  this is not quite truthful. You may find that the "computer-programme"
is "quite good"  and the accuracy of data given in my diary is in fact "very good".
Which is no wonder, as I use the Naval Observatories' calculations.

The critique about the "trivia" is noted.  I am thinking to make a different version for "normal people" and for "astronomy-buffs". The San Jose Astron-Assn have actually gone through the trouble of editing  their own edition and thrown out most of the obscure and "un-american" dates,
(what a dangerous concept! Italians would laugh if anything was "un-italian", but the Nazi's would have understood!) and have entered a host of fantastic "astro-trivia" and events/dates.
If I get more than 24 people to order (so that I can afford to make a special localised edition) I can give them the choice.


Check the Mobile Astronomical Society WWW-page:

http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


back to the Feedback-Page of The Astronomical Pocket Diary