The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies

Galaxies - the Milky Way's siblings - offer a surprising variety of forms and colours. Displaying symmetrical spiral arms, glowing red nebulae or diffuse halos, even the image of a galaxy can reveal much about its construction. All galaxies consist of gas, dust and stars, but the effects of gravity, dark matter and the interaction of star formation and stellar explosions all influence their appearances. This volume showcases more than 250 of the most beautiful galaxies within an amateur's reach and uses them to explain current astrophysical research. It features fantastic photographs, unique insights into our knowledge, tips on astrophotography and essential facts and figures based on the latest science. From the Andromeda Galaxy to galaxy clusters and gravitational lenses, the nature of galaxies is revealed through these stunning amateur photographs. This well illustrated reference atlas deserves a place on the bookshelves of astronomical imagers, observers and armchair enthusiasts.

Introduction; 1. Spiral galaxies; 2. Barred spiral galaxies; 3. Elliptical galaxies; 4. Irregular galaxies; 5. Dwarf galaxies; 6. Ring galaxies; 7. Galaxy groups and galaxy clusters; 8. Active galaxies, quasars and gravitational lenses; References; Index.

Michael König has a doctorate in astrophysics and studied galaxies professionally for many years. As an amateur astronomer he photographs galaxies from his own observatory, which are displayed on www.astro-images.de.
Stefan Binnewies has more than thirty years of experience as an astrophotographer; his images are published in magazines and books all over the world, and on his website at www.capella-observatory.com.