Preface -- Part I: Introduction -- The Observing Project: An Overview -- Objects Chosen and Mode of Observing -- Verbal Descriptions vs. Illustrations -- Instrumentation -- The GC/NGC Descriptions and the Herschels -- Observational Parameters in the Descriptions of This Catalogue -- The Visual Appearance of Deep-Sky Objects -- Binocular Vision -- How to Use this Catalogue -- Part II: The Catalogue -- 0-6 hours: Fall -- 6-12 hours: Winter -- 12-18 hours: Spring -- 18-24 hours: Summer -- Appendix A: Making a Sky Atlas -- Appendix B: Notes on Object Descriptions -- Appendix C: The Visibility of Galatic Detail -- Appendix D: Building a Binocular Telescope -- Acknowledgements -- Index.

The Annotated Catalog of 3,000 Deep-Sky Objects is a record of the most extensive and systematic visual survey of the sky done in modern times. The 3,000 deep-sky objects listed contain short descriptions of what these objects look like in the author’s powerful binocular telescope. Objects in the book are organized by position for easy identification of unknown targets. Full indexes by catalog numbers and names allow searches for specific objects. Descriptions of objects are better than photographs for identifying deep-sky objects because the visual appearance never matches the photographic image. Nor are sketches entirely satisfactory because there is a strong unconscious tendency to draw what the observer remembers from photographs of objects. Compared to other astronomical guidebooks this book contains by far the largest number of objects viewed through a 10- to 14-inch telescope and is a ‘must-have’ for serious amateur and professional observers.