Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens

Who is Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens?

The Skalnaté Pleso Atlas of the Heavens is a set of 16 celestial charts covering the entire sky. It is named after the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory in Slovakia where it was produced. The first versions were published by the Czechoslovak Astronomical Society in 1948; later that year, Sky Publishing Corporation acquired the copyright and began publication in the United States. The charts were hand-drawn by Antonín Bečvář.

At the time it was first published, the Atlas Coeli was unique in that it contained essentially all non-stellar objects that were visible in an 8-inch telescope, in addition to stars brighter than magnitude 7.75. Until the mid-1970s when it went out of print, the Atlas was extremely popular among amateur astronomers, especially those engaged in comet hunting and the study of variable stars. The Atlas Coeli was also widely used by professional astronomers. Many astronomical observatories still contain copies.