Resources

Atlases

Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas - Roger W. Sinnott
Sky Atlas 2000.0 - Wil Tirion, Roger W. Sinnott
Uranometria 2000.0 Volume 1 - Tirion, Rappaport, Lovi
Millennium Star Atlas - Sinnott, Perryman

I admit it; I own too many star atlases (in my defence, I won the MSA in a competition), though for sheer ease of use, the one I almost always take to the telescope with me is the Pocket Sky Atlas (now available in a "jumbo" edition). Sky Atlas 2000.0 (which is so large I had to refurbish a dedicated table for it) gets deployed when I'm in the mood to tackle more challenging objects. The others I tend to keep indoors for planning and reviewing observing sessions. Users of digital atlases (see below) may wonder why I need to bother with any of them, but the old adage about losing yourself in a good book is just as true for star atlases as it is for great novels. Also - and I don't know if this applies to the later all-sky edition - Uranometria includes a beautifully illustrated history of uranography (and the pages smell just wonderful).

Deep-Sky Guides

The Universe from your Backyard - David J Eicher
The book that whetted my appetite for deep-sky observing. It's been superseded by more recent works and the maps are inadequate for serious observing, but the descriptions and sketches are still relevant, and the photos offer a fascinating insight into the pre-digital era of amateur astrophotography.

Deep-Sky Companions - Stephen James O'Meara

• The Messier Objects
• The Caldwell Catalogue
• Hidden Treasures
• Secret Deep

Some readers may take exception to the patterns O'Meara sees in some DSOs (as well as the nicknames he bestows upon them), but there's no denying the enthusiasm and dedication he brings to these volumes. He doesn't just describe and sketch each object, but he also provides a wealth of well-researched scientific and historical context.

Deep-Sky Wonders - Sue French
A richly illustrated treasure trove of celestial tours from Sky & Telescope's long-standing columnist, with an excellent balance between familiar and not-so-familiar objects.

The Night Sky Observer's Guide Volumes 1 & 2 - George Robert Kepple & Glen W Sanner

A series of books by observers, for observers; containing sketches, finder charts, photographs and - perhaps most impressively - aperture-specific descriptions of thousands of deep-sky objects on a constellation-by-constellation basis. To give you an idea of how comprehensive these books are; Volume 1 (autumn and winter) is 446 pages long and Volume 2 (spring and summer) is 512 pages long. Seriously, it's the astronomical equivalent of the Collins Bird Guide. Together Volumes 1 and 2 cover just about every object I'm likely to see from my back garden, but there are two additional books in the series: volume 3 covers the southern sky, while volume 4 provides a more detailed look at the Milky Way.

Software

Stellarium
Cartes du Ciel

The former offers a more realistic planetarium-style view of the night sky, while the latter's design is closer to traditional paper atlases. However, they're both endlessly customisable and - most importantly - they're free, so you've got nothing to lose by downloading both.