James Mullaney is an astronomy writer, lecturer and consultant who has published more than 500 articles and five books on observing the wonders of the heavens, and logged over 20,000 hours of stargazing time with the unaided eye, binoculars and telescopes. Formerly Curator of the Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science in Pittsburgh and more recently Director of the DuPont Planetarium, he served as staff astronomer at the University of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory and for Spitz Space Systems. He has also been an editor for Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and Star & Sky magazines. One of the contributors to Carl Sagan's award-winning Cosmos PBS-Television series, his work has received recognition from such notables as Sir Arthur Clarke, Johnny Carson, Ray Bradbury, Dr. Wernher von Braun, and former student -- NASA scientist/astronaut Dr. Jay Apt. In February of 2005, he was elected a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society of London.

Amateur astronomers are always on the lookout for new observing challenges. This exciting book retraces the steps of the greatest visual observer and celestial explorer who ever lived. This is a practical guide to locating and viewing the most impressive of Herschel's star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, cataloging more than 600 of the brightest objects, and offering detailed descriptions and images of 150 to 200 of the best.