Field Notes - Night Sky Edition

So this go round with the Colors Subscriptions, the folks at Field Notes and come up with these lovely black top covered notebooks with great coloring on the rear.  Using a "reticle graph" pattern sort of a hybrid of our popular dot-grid and graph papers.

Let's let them tell it.  

Countless lines of prose, poetry, and music have been written in hopes of capturing the magic of a summer night, but leave it to FIELD NOTES to take an inexplicably transcendent feeling and distill it down to basic science: it’s the stars. If you live in the city, you may often forget that there are more than a handful of ‘em up there. But if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere without light pollution, seeing the Milky Way stretched across the sky on a moonless summer night never gets old.

Our nineteenth edition of FIELD NOTES COLORS celebrates the wonders that cross the summer sky each night. The “Night Sky” 3-Pack features French Construction “Blacktop” covers, mapping out three sets of constellations that have graced the northern hemisphere summer sky long before “summer” was given a name. Constellations and popular asterisms are highlighted in silver
holographic foil. Inside is our usual beloved Finch Opaque text paper, with a new “Reticle Graph,” sort of a hybrid of our popular dot-grid and graph papers. It’s all bound together with shiny black staples.

THE STARS AND THEIR COURSES (this video is gorgeous)

Choosing the sections of sky to depict involved a lot of research. Illustrating thousands of stars was a lot of work. But even after all that, and a self-taught crash course in astrophotography, we weren’t prepared for two amazing nights at Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. We’re putting together an epic film that we’ll share with you soon, but in the meantime, here’s a short highlight reel from one of the darkest spots in North America.


There’s only so much information we can cram into a 3.5- x 5.5-inch pocket notebook, but our love of 4-point Futura is well known, so cram we did. The three books are roughly aligned to midnight in the northern hemisphere in early, mid-, and late summer, and replacing our usual “Practical Applications” the inside back covers features corresponding facts and tips to help get your stargazing underway. After a clear night and maybe a cocktail or two, you’ll impress your friends by finding Arcturus, pointing out the Summer Triangle, and locating the “Andromeda Galaxy” M-31, all with your naked eye!

 

I love the look of these and being a fan of them will be ordering a "few sets" and will be holding a contest for a few packs in July.  Just in time for some summer sky viewing.  Take the family out to the hills away from the light pollution and lay down a blanket and stare at the sky.  After watching the video, I might be taking my camera gear up the hill with me.   Hmmmm  there might be an idea for a contest.  Who knows.  

Derrick