Observing The Moon

Written by Gerald North, an experienced and well-known lunar expert, this is a "hands-on" observing primer - and more - for the lunar observer. Whether you are a novice or already experienced in practical astronomy, you'll find plenty in this book to keep you intrigued and glued to your telescope.

This 392 page hardback contains 220 halftone photos and drawings, plus five tables. It describes what we have learned about the Moon through the book's date of publication, July of 2000, and how that knowledge was gained. It also discusses some of the mysteries that remain to be solved. Over 200 pages are devoted to an "A to Z" gazetteer of lunar features, with a photo or drawing on almost every page. There are photographic and hand drawn sequences showing individual features under differing lighting conditions, and comparisons of photos and drawings of the same objects. The written material covering the features shown is extensive and informal, with the author's practical eyeball impressions of almost every feature particularly helpful in understanding the photos. As Sky & Telescope magazine pointed out in a review, "The author is an experienced lunar and planetary observer, contributing to the British Astronomical Association for nearly two decades, and it shows."

In addition to the visual observing information feast, the author covers the selection and construction of equipment and the optimizing of existing equipment for such projects as drawing, photographing, and CCD imaging of the Moon, together with analysis and computer processing of those images, and many other practical topics.

Some deep space astronomers consider the Moon a nuisance, as its light washes out faint nebulas and galaxies. This book will cast the Moon in a whole new light, giving you a new world to explore in very intricate detail that slowly changes before your eyes as you watch the shadow line of the terminator advance across the lunar surface. For the city-bound astronomer, whose light pollution problems may make nightly faint object observing problematical at best, this book will keep you busy at your telescope for many, many nights to come.