Moongazing: Beginner’s guide to exploring the Moon
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Tom Kerss
An in-depth guide for aspiring astronomers and Moon observers. Includes detailed Moon maps and covers the history of lunar observation and exploration, the properties of the Moon, its origin and orbit.Optimised for colour tablets, the images in this ebook are not best-suited for viewing on black and white devices.This is the ideal book for Moon observers covering essential equipment, and the key events to look out for.Detailed advice is given on how to choose a telescope and how to capture the Moon in sketches.Discover all you need to know about eclipses, blue moons, supermoons, conjunctions and occultations.A comprehensive section covers astrophotography using lenses, telescopes, Smartphones, including video and how to process your images.Comes with a photographic atlas of lunar features with plates and annotated maps.A glossary of key terms, index of lunar features and software references are also provided.
Copyright (#ulink_05812331-7f60-5ec0-bf97-02f77ad986c8)
Published by Collins
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Royal Museums Greenwich, the group name for the National Maritime Museum,
Royal Observatory Greenwich, Queen’s House and Cutty Sark
www.rmg.co.uk (http://www.rmg.co.uk/)
© HarperCollins Publishers 2018
Text © National Maritime Museum
Cover photograph: ©Tom Kerss
Images and illustrations see acknowledgements
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
eBook Edition © Nov 2018
ISBN 9780008313920
Version: [2018-08-31]
Contents
Cover (#u5c588d93-eb0a-58bd-9158-9567f6d724c9)
Title Page (#u47c84077-1e52-59d7-8355-6ae777299e63)
Copyright (#ulink_06e3b432-34b7-5d4f-8391-4aaac41ad5a1)
Introduction (#ulink_a1bf5103-0c0a-582a-a207-eea76f3d1d30)
The Moon (#u9730889c-6e70-5d08-a098-c1dff531dbc1)
The Moon and its Origin (#ulink_82576ec0-fe7e-5126-aead-8f2fb6bb8917)
The Moon’s Orbit and Rotation (#ulink_6769f666-7536-58ea-8f99-1a80b51edffa)
Lunar Cycle and Phases
Surface Features
History of Lunar Observation
History of Lunar Exploration
Observing the Moon
Choosing a telescope
Eyepieces and Filters
Sketching
Special Events
Eclipses
Conjunctions and Occultations
Supermoon
Blue Moon
Lunar Atlas (#u70975195-2ac3-5e2f-b7c7-e006b10496ae)
Introduction to the Lunar Atlas
Lunar Atlas
Astrophotography (#ue04608da-f076-5983-b543-b9a55394d758)
Lunar Astrophotography
Afocal Smartphone Photography
Wide-Angle and Telephoto Lunar Photography
Lunar Photography with a Telescope
Understanding Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
Processing Videos and Images
Creating Videos from DSLR Images
Revealing the Moon’s True Colours
Glossary of Terms
Software References
Observing Log
Index to Lunar Atlas Features
Acknowledgements
About the Publisher
Introduction (#ulink_28a948f3-8274-5603-a6a5-e324be3473f0)
The Moon is our celestial companion; a source of light; a comfort to many; an icon. It is older than history, and has accompanied our species, hanging silently above, since we emerged from the oceans, where its presence is still felt today. It is the master of the tides – perhaps the key to life itself – and it has inspired stories, poetry, music, and visual artworks of great beauty.
Today we live in an age where the entirety of the Moon’s surface has been mapped in astonishing detail from orbit, and human beings have left imprints in its soil. It may seem like there is nothing left to discover there, and yet the Moon keeps calling to us – a hypnotic siren song, urging us to revisit it. Our longing to explore has never been stronger.
A modern amateur telescope – even an inexpensive one – can take you on your own personal voyage to the Moon, where you’ll find a timeless landscape whose deep shadows and brilliant highlights are ever changing. Its serene character betrays its true nature as a world of incredible extremes. You can spend a lifetime enjoying these views, and placing yourself there in your mind, just as every great lunar observer before you has, since the invention of the telescope four centuries ago.
It is my hope that this guide will get you better acquainted with the Moon, enabling you to begin making your own observations, and producing your own images. There is no better destination for new space travellers, and the advice ahead will help you take one small step to reach it. Good luck!
Dedicated to Patrick Moore, my mentor and friend. I miss you.
Tom Kerss
The Moon setting in the morning sky over Icelandic mountains.
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