Observing the Moon: The Modern Astronomer's Guide (2007)(2nd ed.)(en)(408s)

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface to the First Edition......Page 11
Preface to the Second Edition......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 13
CHAPTER 1 \"Magnificent desolation\"......Page 15
1.1 An orbiting rock-ball......Page 16
1.2 Phases and eclipses......Page 17
1.3 Solar eclipses......Page 25
1.4 Gravity and tides......Page 26
1.5 More about the motions of the moon – libration......Page 27
1.6 Co-ordinates on the surface of the Moon......Page 30
1.7 Occultations......Page 34
CHAPTER 2 The Moon through the looking glass......Page 35
2.1 The Moon in focus......Page 36
2.2 The pioneering selenographers......Page 49
CHAPTER 3 Telescopes and drawing boards......Page 55
3.1 What type of telescope do you need?......Page 56
Refracting telescopes......Page 58
Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes......Page 60
Newtonian reflectors......Page 62
3.2 How big a telescope do you need?......Page 64
3.3 So, what telescope should I spend my money on?......Page 66
3.4 Eyepiece characteristics......Page 67
3.5 Specific eyepiece types and magnification......Page 69
3.6 Making the best of what you have......Page 72
3.7 Drawing the Moon......Page 75
CHAPTER 4 The Moon in camera......Page 83
4.1 Some basic principles of CCD astrocameras and digital cameras......Page 86
4.2 Practical CCD astrocameras and digital cameras......Page 89
4.3 The imaging area of a CCD camera when used on your telescope, or with an attached camera lens......Page 91
4.5 Practical lunar photography through the telescope – at the principal focus......Page 93
4.6 The potential resolution of detail in the image......Page 95
Barlow (or Powermate) projection......Page 98
Eyepiece projection......Page 100
Afocal imaging, using the camera lens and the eyepiece......Page 102
4.8 Image processing......Page 103
5.1 The Moon and your domestic video camera......Page 111
The video camera......Page 112
Mounting and shooting......Page 114
Field of view and image scale......Page 116
Other video devices......Page 117
Linking your video or DVD to your computer......Page 118
5.2 The benefits of stacking selected images......Page 119
5.3 Manually stacking individual frames......Page 120
5.4 The webcam revolution......Page 123
5.5 Your webcam and computer......Page 125
5.6 The webcam’s first night on your telescope......Page 130
5.7 Stacking the images using RegiStax......Page 131
5.8 Processing the stacked image in RegiStax......Page 135
5.9 Striving for the best results......Page 136
6.1 The first lunar scouts......Page 139
6.2 Men on the Moon......Page 142
6.3 The post-Apollo Moon......Page 147
6.4 Not green cheese but…......Page 149
6.5 Genesis of the Moon......Page 150
6.6 The Moon’s structure......Page 151
6.7 The evolution of the Moon – a brief overview......Page 153
6.8 Lunar chronology......Page 155
6.9 Filling in the details......Page 157
7.1 Out-of-print books......Page 159
7.2 Books currently in print......Page 160
7.3 Printed maps, charts and atlases......Page 161
Equipment suppliers......Page 163
Image-processing programs......Page 164
7.5 Consolidated Lunar Atlas, Lunar Orbiter Photographic atlas, Apollo Image Atlas and Ranger Photographs Online......Page 165
7.7 Virtual Moon Atlas......Page 166
7.8 Lunar ephemerides......Page 167
7.9 Key map for Chapter 8......Page 169
CHAPTER 8 \'A to Z’ of selected lunar landscapes......Page 171
8.1 Agarum, Promontorium [14°N, 66°E]......Page 172
8.3 Alpes, Vallis [centred at 49°N, 3°E]......Page 175
8.4 Alphonsus [13°S, 357°E] (with Arzachel, Ptolemaeus, Alpetragius and Herschel)......Page 177
8.5 Apenninus, Montes [centred at 20°N, 357°E] (with Conon, Eratosthenes, Palus Putredinis, Sinus Aestuum, Wallace)......Page 180
8.6 Ariadaeus, Rima [centred at 7°N, 13°E] (with Ariadaeus, Silberschlag, Julius Caesar and Agrippa)......Page 184
8.7 Aristarchus [24°N, 313°E] (with Herodotus and Vallis Schröteri)......Page 187
8.8 Aristoteles [50°N, 17°E] (with Eudoxus and Egede)......Page 193
8.9 Bailly [67°S, 291°E]......Page 195
8.10 Bullialdus [21°S, 338°E] (with König, Lubiniezky and Wolf)......Page 197
8.11 Cassini [40°N, 5°E] (with Theaetetus)......Page 200
8.12 Clavius [58°S, 345°E] (with Porter, Rutherfurd, Clavius C, D, J, K, L and N)......Page 203
8.13 Copernicus [10°N, 340°E]......Page 206
8.14 Crisium, Mare [centred at 17°N, 59°E] (with Cleomedes, Lick, Peirce, Peirce B, Picard, Proclus, Yerkes)......Page 214
8.15 Endymion [54°N, 57°E] (with Atlas, Atlas A, Belkovich, Chevallier, Hercules, Mare Humboldtianum)......Page 220
8.16 Fra Mauro [6°S, 343°E] (with Bonpland, Guericke, Parry)......Page 224
8.17 Furnerius [36°S, 60°E] (with Fraunhofer, Furnerius B, Furnerius J, Petavius)......Page 229
8.18 \'Gruithuisen’s lunar city’ [5°N, 352°E]......Page 235
8.19 Harbinger, Montes [27°N, 319°E] (with Prinz)......Page 238
8.20 Hevelius [2°N, 293°E] (with Cavalerius, Grimaldi, Lohrmann)......Page 241
8.21 Hortensius [6°N, 332°E] (with associated lunar domes)......Page 248
8.22 Humorum, Mare [centred at 24°S, 321°E] (with Dopplemayer, Gassendi, Gassendi A, Vitello)......Page 251
8.23 Hyginus, Rima [centred at 8°N, 6°E] (with Hyginus, Rimae Triesnecker, Triesnecker)......Page 259
8.24 Imbrium, Mare [centred at 35°N, 345°E] (with Archimedes, Aristillus, Autolycus, Bianchini, Helicon, Montes Jura, Promontorium Heraclides, Promontorium Laplace, Sinus Iridum, Timocharis)......Page 262
8.25 Janssen [45°S, 42°E] (with Fabricius, Metius, Rheita, Vallis Rheita)......Page 272
8.26 Langrenus [9°S, 61°E] (with Ansgarius, Holden, Kapteyn, Kästner, Lamé, Lohse, Langrenus A, La Pérouse, Vendelinus)......Page 276
8.27 Maestlin R [4°S, 319°E] (with Maestlin)......Page 281
8.28 Messier [2°S, 48°E] (with Messier A)......Page 283
8.29 Moretus [71°S, 354°E] (with Cysatus, Gruemberger, Short)......Page 285
8.30 Nectaris, Mare [15°S, 35°E] (with Beaumont, Fracastorius, Piccolomini, Rosse, Rupes Altai)......Page 287
8.31 Neper [9°N, 84°E] (with Jansky)......Page 292
8.32 Pitatus [30°S, 346°E] (with Hesiodus)......Page 295
8.33 Plato [51°N, 351°E] (with Mons Pico, Mons Piton, Plato A)......Page 299
8.34 Plinius [15°N, 24°E] (with Dawes, Menelaus, Promontorium Archerusia, Ross, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis)......Page 306
8.35 Posidonius [32°N, 30°E] (with Chacornac, Daniell, Lacus Somniorum, Posidonius A)......Page 311
8.36 Pythagoras [63°N, 258°E] (with Babbage)......Page 315
8.37 Ramsden [33°S, 328°E] (with Rimae Ramsden)......Page 318
8.38 Regiomontanus [28°S, 359°E] (with Purbach, Thebit, Walter)......Page 322
8.39 Russell [27°N, 284°E] (with Briggs, Briggs A, Briggs B, Eddington, Krafft, Seleucus, Struve)......Page 327
8.40 Schickard [44°S, 305°E] (with Lehmann)......Page 332
8.41 Schiller [52°S, 320°E]......Page 336
8.42 Sirsalis, Rimae [14°S, 320°W] (with Sirsalis, Sirsalis A)......Page 340
8.43 \'Straight Wall’ (Rupes Recta) [22°S, 352°E] (with Birt, Birt A)......Page 345
8.44 Theophilus [11°S, 26°E] (with Catharina, Cyrillus, Mädler, Mons Penck)......Page 348
8.45 Torricelli [5°S, 28°E] (with Cencorinus, Moltke, Rimae Hypatia, Torricelli A, B, C, F, H, J and K)......Page 353
8.46 Tycho [43°S, 349°E]......Page 355
8.47 Wargentin [50°S, 300°E] (with Nasmyth, Phocylides)......Page 362
8.48 Wichmann [8°S, 322°E]......Page 365
8.49 Webcam gallery......Page 367
9.1 The mystery unfolds......Page 371
Coloured effects......Page 376
9.3 The mystery continues......Page 377
9.4 What might be the Cause(s) of TLP?......Page 385
The atmosphere......Page 390
The telescope......Page 391
9.6 TLP observing programme......Page 392
Collimating a Newtonian reflector of focal ratio f/6 or larger......Page 395
Collimating a Newtonian reflector of focal ratio less than f/6......Page 396
Collimating a Cassegrain reflector......Page 400
Collimating a refractor......Page 401
Collimating a Maksutov-Newtonian telescope......Page 402
\'Squaring on’ the eyepiece focusing mount......Page 403
Other aids to collimation......Page 404
Appendix 2: Field-testing a telescope’s optics......Page 407
Appendix 3: Polar alignment......Page 411
Index......Page 415