Telescope Reviews: The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas

Came on post today

The book is large (25,5 cm x 34,5 cm), so it is rather more suitable for use at indoors than by the telescope.

There are 191 pages and 388 photos. The quality of the photos is very good: fine resolution, unified greyscale, well balanced brightness and contrast to bring out features under different illumination yet maintaining the balance of grayscale. The processing of the photos is natural and smooth, the quality of the print is unified and good. The photos have been taken by Alan Chu (10” Newton), Mario Weigand (11” and 14” Schmidt-Cassegrain) and Wolfgang Paech (6” refractor and 14” Schmidt-Cassegrain). Single photos are also from Michael Theusner (the creator of AviStack) and Wolfgang Sorgenfrey.

The book covers 422 lunar features with an introductory text describing measures, visibility and selenological background.

The features are organized by waxing lunation. There are several photos from a single feature (illumination and also libration when relevant). There is an idex for the first 1-40 features in the beginning of the book, and an index for the features 41-68 at the back of the book. There are no mirror images in the book.

Total of 68 features are covered: Mare Smythii, Mare Crisium, Cleomedes, Endymion, Atlas / Hercules, Montes Taurus, Palus Somnii, Mare Fecunditatis, Langernus / Petavius, Mare Australe, Vlacq, Vallis Rheita, Mare Nectaris, Rupes Altai, Abulfeda, Theophilius, Sinus Asperitatis, Statio Tranquillitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Serenitatis, Posidonius, Lacus Mortis, Aristoteles / Eudoxus, Montes Caucasus, Autolycus / Aristillus, Cassini, Montes Alpes, Plato, Montes Teneriffe, Archimedes, Montes Apenninus, Mare Vaporum, Rima Ariadaeus, Rima Hyginus, Sinus Medii, Hipparchus, Ptolemaus, Rupes Recta, Regiomontanus, Maurolycus, South Pole, Clavius, Tycho, Schiller, Palus Epidemiarum, Pitatus, Mare Nubium, Fra Mauro, Mare Cogitum, Mare Insularium, Copernicus, Eratosthenes, Mare Imbrium, Sinus Iridum, Gruithuisen, Mare Frigoris, North Pole, Aristarchus, Kepler, Seleucus, Reiner, Letronne / Hansteen, Gassendi, Mare Humorum, Schickard, Sirsalis, Grimaldi, Mare Orientale. As a bonus there is a NASA photo of the Far Side.

In the beginning of the book there is a 25-page section covering the birth and structure of the moon, selenological basics and types of features. This is based on updated and expanded text of Photographic Moon Book by Alan Chu.

This book is a great, quality resource!

Be well all!