Authors:
- Presents the first photos taken from space in high-definition, courtesy of the Kaguya lunar orbiter's camera
- Explains how the features in each image illustrate the geological processes that formed and modified the Moon
- Makes the reader feel as if he or she were an astronaut flying above the lunar surface
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Atlas
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Reviews
From the reviews:
“Kaguya Lunar Atlas to be a indispensable resource for quick identification of craters as well as a good a ‘common sense’ check as to what I’m seeing at the eyepiece. … Each image is expertly referenced against a Full Moon map for both nearside and farside … . I would whole-heartedly recommend the Kaguya Lunar Atlas to anyone who is an avid moon watcher, space fan, or would love to see the surface of an alien world as it truly looks, up close and personal.” (Astro Guyz, May, 2011)
“Launched on 14 September 2007, the Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya carried various instruments including an HDTV camera, the images from which form the basis of this great book. The collection is stunning in the amount of close detail it displays. Many wonderful ‘face-on’ lunar images are taken from the Earth and orbiting spacecraft, but what makes the Kaguya images so special is that they are taken with a perspective identical to that of the Apollo astronauts. Highly recommended.” (Steve Richards, Sky at Night Magazine, September, 2011)
“The images are spectacular. … The Atlas comprises 100 images of various lunar features, with detailed captions describing what we are seeing and how craters, rilles, pits, domes and mountains formed. … The earlier chapters also look back towards Earth, showing spectacular Earth rises, the phases of Earth and even the Earth eclipsing the Sun and creating a diamond ring effect. … this is strongly recommended as an excellent coffee-table book depicting the Moon at its Majestic best.” (Keith Cooper, Astronomy Now, September, 2011)
“SELENE, named after the Greek Moon Goddess but nicknamed Kaguya by the Japanese people after a mythical lunar princess, required a full year to image the lunar surface under optimal conditions. The HDTV camera captured significant surface features, impact craters, maria, rilles, lava flows and geological faults in stunning detail. … the book depict one hundred image plates, each accompanied by a well written, detailed essay of the main features displayed.” (Paul Rumsby, Best Astronomy Books, September, 2011)
“Images that form the heart of the present volume. … provide a dramatic astronaut’s-eye view that reveals familiar features in an unfamiliar and novel light. … it does offer a valuable new resource to the armchair explorer of the Moon. … provides a detailed overview of the mission and its scientific aims. … this is a marvellous book. The Kaguya images are spectacular, the authors have provided outstanding explanatory support … . a book that will prove indispensable to any serious student of the Moon.” (Bill Leatherbarrow, The Observatory, Vol. 131 (1225), December, 2011)
“To the amateur astronomer with an interest in observing the Moon, the concept is an exciting one, and so the release of The Kaguya Lunar Atlas was greeted with enthusiasm by those with a love of moonlight. … For people interested in learning to understand what they see on the Moon, this book would be a useful reference. The captions combined with the images lift this book above the eye candy category and make it a reference worth owning.” (Thomas Watson, Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews, January, 2012)
Authors and Affiliations
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Tokyo, Japan
Motomaro Shirao
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Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, USA
Charles A. Wood
About the authors
About the Authors
Motomaro Shirao has been a free-lance photographer and science writer since he finished his Master Course in Volcanic Geology at the University of Tokyo in 1980. He has written many articles about the Moon, volcanoes, geology, and geomorphology. His publications include Graphic Natural History of Volcanoes, Geology and Geomorphology of Japan, Basics of the Moon, and Wonderful Landscapes of the World (all written in Japanese). He is a co-investigator of Kaguya's Terrain Camera and HDTV.
Charles Wood is a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona and director of the Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. He is the author of The New Moon – A Personal View, published in 2003; The Lunar 100 Chart in 2004; and has written monthly columns about the Moon since 1999 for Sky & Telescope magazine. He is the originator of the websites Lunar Photo of the Day and The Moon Wiki. He studies the Moon with the latest spacecraft images and with a small telescope in his backyard.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Kaguya Lunar Atlas
Book Subtitle: The Moon in High Resolution
Authors: Motomaro Shirao, Charles A. Wood
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7285-9
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 173
Number of Illustrations: 117 b/w illustrations, 9 illustrations in colour
Topics: Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics), Popular Science in Astronomy, Planetology