Removes the scanning artefacts and transmission imperfections to produce a most comprehensive and beautifully detailed set of images of the lunar surface. To help practical astronomers, all the photographs are systematically related to an Earth-based view. Organized to make it easy for astronomers to use, enabling ground-based images and views to be compared with the Orbiter photographs.

Featuring 388 high-resolution photographs and concise descriptions of the Moon's topography, this atlas is an indispensable guide for amateur astronomers and astrophotographers.

In late 2007, the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) placed the Kaguya/ Selene spacecraft in orbit around the Moon to probe the Moon’s surface and interior. But unlike previous lunar orbiters, Kaguya carries a high definition television camera (HDTV) sent beyond Earth orbit. Sponsored by the Japanese NHK TV network, the HDTV has amazed both scientists and the public with its magnificent views of the lunar surface. What makes these images so much more engaging than standard vertical view lunar photography is that they are taken looking obliquely along the flight path. Thus, they show the Moon as it would be seen by an astronaut looking through a porthole window while orbiting only 100 km above the lunar surface. This is the view we all would wish to have but are never likely to, except vicariously through the awe-inspiring Kaguya HDTV images. Each page features a HDTV image with a map of the entire Moon on the upper left showing where the image is located. On the upper right is a 100-150 word description. Seeing the Moon is not intended solely for lunar scientists who are striving to work out the mysteries of the Moon’s origin and evolution. Everyone can appreciate the natural beauty and be entranced by the view of the nearby world where humans may one day live.

"The 21st Century Atlas of the Moon is uniquely designed for the backyard, amateur astronomer. As an indispensable guide to telescopic moon observation, it can be used at the telescope or as a desk reference. It is both accessible to the novice and valuable to the expert. With over two hundred Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images, the highest quality images of the moon ever taken, this atlas illustrates the Moon in high resolution. With special maps of the limb and far side, LRO altimetry-based images of major basins and their mare ridge, and maps of the Apollo and Soviet landing sites, this guide offers a level of detail never before seen in an atlas of the Moon. The Atlas clearly provides unprecedented detail on more than one thousand named Moon features while recommending additional features and images to observe." -- Publisher's website.

The only work to date to collect data gathered during the American and Soviet missions in an accessible and complete reference of current scientific and technical information about the Moon.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana} On July 20, 1969, half a billion viewers around the world watched as the first television footage of American astronauts on the moon was beamed back to earth—a thrilling turning point in the history of images, satisfying an age-old curiosity about our planet’s only natural satellite. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, this captivating volume surveys the role photography has played in the scientific study and artistic interpretation of the moon from the dawn of the medium to the present, highlighting not only stunning photographic works but also related prints, drawings, paintings, and astronomical instruments. Apollo’s Muse traces the history of lunar photography, from newly discovered daguerreotypes of the 1840s to contemporary film and video works. Along the way, it explores nineteenth century efforts to map the lunar surface, whimsical fantasies of life on the moon, the visual language of the Cold War space race, and work created in response to the moon landing by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Nancy Graves, and Aleksandra Mir. A delightful introduction by Tom Hanks, star of the award winning 1995 film Apollo 13, delves into the universal fascination with representations of the cosmos and the ways in which space travel has radically expanded the limits of human vision.