Publisher's Synopsis
Please note: Features of the Near Side Moon (Second Edition) is now available (the 2nd Ed contains more information about each feature). Besides the moon's obvious craters and basins, the lunar surface is also 'marked' with some unusual geological features that deserve attention. Locating these features, let alone identifying them, has always been a task, as some resources don't always provide fully the above information in a single reference. In Features of the Near Side Moon that task has now been simplified, which allows you to look up a particular feature instantly, and then see what it actually looks like. From crater chains to rilles, ridges to valleys, or mountains to promontories, Features of the Near Side Moon uses a zooming-in process where each feature's position is firstly located on the lunar surface (using referenced features like craters or mares etc., on a color topographic image supplied), and then finally presented as a highly-resolved image, taken by cameras onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. All lunar features (consisting of 14 different categories that amount to 282 separate features) from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) list are presented, and each includes their official latitude and longitude coordinates, as well as their sizes/diameters. Other unofficial features (9 different categories amounting to 85 separate features) from concentric to dark halo craters or domes to swirls have also been included in the book as a general introduction, opening up the potential for a whole new world of discovery. Features of the Near Side Moon will certainly suit both the amateur and professional astronomer, and as a useful reference for scientists and those working in the general news media. Please Note, this is the color version (unfortunately, set at a ridiculously, higher price due to the printer's costs - color equals more costs etc., ), but there is also a grayscale version (extremely, at a lower price) available too - just type Features of the Near Side Moon (Grayscale Edition) in Amazon or Google for more. There is no difference, content-wise, between the color and grayscale editions: only the respective colors used in the images produced. For an animated version of what's inside the cover, type Features of the Near Side Moon in YouTube. This book is one in the trilogy of books about craters and features found on the Moon (for more, see Craters of the Near Side Moon and Craters of the Far Side Moon).