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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)
Product Description
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm an avid reader of Wood's column in S&T, and this book is up to expectations, with beautiful photos and plain english explanations about the origins of geological features. A must for any self-respecting "lunatic".
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
On September 14th 2007 the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the SELENE lunar orbiter. SELENE's mission was to further our understanding of the Moons origin, its surface environment and gravitational field. Amongst a host of science experiments the orbiter carried a High Definition Television camera (HDTV) specifically placed to capture panoramic `astronaut' views of the lunar surface.
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 Kaguya Lunar Atlas is a compilation of images from the HDTV. Split into two sections, part one explores the orbiters technology and mission objectives, some impressive images of Earthrise and the Earth's phases as seen by the orbiter's cameras are included. The remainder of the book depict one hundred image plates, each accompanied by a well written, detailed essay of the main features displayed. Seventy seven plates show landforms on the Earth facing side of the moon, the balance on the far side. The image scale varies throughout as Kaguya's altitude above the lunar surface drops from 116 to 21km.
The Kaguya Lunar Atlas works well in several ways. As a coffee table book it will grab and hold the attention of casual readers and is great to dip into occasionally as each page can be enjoyed in isolation. The book encourages readers to interpret the images for themselves. With a little experience one can examine the landforms and begin to work out the formation and modification processes without relying solely on the text. In effect, you lean to read the Moon. If you own a telescope, applying this knowledge at the eyepiece will almost certainly enhance lunar observing sessions and detail that may otherwise have been overlooked can be pursued and with far greater understanding. As a visual catalogue of significant lunar features the book simple excels.
What gives this book the edge over other lunar image compilations is not just the detail and quality inherent on every plate but the oblique angle at which they were captured. The images give a unique sense of actually being there.
Kaguya completed all mission objectives successfully and was impacted into the lunar surface close to crater Gill at 18.25 on June 10th 2009. The book contains the last six images sent back to Earth just before the controlled impact.
Paul Rumsby
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 Kaguya Lunar Atlas is a compilation of images from the HDTV. Split into two sections, part one explores the orbiters technology and mission objectives, some impressive images of Earthrise and the Earth's phases as seen by the orbiter's cameras are included. The remainder of the book depict one hundred image plates, each accompanied by a well written, detailed essay of the main features displayed. Seventy seven plates show landforms on the Earth facing side of the moon, the balance on the far side. The image scale varies throughout as Kaguya's altitude above the lunar surface drops from 116 to 21km.
The Kaguya Lunar Atlas works well in several ways. As a coffee table book it will grab and hold the attention of casual readers and is great to dip into occasionally as each page can be enjoyed in isolation. The book encourages readers to interpret the images for themselves. With a little experience one can examine the landforms and begin to work out the formation and modification processes without relying solely on the text. In effect, you lean to read the Moon. If you own a telescope, applying this knowledge at the eyepiece will almost certainly enhance lunar observing sessions and detail that may otherwise have been overlooked can be pursued and with far greater understanding. As a visual catalogue of significant lunar features the book simple excels.
What gives this book the edge over other lunar image compilations is not just the detail and quality inherent on every plate but the oblique angle at which they were captured. The images give a unique sense of actually being there.
Kaguya completed all mission objectives successfully and was impacted into the lunar surface close to crater Gill at 18.25 on June 10th 2009. The book contains the last six images sent back to Earth just before the controlled impact.
Paul Rumsby
September 2011
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
a unique and exemplary contribution
11 Mar 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
the kaguya lunar atlas is a unique contribution to the lunar literature and an exemplary book of its kind.
this is not an "atlas" in the sense of general coverage, but a "gallery" or collection of unique portraits. the 100 detail photos are presented in a standard format as wide angle, low perspective views of a single feature or geographical complex, assembled from many separate lunar orbiter photos taken in high definition video. the strip banding and brightness variations familiar in previous lunar orbiter imagery are completely absent.
nearly all the photos show the features under the same oblique (40 to 60 degree altitude) illumination, coming from the right or upper right -- a consistent lighting that throws the similarities and differences among the features into strong relief. slope angles and coarse surface texture are easily legible. most of the big name craters are here, plus fascinating smaller landmarks such as the straight wall, alpine valley, hadley rille, cordillera mountains, etc. (only the largest craters, such as clavius or ptolemaeus, are omitted).
the introductory material treats the technical details of the kaguya mission, the satellite image capture and photo assembly, and some basics on the lunar orbit and changing lunar illumination that will interest visual observers and in particular sketchers. a thumbnail index gives technical specs for all the photos and lunar coordinates for each feature.
the format (9" x 11") is not standard picture book, but the printing and paper are highest quality, and all the images snap and crackle with minute detail.
a beautifully produced and intrinsically fascinating visual survey of the moon, and well worth the humble price. one of my top ten lunar books of all time.
this is not an "atlas" in the sense of general coverage, but a "gallery" or collection of unique portraits. the 100 detail photos are presented in a standard format as wide angle, low perspective views of a single feature or geographical complex, assembled from many separate lunar orbiter photos taken in high definition video. the strip banding and brightness variations familiar in previous lunar orbiter imagery are completely absent.
nearly all the photos show the features under the same oblique (40 to 60 degree altitude) illumination, coming from the right or upper right -- a consistent lighting that throws the similarities and differences among the features into strong relief. slope angles and coarse surface texture are easily legible. most of the big name craters are here, plus fascinating smaller landmarks such as the straight wall, alpine valley, hadley rille, cordillera mountains, etc. (only the largest craters, such as clavius or ptolemaeus, are omitted).
the introductory material treats the technical details of the kaguya mission, the satellite image capture and photo assembly, and some basics on the lunar orbit and changing lunar illumination that will interest visual observers and in particular sketchers. a thumbnail index gives technical specs for all the photos and lunar coordinates for each feature.
the format (9" x 11") is not standard picture book, but the printing and paper are highest quality, and all the images snap and crackle with minute detail.
a beautifully produced and intrinsically fascinating visual survey of the moon, and well worth the humble price. one of my top ten lunar books of all time.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A New View of the Moon
28 July 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
For someone whose collection of lunar science books spans 48 linear inches of shelf space, it is difficult for me to discover a book that stands out. The Kaguya Lunar Atlas, however, is such a book.
This is not an atlas in the conventional sense, as it does not cover the entire lunar surface. Rather what Messrs Shirao and Wood have done is given us a book that features 100 of the most interesting lunar "landforms." But that is not all, it depicts these features from an oblique viewpoint rather than the typical straight down views we see all too often in other volumes. The result is a picture book that shows us what things would look like if we were actually flying over the moon. A few such similar pictures in NASA's Apollo Over The Moon: A View from Orbit tantalized us years ago.
Part One, the first four chapters, describe JAXA's Kaguya mission and the spacecraft. It also includes a description of the television system and then closes with a nice discussion of basic lunar surface features. The images included in Part Two are keyed onto four discs depicting the Moon's near, far, eastern and western hemispheres.
The actual pictures are arranged one per page. Because of the way the spacecraft imaged the surface, each picture has the form of an isosceles trapezoid that is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. A locator diagram, with an arrow indicating the feature's position and, significantly, the direction of view, appears in the upper outside margin while a brief description of the feature is given in the upper inner margin. Reproduction quality is very sharp, but the contrast is a bit to soft for my taste. Nonetheless, there is a lot of detail to see on each plate. A thumbnail section in the back gives basic technical information about each plate.
The more one has observed the moon, the more one will appreciate the job the authors have done assembling these images. A case in point is plate 32, which shows the classic crater Plato. The jarring aspect of this is that we are viewing Plato from the north, looking south! Anyone who has looked through a telescope will understand the significance of this. Prior to this book we have only seen Plato from the south, looking north. What a difference 180 degrees makes!
The Kaguya Lunar Atlas is less than a complete atlas, but much more than a coffee table book. Regardless of how one looks at it, this is money well spent.
This is not an atlas in the conventional sense, as it does not cover the entire lunar surface. Rather what Messrs Shirao and Wood have done is given us a book that features 100 of the most interesting lunar "landforms." But that is not all, it depicts these features from an oblique viewpoint rather than the typical straight down views we see all too often in other volumes. The result is a picture book that shows us what things would look like if we were actually flying over the moon. A few such similar pictures in NASA's Apollo Over The Moon: A View from Orbit tantalized us years ago.
Part One, the first four chapters, describe JAXA's Kaguya mission and the spacecraft. It also includes a description of the television system and then closes with a nice discussion of basic lunar surface features. The images included in Part Two are keyed onto four discs depicting the Moon's near, far, eastern and western hemispheres.
The actual pictures are arranged one per page. Because of the way the spacecraft imaged the surface, each picture has the form of an isosceles trapezoid that is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. A locator diagram, with an arrow indicating the feature's position and, significantly, the direction of view, appears in the upper outside margin while a brief description of the feature is given in the upper inner margin. Reproduction quality is very sharp, but the contrast is a bit to soft for my taste. Nonetheless, there is a lot of detail to see on each plate. A thumbnail section in the back gives basic technical information about each plate.
The more one has observed the moon, the more one will appreciate the job the authors have done assembling these images. A case in point is plate 32, which shows the classic crater Plato. The jarring aspect of this is that we are viewing Plato from the north, looking south! Anyone who has looked through a telescope will understand the significance of this. Prior to this book we have only seen Plato from the south, looking north. What a difference 180 degrees makes!
The Kaguya Lunar Atlas is less than a complete atlas, but much more than a coffee table book. Regardless of how one looks at it, this is money well spent.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
100 views out your spacecrafts porthole
10 July 2011
Format:Hardcover
Ever wondered what you would see out the porthole of a lunar orbiting spacecraft? This book will fulfill that wish and make you want to go there! It is 100 wonderful views from the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft television camera, that have been processed to give a oblique view of some of the Moon's most dramatic moonscapes.
Each image has an informative description about what you are seeing and a location map to guide you. The author's descriptions are like that of an expert tour guide on your own personal visit to lunar orbit. It is not an atlas in the traditional map sense, but as an atlas of images giving an overview of craters, rilles, valleys and lava filled basins that make up our wonderful Moon. The book covers lunar features on both the near and farside, the majority of which have never been seen before in oblique views, not even by orbiting astronauts due to being in darkness at the time. Mare Orientale being a good example.
The book is a nice size for relaxing reading, and has high quality pages throughout. The first chapters describe the Kaguya spacecraft and the photographic system used to capture and process the images shown in this book. By taking sections of the high definition video and joining them together, the dramatic low angle oblique images of the Moon were created. There is also a chapter of some beautiful views of Earthrise as seen from the spacecraft in polar orbit and of a solar eclipse by the Earth as well, all in full color.
This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in seeing the Moon's dramatic rugged surface from a spacecraft as never before. Buy it and you will visit the Moon!
Each image has an informative description about what you are seeing and a location map to guide you. The author's descriptions are like that of an expert tour guide on your own personal visit to lunar orbit. It is not an atlas in the traditional map sense, but as an atlas of images giving an overview of craters, rilles, valleys and lava filled basins that make up our wonderful Moon. The book covers lunar features on both the near and farside, the majority of which have never been seen before in oblique views, not even by orbiting astronauts due to being in darkness at the time. Mare Orientale being a good example.
The book is a nice size for relaxing reading, and has high quality pages throughout. The first chapters describe the Kaguya spacecraft and the photographic system used to capture and process the images shown in this book. By taking sections of the high definition video and joining them together, the dramatic low angle oblique images of the Moon were created. There is also a chapter of some beautiful views of Earthrise as seen from the spacecraft in polar orbit and of a solar eclipse by the Earth as well, all in full color.
This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in seeing the Moon's dramatic rugged surface from a spacecraft as never before. Buy it and you will visit the Moon!
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