

Plates generally correspond to the LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) system of the early 1960s. The main part of the atlas features 144 plates made from images taken at the 750nm wavelength by the Clementine spacecraft launched in 1994. This alone provides a consistency that has been sorely lacking in lunar atlases made from photographs taken by other NASA spacecraft. The images shown on the pages of The Clementine Atlas of the Moon are reproduced at the same scale and under nearly identical lighting conditions.
#Clementine moon atlas 1st edition book professional#
If, however, you are looking for a professional lunar atlas utilizing spacecraft photos, this is your book. If you are looking for a book with a lot of pretty pictures of the lunar surface, take a big pass on The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. The quantity of craters named (using the Madler system), the extent of coverage (both the far side and near side of the Moon), and the comparable (Nadir) viewing geometry of all the images makes this atlas a must have for lunar scientists, gradstudents, and amateur astronomers alike. A reference guide to finding any crater named in any article I am reading, and getting a good first-order understanding of the crater's local geography. The atlas fills an important niche in my collection. There just isn't anything that can be done about it except go back to the Moon and acquire better, higher resolution measurements. The reader is observing the data at the resolution Lunar Prospector acquired it (~60 km per pixel). In addition, the criticism about the pixel size of some of the global remotely sensed element maps is unwarranted. One of the figures is blurred, however, none of the figures appear as badly scanned from another book and carelessly pasted in the text. The remarks of the Italian reviewer concerning the figures in part 1 are overstated. The Clementine Lunar Atlas of the Moon, by Bussey & Spudis, provides a wealth of information on basic lunar facts, history, and exploration (part 1), and is the best global compilation of lunar geography and imagery in one book to date (part 2). Instead it is intended to be an atlas of use to both professional researchers and amateur astronomers (and would no doubt be an interesting addition to any coffee table), and it fills this role admirably. The book was clearly never intended to primarily be a general interest book about lunar exploration (many excellent books on this subjects already exist). I have to disagree with the other reviewer's comments about the book. The Clementine images have been reproduced at a high quality and the use of annotated shaded relief maps ensures an unobscured view of the Clementine mosaics.įinally, the atlas contains the most complete gazeteer of lunar features ever produced. The main section of the book represents the first global atlas of the Moon covering both the near and the far sides, and as such is an unique and unprecendented resource. The authors bring many years of experience to bear on a subject in which they are clearly well versed and highly knowledgable. The first section of the book consists of a concise, yet comprehensive review of lunar exploration and lunar science. This book represents a groundbreaking and unique resource for both professional and amateur lunar enthusiasts.
