An up-to-date guide on our current understanding of the Red Planet and how the amateur astronomer can become familiar with this fascinating world
Mars has long been a favorite subject for astronomers, both amateur and professional. Known as the Red Planet because of its distinct color, it shines brightly in the skies when it is closest to the Earth every two years. Exciting to view through a telescope, this most Earth-like of planets transforms into a real world showing phases, brilliant polar ice caps, seasonal changes in its dusty desert markings, and atmospheric phenomena.
Mars and How to Observe It takes readers on a planet-wide tour of the Red Planet and explains how a variety of dynamic forces has shaped it through the ages. This book explains how amateur astronomers can view Mars successfully to create accurate observational drawings and secure high-resolution CCD images of the planet.
Table of contents:
- Fourth Rock from the Sun
- History of the Red Planet
- Stuff and Substance
- Atmospherics, Meteors, and Magentic Field
- The Martian Moons
- A Topographic Survey of Mars
- Following Mars
- A Tour of Mars
- Recording Mars
- An Observer's Guide to Martian Apparitions
- The Mars Observer's Equipment.
The author Peter Grego began his astronomical writing career by producing around 50 articles on astronomy and observing for the Birmingham (UK) Astronomical Society Journal (1982-1991). Through the years he has had dozens of articles appear in various publications, including Popular Astronomy, Sky & Telescope and Astronomy Now.
