Thanks for the review Chuck -- I confess I've never done any serious lunar observing, but have meant to. Sounds like this would be a good way to start. /R ________________________________ From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 4:51 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] S&T Lunar 100 Card I just recieved two copies of the S&T Lunar 100 Card, compiled by Charles A. Wood. I haven't been in a position to get to a dark-sky site regularly for some years, and most of my observing has been from my light-polluted backyard. This means that most galaxies are off-limits, and most of my observing is limited to lunar, planetary, double-stars, asteroids and other transient objects, and deep-sky objects that benefit from narrowband filtration. (Planetary and other emmission nebulae.) The Moon is actually a pretty fascinating object. A world unto itself, with geologic (selenographic) morphology that can be studied at very close-range, relatively speaking. In my younger years, I spent a lot of time and money photographing it through the telescope. Lunar photography gave me many of the skills I would later use when attempting deep-sky photography. Of course, that was emulsion-based, and it's a whole new ball-game these days with digital imaging. I'm learning all-over again. But many of the disciplines of imaging remain the same, from the standpoint of character and willingness. Budget and free time is an entirely different subject. YMMV. So when S&T marketed the Lunar 100 card, I ordered two copies immediately. I've owned the S&T Messier and Caldwell cards for many years, and always found them very helpful at the eyepiece, when looking for either old friends or less-observed targets that merit a peek. So I was very excited when the publishers offered a similar card for the moon. After all, the moon can be studied from even the most light-polluted environment with perfect clarity, and can stave-off those withdrawal shakes often expereineced when it's been too long since we last "fired-up" a telescope. It's a good list. Author Wood covers all the classic lunar features, as well as a few that I had never considered looking at. Many will require a certain illumination geometry (lunar phase) in order to see, due to shadows, or a favorable libration if they are near the lunar limb. I can see getting through the entire list taking several months, at least, if one is at the eyepiece on every useable night. It will probably take me a year or more to see them all. And even though I have seen many of them before, sometimes decades ago, I want to revisit them all. My only complaint is that the card is not laminated, unlike the Messier and Caldwell cards previously published by Sky Publishing. Hopefully they will offer a laminated version soon. In the meantime, I may scan it and make disposable copies, or find a laminating service and preserve at least one of the two copies I ordered. My goal is observe all of the "Lunar 100" with as small an aperture as possible, leaning on my years of experience and pushing myself personally. I will only give into a larger aperture if I find it absolutely necessary for a positive ID, or if the feature otherwise impresses me enough to warrant a better look. So, my first impression of the S&T "Lunar 100" card is over-all favorable, though for the asking price, a laminated, water-proof (dew-proof) product would have been much preferred. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".