Peter Grego's fascinating book presents an up-to-date, detailed description of the history and geology of the so-called inferior planets, and provides the latest, most useful advice on observing and recording them with commercially-available telescopes and cameras.

For too long Mercury and Venus have been regarded as the Cinderellas of Solar System. This book exposes them as fascinating sister planets well worthy of the amateur observer's attention. Commercial telescopes and imaging systems have developed very rapidly, and now excellent observations and respectable images are within range of only moderately experienced observers. This book is alone in providing a wealth of practical detail about observing the inferior planets. Uniquely, both Mercury and Venus are also explained in terms of their history and geology. The concept of this book is to present an up-to-date detailed description of the history and geology of the inferior planets. It also provides the best information about observing and recording them with commercially-available telescopes and cameras.

Mercury and Venus, for too long the Cinderellas of Solar System observing, are exposed as fascinating sister planets well worthy of the amateur observer's attention Commercial telescopes and imaging systems have developed very rapidly, and are now capable of some excellent observations and respectable images The book provides unlike any other a wealth of practical detail about observing the inferior planets Uniquely, both Mercury and Venus are also explained in terms of their history and geology

Autorentext

Peter Grego is an astronomy writer and editor. A regular watcher of the night skies since 1976, he observes from his home in St. Dennis, Cornwall, UK, with a variety of instruments. His telescopes include a 102 mm refractor, home-made 150 mm and 300 mm Newtonians (telescope mirror-making is another of his interests) and a 445 mm Newtonian, but his most-used instrument is his 200 mm SCT. Grego's primary observing interests are the Moon's topography, Mars and Jupiter. He now likes to use a hand-held computer to make observational drawings. Grego has directed the Lunar Section of Britain's Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) since 1984, and since 2006 has been actively involved with the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association (BAA). He edits and produces four astronomy publications - Luna (journal of the SPA Lunar Section), The BAA Lunar Section Circulars and Popular Astronomy magazine. He is also layout editor for the Bulletin of the Society for the History of Astronomy and The Antiquarian Astronomer. Grego's astronomical writings and observations have been featured in many publications since 1983, including the BAS Newsletter, Popular Astronomy, The New Moon, Amateur Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Gnomon, The Lunar Observer, Yokohama Science Center News, and the CD-ROM Window on the Universe. Since 1997 he has written and illustrated the monthly MoonWatch page in UK's Astronomy Now magazine, and he is the observing advisor and columnist for the Sky at Night magazine. He has given many talks to astronomical societies around the UK and has been featured on a number of radio and television broadcasts. Grego is the author of numerous astronomy books, including Collision:Earth! (Cassell, 1998), Moon Observer's Guide (Philips/Firefly, 2004), The Moon and How to Observe It (Springer, 2005), Need to Know? Stargazing (Collins, 2005), Need to Know? Universe (Collins, 2006),Solar System Observer's Guide (Philips/Firefly, 2005), Exploring the Earth/Exploring the Moon/ Discovering the Solar System/ Voyage Through Space/ Discovering the Universe (five books in the QED Space Guides series, 2007), Venus and Mercury and How to Observe Them (Springer, 2008), The Great Big Book of Space (QED 2010) and, Galileo and 400 Years of Telescopic Astronomy (Springer, 2010).

Inhalt
A Perspective on Mercury and Venus.- A Perspective on Mercury and Venus.- Current Knowledge of Mercury and Venus.- Our Current Knowledge of Mercury.- Our Current Knowledge of Venus.- Observing Mercury and Venus.- Equipment for Observing Mercury and Venus.- Recording Mercury and Venus.- Observing Mercury.- Observing Venus.