PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

Interest in the Moon periodically ebbs and flows, like the tides it causes in our oceans. The years leading up to the Apollo manned landings marked a particularly high tide. Since then there has been a very deep low tide – but the tide is turning once again. Recently we have had the Clementine and Lunar Prospector probes and professional studies of the Moon are on the increase. It is not unreasonable to expect that within the next two or three decades people will once again be walking on the eerie lunar surface. When it does happen we will be back to stay this time.

We already know a great deal about our Moon but many mysteries remain. A few of these mysteries might be solved by the modern-day backyard observer. Nonetheless, there are many other motives for the amateur devoting time and energy to study the Moon, or any of the other celestial bodies, through his/her telescope, aside from any wish to do cutting-edge science. I will not waste space listing the other possible motives here. All that really matters is that you, the reader of this book, have an interest in the Moon which you wish to explore. If so, then this is the book for you!

I intend this book to be a ‘primer’, a guide for the interested amateur astronomer who is yet to become a lunar specialist.