Atlas of Neptune [Hardcover]

Garry E. Hunt (Author), Patrick Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 1994

Giant as it is, Neptune is so remote that it is below naked-eye visibility and so was not discovered until the development of the telescope. As the most distant major planet in the solar system, Neptune was the last to be visited by a spacecraft from Earth. The encounter of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft with Neptune in August 1989 has provided a wealth of new information about the planet, its ghostly rings, remarkable satellites and environment, and has led to some amazing discoveries. This book gives the fascinating historical background to the discovery of Neptune, its satellites and rings and goes on to describe the Voyager mission in detail. This allows the reader to appreciate the dramatic leap in the knowledge and understanding of the Neptunian environment that planetary scientists found from the Voyager flyby. All the latest information is given, illustrated with the definitive pictures from the NASA mission. No more visits by space-probes to the outer planets are likely for several decades; this book therefore represents a timely summary of our knowledge of Neptune of lasting value and enjoyment to professionals and amateurs alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

' ... this book gives a very readable account and extremely timely summary of our knowledge of the most distant planet yet visited.' Spaceflight

' ... a useful contribution to our appreciation of Neptune. Gary Hunt and Patrick Moore have put together a fitting tribute to Voyager II and the current outsider of the Solar System in their Atlas of Neptune.' The Observatory

Book Description

This first atlas of Neptune presents a unique collection of many of the best available images from Voyager 2 and gives the latest information to come from this mission. This book is of lasting value and will become a standard reference of Neptune for both professionals and amateurs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 84 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521374782
• ISBN-13: 978-0521374781
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,389,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The authoritative guide to Neptune, October 15, 2000

By 

D. Sinclair - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas of Neptune (Hardcover)

After their superb atlases of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Hunt and Moore delight us once again with an "everything we know about" book, this time on the farthest of the four gas giants, Neptune.

Even more so than its predecessors, this work is primarily based on the data returned by Voyager 2 in its August, 1989 flyby, which resulted in the discovery of the "Great Dark Spot", of new minor satellites, and gave us spectacular close-ups of the surface of Neptune's sole giant moon, Triton, and its strange "cantalope terrain". All of these marvels are reproduced in full color, making this book as visually appealing as it is intellectually stimulating. Sadly, since no further missions to Neptune are planned, this will probably be the state-of-the-art of our knowledge of Neptune for some years to come, making this book a worthy investment.

A historical overview of the discovery and telescopic exploration of Neptune and a brief technical discussion of Voyager 2's mission and the unique technical challenges it faced during the Neptune encounter complete this work. A wonderful book that should not be missing in any astronomical library.