Astronomical Cybersketching (eBook)

Peter Grego has recently written The Moon and How to Observe it for Springer. He has eight other published astronomy books to his credit. And is working on Mercury and Venus and How to Observe Them for Springer. Living in the UK, he is a well-known writer and practical amateur astronomer. He has contributed to many other books, and has more than 100 published articles to his credit. He is the Lunar Topographic Co-ordinator and Editor of the BAA Lunar Section journal, The New Moon.

Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series 2
AstronomicalCybersketching 3
Acknowledgements 6
Contents 7
About the Author 8
Introduction 9
Sketching the Skies 9
Why Draw? 11
Technological Aids 13
Part 1: Hardware: Past, Present, and Future 15
From Carefully Tooled Gears to Totally Cool Gear 16
The Antikythera Mechanism 18
Deus Ex Machina 19
Lookers and Optick Tubes 21
The Clockwork Universe 24
Making a Difference 25
Computers with Punch 26
Electronic Brains 27
The Birth of Computer Graphics 30
Memories of the Space Age 34
Integrated Advances 35
Moore’s Law 37
Computers Get Personal 38
Apple Ladles on the Sauce 42
The Windows of Change 46
Desktop Essentials 47
Specs Appeal 47
Consider the Aged 48
Bettering RAM 49
Going for a Drive 50
The Mouse Squeaks Up 51
Graphics Tablets 54
Digital Notepads 57
Getting the Picture 58
View Tubes 58
Crystal Clarity 62
Dazzling Displays 63
Passive Resistance 65
LCDs Get Active 65
Problem Pixels 66
Different Aspects 66
Printing and Scanning 67
Printworks 68
Scanners 70
A Few Scanning Tips 72
Digital Imaging - A Useful Cybersketching Tool 73
Digicams 74
Mobile Phone and PDA Cameras 76
Digital SLRs 78
Camcorders 78
Webcams 80
The Power of the Portable 83
Power in Your Lap 83
Touchscreens 86
Doing It with Stylus 88
Tablet PCs 90
Some Tablet Comparisons 92
Handheld Cyberware 97
Palms 98
WinCE 100
The Outer Limits 107
Portable Data Storage 108
Floppy Disks 108
CD/DVD Storage 109
Flash Memory on the Cards 110
Part 2: Software and How to Use It 119
Electronic Skies 120
Planetaria 121
Celestial Tourism 122
Databases and Other Reference Works 122
Peripheral Software and Utilities 123
Astronomy Programs for Planning and Researching Observations 123
PDA Program Installation in Vista 142
In Graphic Realms 143
Vectors and Bitmaps 143
Color Depth 144
Color Perception 146
Image Formats 148
Some Commonly Used Graphic Formats 149
Graphics Programs for Cybersketching 151
Screen Capture 159
Basic Drawing Tools 160
Paint Tool 161
Filters 164
Blurring and Sharpening 167
Fills 171
Working in Layers 171
Resampling and Resizing 172
End Game 173
Vector Graphics 173
Cybersketching Challenges 175
Observational Field Drawings 175
PDA Cybersketching 178
Making Freehand Field Cybersketches of Lunar Features on a PDA 179
Saving Cybersketches to PDA 182
Making Freehand Field Cybersketches of Deep Sky Objects on a PDA 183
Basic Freehand DSO Cybersketches 184
Jupiter on a PDA 189
Colored Double Stars on a PDA 191
Observational Cybersketching on a Tablet PC/UMPC 191
Observational Drawing Aided by Digital Images 197
Simultaneous Cybersketching 198
Sketching from Live or Recorded Images 198
Live Deep Sky Sketching Using a Video Camera 198
Using Digital Image Templates to Make Lunar Observational Drawings 201
Observational Lunar Sketches Based on a Near-Live Digital Image Template 202
Digitally Revitalizing Conventional Observational Drawings 209
Halftoning 209
Glossary 212
Index 218