Grego Astronomical Cybersketching

Observational Drawing with PDAs and Tablet PCs
2009
ISBN: 978-0-387-85351-2
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 222 Seiten

Reihe: The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series

SketchingtheSkies Suddenly and without warning, a new star appeared in the night sky, and everyone in the community was alarmed. Nobody could remember having seen its like before. Dazzling to look at, this unexpected intruder in the heavenly vault gave off a light that almost rivaled that of the full Moon, drowning out the familiar patterns of stars with its glare. The new star's steady white light penetrated deep into the sacred cave, illuminating an age-old patchwork of intricately drawn pictographs; some of these depicted terrestrial objects and events, from mundane sketches of bison to vast and sweeping panoramic images of wild galloping horses. Other scenes showed celestial phenomena, such as the phases of the Moon and prominent asterisms, or star patterns. The next morning, accompanied by solemn chanting in which the entire c- munity participated, an elderly shaman entered the sacred cave by the light of a fiery brand and selected a suitable area upon which to depict the new star. Once the artwork was finished, the shaman reappeared at the cave entrance; he held out his arms wide to the slowly brightening morning skies and announced that the pow- ful magic of the new star had been captured and could now be used to ensure the continuing prosperity of his tribe.

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Grego, Peter

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series;2
1.1;AstronomicalCybersketching;3
1.2;Acknowledgements;6
1.3;Contents;7
1.4;About the Author;8
1.5; Introduction;9
1.5.1;Sketching the Skies;9
1.5.2;Why Draw?;11
1.5.3;Technological Aids;13
2;Part 1: Hardware: Past, Present, and Future;15
3;From Carefully Tooled Gears to Totally Cool Gear;16
3.1;The Antikythera Mechanism;18
3.2;Deus Ex Machina;19
3.3;Lookers and Optick Tubes;21
3.4;The Clockwork Universe;24
3.5;Making a Difference;25
3.6;Computers with Punch;26
3.7;Electronic Brains;27
3.8;The Birth of Computer Graphics;30
3.9;Memories of the Space Age;34
3.10;Integrated Advances;35
3.11;Moore’s Law;37
4;Computers Get Personal;38
4.1;Apple Ladles on the Sauce;42
4.2;The Windows of Change;46
4.3;Desktop Essentials;47
4.4;Specs Appeal;47
4.5;Consider the Aged;48
4.5.1;Bettering RAM;49
4.5.2;Going for a Drive;50
4.5.3;The Mouse Squeaks Up;51
4.6;Graphics Tablets;54
4.7;Digital Notepads;57
4.8;Getting the Picture;58
4.8.1;View Tubes;58
4.8.2;Crystal Clarity;62
4.8.3;Dazzling Displays;63
4.8.4;Passive Resistance;65
4.8.5;LCDs Get Active;65
4.8.6;Problem Pixels;66
4.8.7;Different Aspects;66
4.9;Printing and Scanning;67
4.9.1;Printworks;68
4.10;Scanners;70
4.10.1;A Few Scanning Tips;72
4.11;Digital Imaging - A Useful Cybersketching Tool;73
4.11.1;Digicams;74
4.12;Mobile Phone and PDA Cameras;76
4.13;Digital SLRs;78
4.14;Camcorders;78
4.15;Webcams;80
5;The Power of the Portable;83
5.1;Power in Your Lap;83
5.2;Touchscreens;86
5.3;Doing It with Stylus;88
5.4;Tablet PCs;90
5.5;Some Tablet Comparisons;92
6;Handheld Cyberware;97
6.1;Palms;98
6.2;WinCE;100
6.3;The Outer Limits;107
7;Portable Data Storage;108
7.1;Floppy Disks;108
7.2;CD/DVD Storage;109
7.3;Flash Memory on the Cards;110
8;Part 2: Software and How to Use It;119
9;Electronic Skies;120
9.1;Planetaria;121
9.2;Celestial Tourism;122
9.3;Databases and Other Reference Works;122
9.4; Peripheral Software and Utilities;123
9.4.1;Astronomy Programs for Planning and Researching Observations;123
9.5;PDA Program Installation in Vista;142
10;In Graphic Realms;143
10.1;Vectors and Bitmaps;143
10.2;Color Depth;144
10.3;Color Perception;146
10.4;Image Formats;148
10.5;Some Commonly Used Graphic Formats;149
10.6;Graphics Programs for Cybersketching;151
10.7;Screen Capture;159
10.8;Basic Drawing Tools;160
10.9;Paint Tool;161
10.10;Filters;164
10.11;Blurring and Sharpening;167
10.12;Fills;171
10.13;Working in Layers;171
10.14;Resampling and Resizing;172
10.15;End Game;173
10.16;Vector Graphics;173
11;Cybersketching Challenges;175
11.1;Observational Field Drawings;175
11.2;PDA Cybersketching;178
11.2.1;Making Freehand Field Cybersketches of Lunar Features on a PDA;179
11.3;Saving Cybersketches to PDA;182
11.3.1;Making Freehand Field Cybersketches of Deep Sky Objects on a PDA;183
11.4;Basic Freehand DSO Cybersketches;184
11.5;Jupiter on a PDA;189
11.6;Colored Double Stars on a PDA;191
11.7;Observational Cybersketching on a Tablet PC/UMPC;191
11.8;Observational Drawing Aided by Digital Images;197
11.9;Simultaneous Cybersketching;198
11.10;Sketching from Live or Recorded Images;198
11.11;Live Deep Sky Sketching Using a Video Camera;198
11.12;Using Digital Image Templates to Make Lunar Observational Drawings;201
11.13;Observational Lunar Sketches Based on a Near-Live Digital Image Template;202
11.14;Digitally Revitalizing Conventional Observational Drawings;209
11.15;Halftoning;209
12;Glossary;212
13;Index;218