Astronomical Cybersketching: Observational Drawing with PDAs and Tablet PCs

You love sky watching and are excited by what you see through your telescope. You want to keep a record of what you see. You want others to see it. These are all good reasons to put down your pencil and pad and get started cybersketching!

What is cybersketching? It is using a small computer, such as a laptop or a PDA, to make a sketch of what you see through your telescope or even with your naked eye. Particularly good subjects are the Moon and the brighter planets, but even deep space has much to offer a cybersketcher.

Why cybersketch? Sketching what you see is a fantastic way not only to record what you see but to share it with others. Before imaging, sketching was the only way people had of sharing their discoveries. With all the fancy new imaging devices around, sketching has become something of a lost art. But it shouldn't be! Not only is it an inexpensive and quick way to record and share what you see, but it also helps you to hone your observational skills. Using a computer gives you a variety of exciting and fun tools to use and ways to make your sketches almost professional, so you can show them off and display them.

In this book, Peter Grego outlines the evolution of cybersketching, with a brief review of the history of computers, hardware and software, and how to use the tools that are now available to astronomy buffs.

If you are not sketching because you think it is old-fashioned, or if you are sketching using only a pencil and paper, read this book and see why you are missing out on some terrific new technologies that are easy to use and affordable to nearly everyone. Become an astronomical cybersketcher, and you will find that the time you spend exploring thenight sky is even more rewarding than you ever imagined.

This book is truly unique. It is a book that has become necessary because of advancing computer technology. It outlines the techniques involved in making observational sketches and more detailed ‘scientific’ drawings of a wide variety of astronomical subjects using modern digital equipment; primarily PDAs and tablet PCs. Choosing hardware and software is discussed at the beginning, followed by the techniques involved in amateur astronomers producing finished drawings. Completing and enhancing these drawings at the desktop PC is also covered.

No other book on the market deals with the subject of digital observational drawing – not even touching upon it briefly. People are increasingly ‘digitising’ their lifestyles, and amateur astronomers of the future will not have to contend with soggy paper and smudgy pencils while juggling a red torch at the eyepiece! Those who have seen the techniques that the author has pioneered, and which he describes in detail in Astronomical Cybersketching, have universally commented that "cybersketching" – the use of handheld PCs with touch sensitive screens that can be used for drawing and other input – is the future of making records of visual observations of astronomical subjects, and is already taking its place alongside modern CCD, digicam and webcam imaging techniques.

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.