Hatfield

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Jeremy Cook: The Hatfield photographic lunar atlas (1999)

(glossary entry)


Description

This is a systematic collection of photos of the Moon taken some years ago (on film) by British amateur Henry Hatfield (1921 - 2010). The primary (and perhaps only) purpose of Jeremy Cook's (1933 - 2003) new edition is to assist other amateurs in identifying the names of the features they see at the eyepiece or in their own photographs.
 
  Another reason for the republication was - I speculate - that no other convenient lunar atlas existed, so the old photos, with updated nomenclature, could still ably serve another generation of observers. It is a very handy reference! - tychocrater Dec 28, 2007

Additional Information

  • Commander Henry Hatfield was a retired navigator and hydrographic surveyor who took photos of the Moon on plates and film using a backyard 12-inch Newtonian reflector of his own construction. All the photos were taken in 1965-1967, and Hatfield drew the original maps that accompanied them. Commander Hatfield was born on 27 August 1921 and died on 1 April 2010.
  • Jeremy Cook (1933-2003) was an amateur lunar observer and a Director of the Lunar Section of the BAA. His son, Anthony Cook, is a well-known planetary scientist. Cook (senior) apparently updated the nomenclature on the maps.
  • The Moon is divided into 16 roughly equal squares, each illustrated by a full-page photo taken at a sun angle showing a reasonable level of detail. This photo is accompanied, on the facing page, by a line drawing at the same scale with the principal features labeled according to the names appearing in NASA RP-1097. Additional (unlabeled) photos show details within the square, sometimes at different sun angles.
  • A name index indicates which photos a particular feature appears in.
  • Complete particulars of each photo (date, time, film type, exposure) are tabulated in an appendix.
  • Aside from a very brief introduction, the book contains very little text. That is, although the names of many lunar features are indicated, little additional information about those features is provided.
  • The quality of the photos is adequate for the purpose, but they are not as sharp as many of today's amateur digital photos.
  • The maps include three "unofficial" names that Cook found useful to retain even though they did not appear in NASA RP-1097: Promontorium Lavinium, Promontorium Olivium and the Stag's Horn Mountains.
  • The revised atlas has been published in separate "normal" and mirror-reversed editions.
  • Unfortunately, there's a number of typographical errors on the outline maps: on Map 1 there's Becatov (which should be Beketov), Fabroni (which should be Fabbroni), Sarabhan (which should be Sarabhai), Wollach (which should be Wallach). On Map 3 there's Abbott (which should be Abbot), Bekatov (which should be Beketov), Fabroni (which should be Fabbroni), Farenheit (which should be Fahrenheit). On Map 8 the name Vinogradov (Mons Vinogradov) was included as Vinagradov. On Map 7 it was included as Mons Vinodradov. There seems to be some confusion on Map 5 because it shows Mons Vinogradov and a craterlet southeast of it called "Vinogradov", which is also an error (should be Natasha). Also on Map 8, the name Caventou was included as Cavantou. And in the atlas's alphabetic Index of Named Formations, the names Bond W., Bonpland, Boole, Borda, and Borel were printed after Apianus and before Apollonius. Detection of typographical errors: Danny Caes.


LPOD Articles

Farewell to the Commander

Bibliography




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