I Hardware Past Present, and Future.- From Carefully Tooled Gears to Totally Cool Gear.- Computers Get Personal.- The Power of the Portable.- Handheld Cyberware.- Portable Data Storage.- II Software and How to Use It.- Electronic Skies.- In Graphic Realms.- Cybersketching Challenges.

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. 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 the night sky is even more rewarding than you ever imagined.

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.