The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully done, good to excellent coverage
Review: As an amateur astronomer, my interest tends more to deep-sky objects rather than planetary astronomy, but I spent some time looking at this atlas, and it really is a striking catalog of our current knowledge of the solar system. The atlas contains beautiful closeups of every planet except Pluto, although the coverage for Venus isn't that extensive, but then since Venus is mostly clouds, I don't know how much would be served by that, unlike the cloud-cover of Jupiter, which shows many stable bands and also the pink and red spots. There are also maps of a number of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, allowing you to see their heavily marred and cratered surfaces, which are very reminiscent of Mercury or our moon.

The atlas only contains maps for the large Galileian satellites of Jupiter and the same for the larger, closer moons of Saturn, but I don't know if this is because of limitations in the spacecraft that took the photos or the distances involved from the spacecraft to the moons. The maps of Mars are perhaps the most interesting in terms of surface details, and features like the enormous, 17-mile high and 400-mile across volcano, Nix Olympica, and the great gorge on Mars, really stand out. Another thing that was interesting was the discovery of the first asteroid with its own small planet. The atlas features over 150 maps, 214 color illustrations and a gazetteer. Overall, this is a stunning and beautifully done atlas of the solar system, which, despite its not being cheap, should still be of interest to amateurs and professionals alike.

Rating:
Summary: The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System
Review: Featuring over 150 maps, 214 color illustrations & a gazetteer that lists the names of all features officially approved by the International Astronomical Union, The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System is the essential reference source for maps of every planet, moon, or small body investigated by NASA missions throughout the solar system.

Rating:
Summary: The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System
Review: Featuring over 150 maps, 214 color illustrations & a gazetteer that lists the names of all features officially approved by the International Astronomical Union, The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System is the essential reference source for maps of every planet, moon, or small body investigated by NASA missions throughout the solar system.

Rating:
Summary: The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System
Review: The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System is a very good reference for those working with spacecraft. Spacecraft images don't come with names already on them and it is often difficult when looking at some MGS images which crater is which and what they are called. When it comes to most of the inner planets, and Saturnian, Uranian, and Neptunian moons, the coverage is quite good and very useful. However, I can't say the same for Venus and Jupiter's moons. While there is excellent coverage for Mars as far as number of sections, Venus is not covered as well even though we have similar scale maps. I agree with the authors that if the same scale was used for both, the Venus maps would take up a large number of pages. However, the same number of quadrants would have been nice. Secondly, the coverage of the Jovian moons is lacking. The maps are from the Voyager era and while that may not be as big of a problem for Ganymede or Callisto, it is a problem for Io and Europa. The coverage of Europa from Galileo has greatly improved over Voyager's coverage and an updated map would have been nice. Io's map is also from Voyager. The fact that much of the anti-jovian side has been covered in great detail by Galileo but it was not included in the atlas save a small image of that mosaic not incorporated into the map. in addition, surface changes in the 20 years between Voyager and Galileo have made the included map quite out of date.

Save those two flaws, it is a pretty good reference for those interested in the solar system.

Rating:
Summary: Very good reference but a few glaring flaws
Review: The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System is a very good reference for those working with spacecraft. Spacecraft images don't come with names already on them and it is often difficult when looking at some MGS images which crater is which and what they are called. When it comes to most of the inner planets, and Saturnian, Uranian, and Neptunian moons, the coverage is quite good and very useful. However, I can't say the same for Venus and Jupiter's moons. While there is excellent coverage for Mars as far as number of sections, Venus is not covered as well even though we have similar scale maps. I agree with the authors that if the same scale was used for both, the Venus maps would take up a large number of pages. However, the same number of quadrants would have been nice. Secondly, the coverage of the Jovian moons is lacking. The maps are from the Voyager era and while that may not be as big of a problem for Ganymede or Callisto, it is a problem for Io and Europa. The coverage of Europa from Galileo has greatly improved over Voyager's coverage and an updated map would have been nice. Io's map is also from Voyager. The fact that much of the anti-jovian side has been covered in great detail by Galileo but it was not included in the atlas save a small image of that mosaic not incorporated into the map. in addition, surface changes in the 20 years between Voyager and Galileo have made the included map quite out of date.

Save those two flaws, it is a pretty good reference for those interested in the solar system.