Moon Resources

Moon Photos and General Info

Lunar Photo of the Day. This site is run by Dr. Charles Wood, a lunar researcher and author of the book "The Modern Moon: A Personal View". Every day Dr. Wood showcases a photo or other image related to the Moon. The sources are diverse, from historical lunar atlases, to the latest lunar missions launched by the Chinese and Japanese, to stunning shots from amateur astronomers rivalling spacecraft photos in detail. Each photo is accompanied by Wood's expert commentary.
The-Moon Wiki. This site is like Wikipedia, only devoted solely to the Moon. It is also run by Dr. Charles Wood.

Photographic Moon Book. Here is a free online book about observing and photographing the Moon, in Adobe Acrobat format. Alan Chu, an amateur astronomer in Hong Kong, has compiled an extensive amount of his own lunar photography into a series of photographic maps of the lunar surface. Together with a good lunar atlas (such as Virtual Moon Atlas), it is a great way to learn the Moon.
The Shallow Sky Web Page. The Shallow Sky website is devoted to amateur astronomers who love observing the solar system. A highlight of the site is "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon", a compilation of sketches and observation reports from lunar observers, organized alphabetically by name of feature.
Getting Started with the Moon. Just in case you missed it, check out our guide for getting started observing the Moon with binoculars or a telescope. Lunar observing is probably the easiest way to get started in astronomy, and the Moon is the most detailed and dynamic object in the night sky.

Virtual Moon Atlas. This freeware program will display a Moon map onscreen, so you can identify craters and other surface features. Incredibly detailed, with lots of information. Works best with 3D-capable computers, but "basic" and "light" versions are available for older machines. (I use the "light" version myself and consider it quite useful for my needs). It is available only for Microsoft Windows, but I run it on a Macintosh with VMWare Fusion and it works just fine.
Virtual Moon Atlas Tutorial. VMA is a very capable and sophisticated piece of software, especially if you install the "Pro" version with all the additional databases. Here's some help getting started.

The Lunar and Plantetary Institute has several excellent collections of Moon photos.

Consolidated Lunar Atlas. This Earth-based photographic atlas covers the entire near face of the Moon that we see from Earth. It was taken in the 1960's as part of research for the Apollo moon landings.
Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon. This atlas was also taken in the 1960's from spaecraft orbiting the Moon.
Lunar Orbiter Photo Gallery. More photos from the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft.
Ranger Photographs of the Moon. Here's another set of photos from 1960's spacecraft, in advance of the Apollo manned moon landings.
Apollo Image Atlas. Images the Apollo astronauts took from lunar orbit.

The Geologic History of the Moon. This is a huge summary of basically everything we've learned scientifically from the Apollo moon missions, available free for download. It's not a small book, and it is not beginner-level material, but it is one of the most authoritative works on the Moon available. If you've read Charles Wood's book "The Modern Moon: A Personal View" and want to know more, here's a good place to look.