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• THE FAMILY OF THE SUN. From Flat Earth to Spaceflight. Our Star, the Sun. PLANETS OF ROCK: THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. The Earth From a Planetary Perspective. Earth's Nearest Neighbor----The Moon. Mercury----The Land of Fire. Venus----the Shrouded Inferno. Mars----A Frozen Miniature Earth. The Debris of the Solar System----the Asteroids. PLANETS OF LIQUID AND GAS: THE JOVIAN GIANTS. Jupiter----A Giant Among Worlds. Saturn----the Jewel of the Solar System. Miniature Solar System----Jupiter's Moons. Saturn's Moons----Worlds of Ice, Worlds of Mystery. WORLDS OF ICE: THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM. Uranus----Planet Turned Sideways. Neptune, and Triton----Worlds to Explore. Pluto----The Edge of the Solar System. Comets----the Primordial Snowballs. Death from the Skies. A QUESTION OF ORIGIN. Meteors and Meteorites----Visitors from Outer Space. The Origin of the Solar System. The Nebular Hypothesis Ascendant. Appendixes.
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This volume aims to provide a non-mathematical description of the Sun, planets, moons, asteroids and comets in our solar system. Discussion is based on results obtained from recent space probes to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. The text offers detailed descriptions of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and the results of the recent probes of Halley's Comet. An extensive discussion of meteorites leads to a description of the current models of the solar system. Introductory chapters present theories of the solar system from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Other topics covered include the Sun, its structure and how it generates energy, and the surfaces, internal structures and histories of the planets.
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• 1. The formation of the solar system: consensus, alternatives and missing factors G. W. WETHERILL
• 2. The evolution of protostellar disks R. B. LARSON
• 3. On the relationship between early solar activity and the evolution of terrestrial planet atmospheres R. O. PEPIN
• 4. Implications of the giant planets for the formation and evolution of planetary systems D. J. STEVENSON
• 5. Constraints on the properties and environment of primitive stellar nebulae from the astrophysical record provided by young stellar objects S. E. STROM, S. EDWARDS and K. M. STROM
• 6. Molecular disks and their link to planetary systems A. I. SARGENT
• 7. The physics of planetesimal formation S. J. WEIDENSCHILLING, B. DONN and P. MEAKIN
• 8. Circumstellar material around nearby stars: clues to the formation of planetary systems C. A. NORMAN and F. PARESCE
• 9. Solar nebula chemistry: implications for volatiles in the solar system B. FEGLEY, JR. and R. G. PRINN
• 10. Primitive bodies: molecular abundances in comet Halley as probes of cometary formation environments J. I. LUNINE
• 11. The impact of stellar evolution on planetary system development P. BODENHEIMER
• 12. Major issues in planetary system formation C. A. NORMAN ET AL
• 13. Instrumentation for the study of planetary systems H. W. MOOS ET AL.
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The Spring 1988 workshop at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, reviewed the rapid progress now being made on our understanding of how planetary systems form. This volume reviews our present knowledge, summarizes outstanding problems and provides a focus for future theoretical work.
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• List of illustrations
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. American astronomy in the foundation era (1920-1940)
• 2. Planetary atmospheres and military patrons (1945-1955)
• 3. Astronomers, geochemists, and astro-chemistry (1945-1955)
• 4. Consensus, then controversy: interdisciplinary turmoil (1950-1957)
• 5. Astronomers and geologists: uneasy alliances (1920-1960)
• 6. Patronage and American astronomy: turmoil and transition (1952-1960)
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• List of Abbreviation
• References
• Index.
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Between 1920 and 1960 astronomers began working with scientists in other fields in order to better understand the nature of the solar system. Researchers made wide-ranging attempts to solve such problems as the nature of lunar and terrestrial craters, the origin of comets and meteors and the birth of the solar system. While often tinged with controversy, this work provided the foundation for planetary science in the space age. Exploiting previously unused archival material, Ronald Doel investigates this emerging interdisciplinary scientific community and its influence on astronomy, meteorology, geology and geophysics. He examines how studies in planetary science were influenced by shifts in institutional mandates, new research techniques, and Cold War government-military funding. Above all, the book explores an important branch of what is now called the environmental sciences.
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Nicholas Copernicus laid the foundations for modern astronomy with his theory of heliocentric movement of the planets. This English translation of and commentary on his "Minor Works" is an unabridged republication of the 1978 edition, with a new introduction.
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• Part I. Transits of Venus: History, Results and Legacy: Part II. The AU and the PC
• Part III. Transits, the Solar System and Extra-Solar Planets
• Part IV. The Jeremiah Horrocks Memorial Public Lecture
• Part V. New Views of the Galaxy: Parallaxes, Distances and Implications for Astrophysics
• Part VI. New Views of the Galaxy: Future Space and Ground-Based Programmes
• Part VII. Summary.
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On 24 November 1639 in the tiny Lancashire village of Much Hoole, Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observations of a transit of Venus. In the following century the great expeditions to observe the transits of Venus gave us the most colourful stories in astronomy. IAU C196 coincided with the 8 June 2004 transit of Venus, producing the exciting, eclectic mix that can be found in these proceedings: the amazing history of the English North-country astronomers of the seventeenth century; the AU at a precision of 1.4 m; the explanation for the infamous black drop effect; a possible Mayan observation of a transit of Venus in the thirteenth century; the vexed question of leap seconds and time scales; history, distances, parallaxes, the solar system at exquisite precision and future space missions that will revolutionise astronomy.
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• Introduction
• Introduction to the Second Edition
• Prologue: The Dreamer
• General Background
• Theories Come and Theories Go
• Measuring Atoms and the Universe
• Greek Offerings
• The Shoulders of Giants
• The Sun and the Planets
• Satellites and Rings
• Smaller Bodies of the Solar System
• The Problem to be Solved
• The French Connection
• American Catherine Wheels
• British Big Tides
• Russian Cloud Capture - With British Help
• German Vortices - With a Little French Help
• McCrea's Floccules
• What Early Theories Indicate
• Disks Around New Stars
• Planets Around Other Stars
• What a Theory Should Explain Now
• The New Solar Nebula Theory: The Angular Momentum Problem
• Making Planets Top-Down
• A Bottom-Up Alternative
• Making Planets Faster
• Wandering Planets
• Back to Top-Down
• This is the Stuff that Stars are Made of
• Making Dense Cool Clouds
• A Star is Born, Lives and Dies
• Close to the Madding Crowd
• Close Encounters of the Stellar Kind
• Ever Decreasing Circles
• How Many Planetary Systems?
• Starting a Family
• Tilting - But not at Windmills
• The Terrestrial Planets Raise Problems
• A Biggish Bang Theory: The Earth and Venus
• Behold the Wandering Moon
• Fleet Mercury and Warlike Mars
• Gods of the Sea and the Nether Regions
• Bits and Pieces - Asteroids, Comets and Dwarf Planets
• Making Atoms with a Biggish Bang
• Is the Capture Theory True?
• Epilogue: An Autumn Evening--.
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This fully-updated second edition remains the only truly detailed exploration of the origins of our Solar System, written by an authority in the field. Unlike other authors, Michael Woolfson focuses on the formation of the solar system, engaging the reader in an intelligent yet accessible discussion of the development of ideas about how the Solar System formed from ancient times to the present.Within the last five decades new observations and new theoretical advances have transformed the way scientists think about the problem of finding a plausible theory. Spacecraft and landers have explored the planets of the Solar System, observations have been made of Solar-System bodies outside the region of the planets and planets have been detected and observed around many solar-type stars. This new edition brings in the most recent discoveries, including the establishment of dwarf planets and challenges to the `standard model' of planet formation - the Solar Nebula Theory.While presenting the most up-to-date material and the underlying science of the theories described, the book avoids technical jargon and terminology. It thus remains a digestible read for the non-expert interested reader, whilst being detailed and comprehensive enough to be used as an undergraduate physics and astronomy textbook, where the formation of the solar system is a key part of the course.Michael Woolfson is Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at University of York and is an award-winning crystallographer and astronomer.
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• 1. The Solar System
• 2. The discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto
• 3. Pluto, a diminishing world
• 4. Pluto's family
• 5. Surfaces, atmospheres, interiors of Pluto and Charon
• 6. The Edgeworth-Kuiper belt
• 7. Is Pluto a planet?
• 8. The New Horizons mission to Pluto (and beyond)
• 9. Pluto: gateway to beyond?
• Glossary
• Further reading and other resources
• Index.
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Orbiting at the edge of the outer Solar System, Pluto is an intriguing object in astronomy. Since the fascinating events surrounding its discovery, it has helped increase our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, and raised questions about the nature and benefits of scientific classification. This is a timely and exciting account of Pluto and its satellites. The author uses Pluto as a case study to discuss discovery in astronomy, how remote astronomical bodies are investigated, and the role of classification in science by discussing Pluto's recent classification as a dwarf planet. Besides Pluto, the book also explores the rich assortment of bodies that constitute the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, of which Pluto is the largest innermost member. Richly illustrated, this text is written for general readers, amateur astronomers and students alike. Boxed text provides more advanced information especially for readers who wish to delve deeper into the subject.
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Using X-ray microprobe analysis of samples from comet Wild 2 returned by the Stardust mission, we determine that the crystalline Fe-bearing silicate fraction in this Jupiter-family comet is greater than 0.5. Assuming this mixture is a composite of crystalline inner solar system material and amorphous cold molecular cloud material, we deduce that more than half of Wild 2 has been processed in the inner solar system. Several models exist that explain the presence of crystalline materials in comets. We explore some of these models in light of our results.