Cover image for Encyclopedia of the solar system
Title:
Encyclopedia of the solar system
Edition:
2nd ed.
Publication Information:
Amsterdam : Academic Press, 2007
ISBN:
9780120885893

97801208885893 (hbk.)

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30000010124778 QB501 E52 2007 Reference Book Encyclopedia
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Summary

Summary

Long before Galileo published his discoveries about Jupiter, lunar craters, and the Milky Way in the Starry Messenger in 1610, people were fascinated with the planets and stars around them. That interest continues today, and scientists are making new discoveries at an astounding rate. Ancient lake beds on Mars, robotic spacecraft missions, and new definitions of planets now dominate the news. How can you take it all in? Start with the new Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Second Edition .This self-contained reference follows the trail blazed by the bestselling first edition. It provides a framework for understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system, historical discoveries, and details about planetary bodies and how they interact--and has jumped light years ahead in terms of new information and visual impact. Offering more than 50% new material, the Encyclopedia includes the latest explorations and observations, hundreds of new color digital images and illustrations, and more than 1,000 pages. It stands alone as the definitive work in this field, and will serve as a modern messenger of scientific discovery and provide a look into the future of our solar system.


Author Notes

Lucy McFadden is a planetary scientist at the University of Maryland. She was the founding director of the College Park Scholars Program, Science, Discovery and the Universe. She has published over 75 articles in refereed journals and has been co-investigator on NASA's NEAR, Deep Impact and Dawn missions exploring asteroids and comets. She has served on committees on solar system exploration for the National Academy of Sciences, and on the editorial board of Icarus.

Torrence V. Johnson is a specialist on icy satellites in the solar system. He has written over 130 publications for scientific journals. He received a Ph.D. in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology and is now the Chief Scientist for Solar System Exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was the Project Scientist for the Galileo mission and is currently an investigator on the Cassini mission. He is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medals and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Padua, where Galileo made his first observations of the solar system.

Paul R. Weissman is a Senior Research Scientist at JPL, specializing in comets. He is the author of over 100 scientific papers and 30 popular articles. He is also the co-author, with Alan Harris, of a children's book on the Voyager mission. Dr. Weissman received his doctorate in planetary and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. His work includes both theoretical and observational studies of comets, investigating their orbital motion, their physical make-up, and the threat they pose due to possible impacts on the Earth. Dr. Weissman is an Interdisciplinary Scientist on ESA's Rosetta mission to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.


Reviews 1

Choice Review

Updated from the first edition (CH, Feb'99, 36-3095), this encyclopedia includes major revisions to nearly every chapter, along with completely new chapters, all taking into account events and advances in knowledge that have occurred in the new millennium: an international fleet of spacecraft in place around Mars; Galileo's fiery crash into Jupiter's atmosphere; comet missions Deep Impact and Stardust; Cassini's exploration of the Saturn system; exploration of near-Earth asteroids Eros and Itokawa; and more. Improved capabilities of telescopes and instruments, along with laboratory studies and advances in theory, enable scientists to better synthesize and understand the enormous amounts of new data. This comprehensive volume covers the solar system in great depth. Essays by contributing experts begin with the origins of the solar system and the history of solar system studies; they include chapters on planets and their moons, comets, and other solar system phenomena. Unlike the first edition, each chapter does not have its own glossary; a comprehensive glossary appears at the back of the book, along with an extensive index. Chapters still feature brief bibliographies. The work is well illustrated with both black-and-white and color plates. Here is 50 years' worth of planetary exploration, well written and well organized. This excellent encyclopedia belongs in every collection serving undergraduate and graduate programs in astronomy and geology. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students. D. M. Dayton Jaffrey Grade School, Jaffrey, New Hampshire


Table of Contents

Paul R. WeissmanAlex N. Halliday and John E. ChambersDavid LeveringtonMarkus J. AschwandenJohn T. GoslingRobert G. StromDonald M. HuntenSuzanne E. Smrekar and Ellen R. StofanTimothy E. Dowling and Adam P. ShowmanDavid C. Pieri and Adam M. DziewonskiJanet G. Luhmann and Stanley C. SolomonStuart Ross TaylorMichael E. Lipschutz and Ludolf SchultzLucy A. McFadden and Richard P. BinzelDavid C. Catling and Conway LeovyMichael H. CarrMatthew P. Golombek and Harry Y. McSween, Jr.Daniel T. Britt and Guy Colsolmagno and Larry LebofskyBonnie J. Buratti and Peter C. ThomasRobert A. WestMark S. Marley and Jonathan J. FortneyRosaly M. C. LopesLouise M. Prockter and Robert T. PappalardoGeoffrey Collins and Torrence V. JohnsonAthena CoustenisWilliam B. McKinnon and Randolph L. KirkCarolyn C. Porco and Douglas P. HamiltonMargaret Galland Kivelson and Fran BagenalS. Alan SternJohn C. BrandtHarold F. Levison and Luke DonesAlessandro Morbidelli and Harold F. LevisonStephen C. TeglerEberhard GrunAnil Bhardwaj and Carey M. LisseAmanda R. Hendrix and Robert M. Nelson and Deborah L. DomingueMark V. SykesImke de Pater and William S. KurthAlan T. Tokunaga and Robert JedickeSteven J. OstroThomas H. PrettymanJack J. Lissauer and Carl D. MurrayRichard A. F. Grieve and Mark J. Cintala and Roald TagleLionel WilsonChristopher P. McKay and Wanda L. DavisJames D. BurkeMichael Endl and William D. Cochran
Contributorsp. ix
About the Editorsp. xiii
Forewordp. xv
Preface to the Second Editionp. xvii
Preface to the First Editionp. xix
Chapter 1 The Solar System and its Place in the Galaxyp. 1
Chapter 2 The Origin of the Solar Systemp. 29
Chapter 3 A History of Solar System Studiesp. 53
Chapter 4 The Sunp. 71
Chapter 5 The Solar Windp. 99
Chapter 6 Mercuryp. 117
Chapter 7 Venus: Atmospherep. 139
Chapter 8 Venus: Surface and Interiorp. 149
Chapter 9 Earth as a Planet: Atmosphere and Oceansp. 169
Chapter 10 Earth as a Planet: Surface and Interiorp. 189
Chapter 11 The Sun-Earth Connectionp. 213
Chapter 12 The Moonp. 227
Chapter 13 Meteoritesp. 251
Chapter 14 Near-Earth Objectsp. 283
Chapter 15 Mars Atmosphere: History and Surface Interactionsp. 301
Chapter 16 Mars: Surface and Interiorp. 315
Chapter 17 Mars: Landing Site Geology, Mineralogy, and Geochemistryp. 331
Chapter 18 Main-Belt Asteroidsp. 349
Chapter 19 Planetary Satellitesp. 365
Chapter 20 Atmospheres of the Giant Planetsp. 383
Chapter 21 Interiors of the Giant Planetsp. 403
Chapter 22 Io: The Volcanic Moonp. 419
Chapter 23 Europap. 431
Chapter 24 Ganymede and Callistop. 449
Chapter 25 Titanp. 467
Chapter 26 Tritonp. 483
Chapter 27 Planetary Ringsp. 503
Chapter 28 Planetary Magnetospheresp. 519
Chapter 29 Plutop. 541
Chapter 30 Physics and Chemistry of Cometsp. 557
Chapter 31 Comet Populations and Cometary Dynamicsp. 575
Chapter 32 Kuiper Belt: Dynamicsp. 589
Chapter 33 Kuiper Belt Objects: Physical Studiesp. 605
Chapter 34 Solar System Dustp. 621
Chapter 35 X-Rays in the Solar Systemp. 637
Chapter 36 The Solar System at Ultraviolet Wavelengthsp. 659
Chapter 37 Infrared Views of the Solar System from Spacep. 681
Chapter 38 The Solar System at Radio Wavelengthsp. 695
Chapter 39 New Generation Ground-Based Optical/Infrared Telescopesp. 719
Chapter 40 Planetary Radarp. 735
Chapter 41 Remote Chemical Sensing Using Nuclear Spectroscopyp. 765
Chapter 42 Solar System Dynamics: Regular and Chaotic Motionp. 787
Chapter 43 Planetary Impactsp. 813
Chapter 44 Planetary Volcanismp. 829
Chapter 45 Astrobiologyp. 849
Chapter 46 Planetary Exploration Missionsp. 869
Chapter 47 Extrasolar Planetsp. 887
Appendixp. 903
Glossaryp. 919
Indexp. 939