Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

A streak of light crosses the night sky as a bit of extraterrestrial material falls to Earth. Meteorites, which range from particles of dust to massive chunks of metal and rock, bombard the Earth constantly, adding hundreds of tons of new material to our planet each day. What are these objects? How do we recover and study them? Where do they come from, and what do they tell us about the birth and infancy of the solar system? Why do many scientists now believe that meteorites have played a dramatic, albeit occasional, role in the evolution of life on Earth? In Thunderstones and Shooting Stars, Robert T. Dodd gives us an up-to-date report on these questions. He summarizes the evidence that leads scientists to believe that most meteorites come from asteroids, although a few come from the moon and a few more from a planet, probably Mars. He explains how chondrites--the most numerous and primitive of meteorites--contribute to our evolving picture of the early solar system, and how some of them may tell us of events that took place beyond the sun and before its birth. Finally, he examines the controversial hypothesis that impacts by asteroids or comets have interrupted the evolution of life on Earth, accounting for such geological puzzles as the rapid demise of the dinosaurs. Meteorites have been called "the poor man's space probe," for they are the only extraterrestrial rocks that we can collect without benefit of spacecraft. This lively and accessible book both illuminates the complex science of meteoritics and conveys a sense of its excitement. University teachers and students will appreciate its synthesis of new research on a broad range of topics, and amateurs will delight in its lucid presentation of a science that is unlocking many mysteries of Earth and space.

Meteorites.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Asteroids. --- Astéroïdes. --- Astronomie, Kartografie. --- Comets. --- Comètes. --- Meteorites. --- Meteors. --- Météores. --- Planètes, Petites. --- Planètes. --- Asteroids. --- Comets. --- Meteorites. --- Meteors.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The second edition of Solar System Astrophysics: Planetary Atmospheres and the Outer Solar System provides a timely update of our knowledge of planetary atmospheres and the bodies of the outer solar system and their analogs in other planetary systems. This volume begins with an expanded treatment of the physics, chemistry, and meteorology of the atmospheres of the Earth, Venus, and Mars, moving on to their magnetospheres and then to a full discussion of the gas and ice giants and their properties. From here, attention switches to the small bodies of the solar system, beginning with the natural satellites. Then comets, meteors, meteorites, and asteroids are discussed in order, and the volume concludes with the origin and evolution of our solar system. Finally, a fully revised section on extrasolar planetary systems puts the development of our system in a wider and increasingly well understood galactic context. All of the material is presented within a framework of historical importance. This book and its sister volume, Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar system, are pedagogically well written, providing clearly illustrated explanations, for example, of such topics as the numerical integration of the Adams-Williamson equation, the equations of state in planetary interiors and atmospheres, Maxwell’s equations as applied to planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, and the physics and chemistry of the Habitable Zone in planetary systems. Together, the volumes form a comprehensive text for any university course that aims to deal with all aspects of solar and extra-solar planetary systems.  They will appeal separately to the intellectually curious who would like to know just how far our knowledge of the solar system has progressed in recent years.

Astrophysics. --- Planet. --- Solar system. --- Astrophysics --- Extrasolar planets --- Planetary science --- Planets --- Comets --- Meteors --- Meteorites --- Asteroids --- Astronomy & Astrophysics --- Physical Sciences & Mathematics --- Astronomy - General --- Atmospheres --- Ionospheres --- Magnetospheres --- Origin --- Atmospheres. --- Atmospheres of planets --- Planetary atmospheres --- Astronomical physics --- Physics. --- Planetology. --- Astronomy. --- Cosmology. --- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology. --- Astrophysics and Astroparticles. --- Astronomy --- Cosmic physics --- Physics --- Milky Way --- Planetary sciences --- Planetology --- Deep space