Overview
- Presents a detailed introduction to dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets and reviews the history of their exploration
- Demonstrates that small solar system worlds have a dramatically different nature and appearance than the planets
- Describes past, current and future space craft missions studying "small worlds" and their results
Part of the book series: Astronomers' Universe (ASTRONOM)
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book gives a detailed introduction to the thousands and thousands of smaller bodies in the solar system. Written for interested laymen, amateur astronomers and students it describes the nature and origin of asteroids, dwarf planets and comets, and gives detailed information about their role in the solar system. The author nicely reviews the history of small-world-exploration and describes past, current and future space craft missions studying small worlds, and presents their results. Readers will learn that small solar system worlds have a dramatically different nature and appearance than the planets. Even though research activity on small worlds has increased in the recent past many of their properties are still in the dark and need further research.
Reviews
“This book presents many of the distinctive parameters for small worlds, especially those that provide distinction from our well known planets. The book’s definition and presentation of the parameters is its greatest value. … From reading it, you will readily see just how much knowledge we’ve gained of our own backyard in this wide universe.” (Mark Mortimer, universetoday.com, November, 2015)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Dawn of Small Worlds
Book Subtitle: Dwarf Planets, Asteroids, Comets
Authors: Michael Moltenbrey
Series Title: Astronomers' Universe
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23003-0
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-23002-3Published: 20 November 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-23003-0Published: 24 October 2015
Series ISSN: 1614-659X
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6651
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: V, 273
Number of Illustrations: 75 b/w illustrations, 45 illustrations in colour
Topics: Popular Science in Astronomy, Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics), Planetology