Neutrino Geophysics ; Proceedings of Neutrino Sciences 2005
This volume presents a collection of recent articles primarily documenting the nascent science of neutrino geophysics. Most of the articles followed from talks given at Neutrino Sciences 2005: Neutrino Geophysics held at the University of Hawaii in December 2005. However, several other key contributions were solicited to make the collection as comprehensive as possible, enhancing the value of this book.The book offers a unique status report on neutrino geophysics to the expert researcher, as well as a comprehensive introduction into this new field of science to graduate students.
Modern Meteor Science : An Interdisciplinary View
"During the past half century meteor research has evolved into a comprehensive multidisciplinary science … . New findings are flowing from the ever-broadening range of investigative techniques that are being employed to great effect by the contributors to this book. This comprehensive overview of leading edge research by well over one hundred authors is an essential resource volume for scientists and engineers conducting studies and exploration of the solar system. It demands a place in the libraries supporting their activities.
Micrometeorites and the Mysteries of Our Origins
This book relates an attempt to decrypt the still-obscure first billion years of history of the young Earth, during a cataclysmic period during which our planet was heavily bombarded by bodies ranging in size from that of Mars to 0.1 mm sized tiny micrometeorites. It was thus found that micrometeorites played an essential role in the formation of the post-lunar atmosphere. They also provided a surprisingly large diversity of reactions in the organic prebiotic chemistry required for the birth of life on our blue planet. The author presents a wide-ranging review of the type of knowledge required to decrypt this history, which provides extensive background information from astronomy, planetary dynamics, planetology, astrobiology and earth sciences. This book will appeal to both the scientist and the general reader. It will be a source of material for lectures, and possibly new investigations, in these fields.
Microbiology of Extreme Soils
This volume provides an excellent introduction to the study of extreme soil micro-biology, and a variety of the challenging and fascinating environments that Earth-bound microbes face. Some are natural, and some are the result of human activity, and all of them have lessons to teach us about life’s adaptations within the “extreme” hori-zons of terrestrial soils. What’s more, each of these chapters (including the chapter on the soils of Mars by Ronald L. Crawford and David A. Newcombe) can give us insights into strategies that may make life possible beyond the safe confines of our present-day biosphere, to other worlds in this solar system and beyond
Io After Galileo : A New View of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon
A New View of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon is the first book dedicated to this unique satellite, and it does justice to Io’s dubious charms.a thoughtful collection of articles ranging from the history of Io exploration through the satellite’s remarkable and hostile surface geology to its interaction with the harsh Jovian environment.
Introduction to Planetary Science : The Geological Perspective
This textbook is intended to be used in a lecture course for college students majoring in the Earth Sciences. Planetary Science provides an opportunity for these students to apply a wide range of subject matter pertaining to the Earth to the study of other planets of the solar system and their principal satellites. As a result, students gain a wider perspective of the different worlds that are accessible to us and they are led to recognize the Earth as the only oasis in space where we can live without life-support systems.The subject matter is presented in 24 chapters that lead the reader through the solar system starting with historical perspectives on space exploration and the development of the scientific method. The presentations concerning the planets and their satellites emphasize that their origin and subsequent evolution can be explained by applications of certain basic principles of physics, chemistry, and celestial mechanics and that the surface features of the solid bodies in the solar system can be interpreted by means of the principles of geology.
Interplanetary Mission Analysis and Design
The book describes current mission analysis and design techniques that may be applied to a very wide range of interplanetary missions from those targeting the inner planets to those destined for the outer planets and Solar System escape trajectories.
Ice, Rock, and Beauty : A Visual Tour of the New Solar System
Ice, Rock, and Beauty is a book for anybody who lives in the solar neighborhood, and takes an interest in its significance to us as residents.The book gathers images from a rich pool, many from national and international organizations such as NASA and ESA, some directly from academic astronomers, and a few from private individuals. Together they tell a story of the Solar System, and of its beauty, that has not been told before.
How to photograph the moon and planets with your Digital camera
Using just a regular digital camera along with an amateur astronomical telescope, anyone can produce spectacular photographs of the Moon, as well as surprisingly good images of major planets.Purpose-made astronomical CCD cameras are still very expensive, but technology has now progressed so that digital cameras – the kind you use for everyday photos – are more than capable of being used for astronomy. Tony Buick has written this illustrated step-by-step manual for anyone who has a telescope (of any size) and a digital camera. Look inside at the beautiful color images he has produced – you could do the same.
High Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy in Astronomy ; Proceedings of an ESO Workshop Held at Garching, Germany, 18-21 November 2003
Two specialized new instruments for ESO's VLT, VISIR and CRIRES, spawned the idea for this workshop. CRIRES is a dedicated very high resolution infrared spectrograph; VISIR features a high resolution spectroscopic mode. Together, the instruments combine the sensitivity of an 8m-telescope with the now well-established reliability of VLT-facility instruments. High resolution here means that lines in cool stellar atmospheres and HII-regions can be resolved. The astrophysical topics discussed in this rather specialized workshop range from the inner solar system to active galactic nuclei. There are many possibilities for new discoveries with these instruments, but the unique capability, which becomes available through high-resolution infrared spectroscopy, is the observation of molecular rotational-vibrational transitions in many astrophysical environments. Particularly interesting and surprising in this context, many papers on modeling and laboratory spectroscopy at the workshop appear to indicate that astronomical observations are lagging a bit behind in this field. The papers are an interesting mix of reports from existing high resolution facilities, reports on modeling efforts of synthetic spectra and reports on laboratory spectra. In this sense, a fruitful exchange between molecular physics and astronomy was again accomplished and is documented in this volume.
Geology and Habitability of Terrestrial Planets
This book has resulted from a workshop at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland (5-9 September 2005) that brought together planetary geologists, geophysicists, atmospheric scientists, and biologists to discuss the multi-faceted problem of how the habitability of a planet co-evolves with the geology of the surface and interior, the atmosphere, and the magnetosphere.
Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems : Enabling Technologies for Space Exploration
In Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems the authors demonstrate the need to break free from the old established concepts of expendable rockets, using chemical propulsion, and to develop new breeds of launch vehicle capable of both launching payloads into orbit at dramatically reduced cost, and for sustained operations in low-Earth orbit. The next steps, they explain, to establishing a permanent "presence" in the solar system beyond Earth are the commercialisation of sustained operations on the Moon, and the development of advanced nuclear or high-energy space propulsion systems for solar system exploration out to the boundary of interstellar space. In the future, high-energy particle research facilities may one day yield a very high-energy propulsion system that will take us to the nearby stars, or even beyond. This is a timely and comprehensive book, putting spacecraft propulsion systems in perspective.
Fundamental astronomy
Fundamental Astronomy gives a well-balanced and comprehensive introduction to the topics of classical and modern astronomy. While emphasizing both the astronomical concepts and the underlying physical principles, the text provides a sound basis for more profound studies in the astronomical sciences.
From Suns to Life: : A Chronological Approach to the History of Life on Earth
This review emerged from several interdisciplinary meetings and schools gathering a group of astronomers, geologists, biologists, and chemists, attempting to share their specialized knowledge around a common question: how did life emerge on Earth? Their ultimate goal was to provide some kind of answer as a prerequisite to an even more demanding question: is life universal? The main chapters of this review present the formation and evolution of the solar system (3); the building of a habitable planet (4); prebiotic chemistry, biochemistry, and the emergence of life (5); the environmental context of the early Earth (6); and the ancient fossil record and early evolution (7). The concluding chapter (9) provides the highlights of the review and presents the different points of view about the universality of life. Two pedagogical chapters are included; one on chronometers (2), another in the form of a "frieze" (8) which summarizes in graphical form the present state of knowledge about the chronology of the emergence of life on Earth, before the Cambrian explosion.
From Fossils to Astrobiology : Records of Life on Earth and Search for Extraterrestrial Biosignatures
From Fossils to Astrobiology reviews developments in paleontology and geobiology that relate to the rapidly-developing field of Astrobiology, the study of life in the Universe. Many traditional areas of scientific study, including astronomy, chemistry and planetary science, contribute to Astrobiology, but the study of the record of life on planet Earth is critical in guiding investigations in the rest of the cosmos. In this varied book, expert scientists from 15 countries present peer-reviewed, stimulating reviews of paleontological and astrobiological studies. The overviews of established and emerging techniques for studying modern and ancient microorganisms on Earth and beyond, will be valuable guides to evaluating biosignatures which could be found in the extraterrestrial surface or subsurface within the Solar System and beyond.
Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites
Imagine the unique experience of being the very first person to hold a newly-found meteorite in your hand – a rock from space, older than Earth! "Weekend meteorite hunting" with magnets and metal detectors is becoming ever more popular as a pastime, but of course you can’t just walk around and pick up meteorites in the same way that you can pick up seashells on the beach. Those fragments that survived the intense heat of re-entry tend to disguise themselves as natural rocks over time, and it takes a trained eye – along with the information in this book – to recognize them.
Dynamics of extended celestial bodies and rings
Taking both a theoretical and observational perspective, this book is an introduction to recent developments in the field of celestial mechanics. It emphasizes the application to extended celestial bodies and devotes much attention to rotational aspects. In particular, it explains the state of art for accurate modelling of the rotation of celestial bodies such as the Earth, the Moon, and Mercury, which involves principles related to hydrodynamics and geodesy. Comparisons between the light curves of the asteroids and their rotational state are made and spatial techniques leading to the determination of the Earth's gravitational field are explained. Also, the book provides a general overview of the collisional processes in the solar system and of the dynamics of the rings. It is addressed to graduate students and researchers in space sciences and celestial dynamics.
Dynamic planet : Mercury in the context of its environment
We are in a time of transition in our understanding of Mercury. Of particular interest here is the emerging picture of the planet as a system, with interactions between interior, surface, exosphere, and magnetosphere that have influenced and constrained the evolution of each part of the system. This book will present the planet in the context of its surroundings.
Distant Worlds : Milestones in Planetary Exploration
Peter Bond provides an overview of key, unmanned missions, chapter by chapter, to planets in the twentieth century. He tells the story of the mission planners and engineers who, working mostly in the background, made these unprecedented achievements in scientific exploration possible.
Deep space probes : To the outer solar system and beyond
This second edition includes an entirely new chapter on holographic message plaques for future interstellar probes – a NASA-funded project.



















