Discusses the solar system bodies that are not one of the nine planets or their moons, including asteroids in the main asteroid belt as well as throughout the rest of the solar system, comets from both the Kuiper belt and from the much more distant Oort cloud, and the interplanetary dust left in their wakes. Also discussed are the discoveries of various asteroids, the nature of meteorites and impact craters, the orbits, sizes, and compositions of asteroids, along with the correlations scientists have made between meteorite classes and asteroids.

Unlike all the planets closer to the Sun, known since antiquity, the farthest reaches are the discoveries of the modern world. Uranus was discovered in 1781, Neptune in 1846, Pluto in 1930, the Kuiper belt group of objects in 1992, and though the Oort cloud has been theorized since 1950, its first member was found in 2004. The discovery of the outer planets made such an impression on the minds of mankind that they were immortalized in the names of the newly discovered elements: uranium, neptunium, and plutonium, an astonishingly deadly constituent of atomic bombs. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and...

The moon is the only body in the solar system outside of the Earth that has been visited by humans. More than 440 pounds of lunar material are brought by NASA and Soviet space missions to Earth for study. The information gleaned about the moon from this relatively small pile of rocks is mind-boggling and stands as the greatest proof that Martian planetary science would be greatly enhanced by returning samples to Earth. Compositional studies of lunar rocks show that the moon and the Earth are made of similar material, and because lunar material has not been reworked through erosion and plate...

Jupiter and Saturn are the two largest planets in the solar system and the first two gas giant planets encountered when moving away from the Sun. They are both immensely complicated systems not unlike miniature solar systems on their own: Jupiter has 63 known moons and its own ring system, whereas Saturn is famous for its rings and 62 known moons. Astronomers are finding with some regularity new, distant moons orbiting each of these planets, so their number of known satellites continues to grow. Jupiter and Saturn, Revised Edition presents comprehensive and up-to-date information on these two...

Mars exploration has never been more active, and our understanding of the planet is advancing rapidly. New discoveries reveal gullies carved by recent groundwater flow, thick ice deposits protected by rocks and soil even at the equator, and new evidence for lakes and seas in Mars' past. The Martian surface has some of the oldest planetary crust in the solar system, containing clues to conditions in early planets that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Beginning with a discussion of Mars as a planet in orbit, Mars, Revised Edition covers fundamental facts about this planet, including its mass and...

The Sun, Mercury, and Venus, Revised Edition provides up-to-date information on the Sun and the innermost planets, revolutionizing our understanding of the nature of planet formation and planetary systems. Updated with new information about Mercury and planet-building processes taken from research on the Messenger mission, this new, full-color resource describes the beginning of our solar system from its birth in a cloud of dust and gas to the evolution of the Sun, Mercury, and Venus and their present states.

Explores the relationship between the Sun - the center of the solar system - and its orbiters, including Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, as well as asteroids, meteorites, and comets. This title discusses the role of planets or other small bodies as recorders of the formation of the solar system.