Introduction To Comets

Introduction to Comets

We have now reached an exciting time in cometary research. With several missions launched or about to be launched in the near future, cometary research is rapidly being driven forward. This book describes the wealth of information known prior to the return of Halley's comet, and the new information discovered since then. It presents material on important background topics including observational techniques, plasma physics, celestial mechanics, the solar wind and cosmogony. The science of comets is described in order of its discovery, from tail phenomena to coma morphology through to the most recent findings from space missions. The relationship between comets and asteroids is discussed, and future space missions to investigate comets are described. This comprehensive text is a complete and up-to-date treatment of the subject, suitable for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of astronomy and planetary science.

The Study of Comets

Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life

This volume considers the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life, particularly in light of recent investigations of Halley's comet, of new insights into organic synthesis in meteorites and comets, and of new results of numerical simulations of cometary orbits and impacts on Earth. The book is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by an expert to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation.