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Author: David A. J. Seargent
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319565583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286
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Book Description
This book concentrates on some of the odd aspects of comets and asteroids. Strange behavior of comets, such as outbursts and schisms, and how asteroids can temporally act as comets are discussed, together with the possible threat of Centaurs-class objects like the Taurid complex. Recent years have seen the distinction between comets and asteroids become less prominent. Comets in "asteroid" orbits and vice versa have become almost commonplace and a clearer view of the role of small bodies in the formation of the Solar System and their effect on Earth has become apparent. Seargent covers this development in detail by including new data and information from space probes.
Author: David A. J. Seargent
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319565583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book concentrates on some of the odd aspects of comets and asteroids. Strange behavior of comets, such as outbursts and schisms, and how asteroids can temporally act as comets are discussed, together with the possible threat of Centaurs-class objects like the Taurid complex. Recent years have seen the distinction between comets and asteroids become less prominent. Comets in "asteroid" orbits and vice versa have become almost commonplace and a clearer view of the role of small bodies in the formation of the Solar System and their effect on Earth has become apparent. Seargent covers this development in detail by including new data and information from space probes.
Author: Ron Miller
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books
ISBN: 0761372792
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 84
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Book Description
From earliest times, humans have wondered about the sky above them and have studied all visible objects. People began to identify differences between stars and planets, and as technology advanced with telescopes and space probes, they sought deeper understanding of the millions of bits of debris rocketing through the solar system. Scientists determined that most of these objects are left over from the creation of the planets and their moons. They classified these leftovers into categories such as asteroids, comets, and meteors. In this book, we'll explore seven wonders of asteroids, comets, and meteors. Ceres is a huge mountain-sized asteroid that orbits with other asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. Other marvels include Ganymede, the largest asteroid in the group called Earthgrazers or Near-Earth Objects, and Halley's comet, a ball of ice, that passes Earth every seventy-five or so years. We'll also explore the amazing impact that space debris can have on planets and moons. The Borealis Basin, a wondrous crater more than 5,000 miles across, formed when an asteroid collided with Mars in the ancient past. Then we will travel to the far-off Kuiper belt, where as many as 200 million icy bodies orbit, and wonder at the mystery of planetlike objects, such as Pluto and Charon. Finally, we’ll can experience a space wonder firsthand by standing outside on a night in August to watch the spectacular Perseid meteor shower fill the sky.
Author: Donald K. Yeomans
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691173338
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
An insider's look at the science of near-Earth comets and asteroids Of all the natural disasters that could befall us, only an Earth impact by a large comet or asteroid has the potential to end civilization in a single blow. Yet these near-Earth objects also offer tantalizing clues to our solar system's origins, and someday could even serve as stepping-stones for space exploration. In this book, Donald Yeomans introduces readers to the science of near-Earth objects—its history, applications, and ongoing quest to find near-Earth objects before they find us. In its course around the sun, the Earth passes through a veritable shooting gallery of millions of nearby comets and asteroids. One such asteroid is thought to have plunged into our planet sixty-five million years ago, triggering a global catastrophe that killed off the dinosaurs. Yeomans provides an up-to-date and accessible guide for understanding the threats posed by near-Earth objects, and also explains how early collisions with them delivered the ingredients that made life on Earth possible. He shows how later impacts spurred evolution, allowing only the most adaptable species to thrive—in fact, we humans may owe our very existence to objects that struck our planet. Yeomans takes readers behind the scenes of today’s efforts to find, track, and study near-Earth objects. He shows how the same comets and asteroids most likely to collide with us could also be mined for precious natural resources like water and oxygen, and used as watering holes and fueling stations for expeditions to Mars and the outermost reaches of our solar system.
Author: Pierre Bayle
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791492737
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 388
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Book Description
"I tremble when I recall the terrible appearance [the comet] had on Saturday evening in the clear sky, when it was observed by everybody with inexpressible astonishment. It seemed as though the heavens were burning, or as if the very air was on fire...[F]rom this little star stretched out such a wonderfully long tail that even an intellectual man was overcome with trembling; one's hair stood on end as this uncommon, terrible, and indescribable tail came into view...O wonderful almighty God! The heavens show thy might and the earth thy handiwork!" — Eyewitness account of a comet which appeared over Europe on December 24, 1680 The appearance of this comet caused so many panicked inquiries to be made of Pierre Bayle, one of the Enlightenment's greatest thinkers, that he decided to formally respond to them, hence the present work, which first appeared in 1682. The book's principle task was to undermine the influence of "superstition" in political life, and it was here that Bayle made the notorious suggestion, unique in the history of political thought until then, that a decent society of atheists is possible in principle. There is no other English translation of this book in print—the only other version was printed in 1708. This translation is based on a recently revised critical edition of the complete French text and includes a substantial interpretive essay that both elucidates the arguments of the work and indicates the importance of Bayle in the history of the modern Enlightenment.
Author: David A.J. Seargent
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 144196424X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
Weird Astronomy appeals to all who are interested in unusual celestial phenomena, whether they be amateur or professional astronomers or science buffs who just enjoy reading of odd coincidences, unexplained observations, and reports from space probes that "don’t quite fit." This book relates a variety of "unusual" astronomical observations – unusual in the sense of refusing to fit easily into accepted thinking, or unusual in the observation having been made under difficult or extreme circumstances. Although some of the topics covered are instances of "bad astronomy," most are not. Some of the observations recorded here have actually turned out to be important scientific breakthroughs. Included are some amusing anecdotes (such as the incident involving "potassium flares" in ordinary stars and the story of Abba 1, the solar system’s own flare star!), but the book’s purpose is not to ridicule those who report anomalous observations, nor is it to challenge scientific orthodoxy. It is more to demonstrate how what's "weird" often turns out to be far more significant than observations of what we expect to see.
Author: David A. J. Seargent
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461470641
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
“Weird Worlds” is the third book in David Seargent’s “Weird” series. This book assumes a basic level of astronomical understanding and concentrates on the “odd and interesting” aspects of planetary bodies, including asteroids and moons. From our viewpoint here on Earth, this work features the most unusual features of these worlds and the ways in which they appear “weird” to us. Within our own Solar System, odd facts such as the apparent reversal of the Sun in the skies of Mercury, CO2-driven fountains of dust on Mars, possible liquid water (and perhaps primitive life!) deep within the dwarf planet Ceres, and a variety of odd facts about the planetary moons are all discussed. A special chapter is devoted to Saturn’s giant moon Titan, and its methane-based weather system and “hydrological” cycle. This chapter also includes recent speculation on the possibility of methane-based organisms and the form that these might take, if they really do exist. Beyond our Solar System, the book looks at the range of worlds discovered and hypothesized. In “Weird Worlds,” the author discusses planets where temperatures are so high that it rains molten iron, and others so cold that liquid methane floods across plains of ice! Worlds are described where the lightest element acts like a metal and where winds blow at thousands of miles per hour – as well as possible planets whose orbits are essentially parabolic. In keeping with previous titles in David Seargent’s “Weird” series, “Weird Worlds” contains several projects that astronomers of all levels can undertake.
Author: Carrie Nugent
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501120085
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 128
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Book Description
One of the top scientists in the field of asteroid hunting explains how, for the first time, humanity could have the knowledge to prevent a devastating asteroid impact. --
Author: Mara Rockliff
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
ISBN: 0976494329
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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Book Description
A father and child travel through the unfamiliar world of the night to watch a meteor shower.
Author: David A. J. Seargent
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461430690
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 373
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Book Description
This book is, in a sense, a sequel to David Seargent's first Springer book Weird Astronomy (2010). Whereas Weird Astronomy extended over a broad range of purely astronomical topics, the present work concentrates on phenomena closer to home; the atmospheric and "shallow space" events as opposed to deep space events. The line between astronomy and meteorology is blurred - a fact that is discussed in Weird Weather. It is not primarily a book of "wonders" or of the unexplained, although some of the topics covered remain mysteries. It is primarily directed toward those who are fascinated by climate and weather, and who are open-minded when considering Earth's climate, what drives it, and what are the causes of climate change. The author, David A. J. Seargent, presents the facts with a balanced and scientific approach. Weird Weather: Tales of Astronomical and Atmospheric Anomalies is about strange, unusual, and apparently inexplicable observations of the air and sky. Primarily these are in the Earth's atmosphere, but there are corresponding phenomena in the atmospheres of other planets of the Solar System - lightning on Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, whirlwinds and dust storms of Mars, and auroras on Jupiter. Topics include anomalous lights, anomalous sounds, spectacular effects of cloud illumination by the Sun or Moon, lightning phenomena, electrophonic sounds of lightning, aurora and meteors, tornado and whirlwind phenomena on Earth and Mars, usual atmospheric effects, mirages, and the possible astronomical influences on cloud and climate.
Author: Philip C. Plait
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780471422075
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Advance praise for Philip Plait s Bad Astronomy "Bad Astronomy is just plain good! Philip Plait clears up everymisconception on astronomy and space you never knew you sufferedfrom." --Stephen Maran, Author of Astronomy for Dummies and editorof The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia "Thank the cosmos for the bundle of star stuff named Philip Plait,who is the world s leading consumer advocate for quality science inspace and on Earth. This important contribution to science willrest firmly on my reference library shelf, ready for easy accessthe next time an astrologer calls." --Dr. Michael Shermer,Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for ScientificAmerican, and author of The Borderlands of Science "Philip Plait has given us a readable, erudite, informative,useful, and entertaining book. Bad Astronomy is Good Science. Verygood science..." --James "The Amazing" Randi, President, JamesRandi Educational Foundation, and author of An Encyclopedia ofClaims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural "Bad Astronomy is a fun read. Plait is wonderfully witty andeducational as he debunks the myths, legends, and 'conspiraciesthat abound in our society. 'The Truth Is Out There' and it's inthis book. I loved it!" --Mike Mullane, Space Shuttle astronaut andauthor of Do Your Ears Pop in Space?
