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A thorough and up-to-date description of the sun, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system. Coverage is non-mathematical, and is presented as a ?travelogue? of the solar neighborhood. Discussion is based heavily on results obtained from recent space probes to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Offers detailed descriptions of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and the results of the recent probes of Halley s comet. An extensive discussion of meteorites leads to a description of the current models of the solar system. Introductory chapters present theories of the solar system from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Other topics covered include the sun, its structure, and how it generates energy; the surfaces, internal structures, and histories of the planets, from innermost Mercury to farthest Pluto, and their moons.
List of contents
THE FAMILY OF THE SUN.
From Flat Earth to Spaceflight.
Our Star, the Sun.
PLANETS OF ROCK: THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM.
The Earth From a Planetary Perspective.
Earth s Nearest Neighbor--The Moon.
Mercury--The Land of Fire.
Venus--the Shrouded Inferno.
Mars--A Frozen Miniature Earth.
The Debris of the Solar System--the Asteroids.
PLANETS OF LIQUID AND GAS: THE JOVIAN GIANTS.
Jupiter--A Giant Among Worlds.
Saturn--the Jewel of the Solar System.
Miniature Solar System--Jupiter s Moons.
Saturn s Moons--Worlds of Ice, Worlds of Mystery.
WORLDS OF ICE: THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM.
Uranus--Planet Turned Sideways.
Neptune, and Triton--Worlds to Explore.
Pluto--The Edge of the Solar System.
Comets--the Primordial Snowballs.
Death from the Skies.
A QUESTION OF ORIGIN.
Meteors and Meteorites--Visitors from Outer Space.
The Origin of the Solar System.
The Nebular Hypothesis Ascendant.
Appendixes.
About the author
Joseph F. Baugher is a retired physicist, software engineer, and author, who has also written articles on aviation. He graduated from Gettysburg College in 1963 and studied physics under Philip J. Bray at Brown University, receiving a Ph.D. in 1968.
Summary
Aims to provide a non-mathematical description of the Sun, planets, moons, asteroids and comets of the solar system. Discussion is based on results obtained from recent space probes to Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Uranus.
