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Books
or Articles about Asteroids
Binzel, R., et al. "The Origins of the Asteroids" in Scientific
American, Oct. 1991, p. 88.
Burnham,
R. "Here' s Looking at Ida" in Astronomy, Apr. 1994, p.
38.
Durda,
D. "All in the Family" in Astronomy, Feb. 1993, p. 36.
Discusses asteroid families.
Kowal,
Charles Asteroids: Their Nature and Utilization, 2nd ed.
1996, John Wiley/Praxis. Introductory book by the astronomer who
discovered Chiron.
Ostro,
S. "Radar Reveals a Double Asteroid" in Astronomy, Apr.
1990, p. 38.
Talcott,
R. "Galileo Views Gaspra" in Astronomy, Feb. 1992, p. 52.
Zimmerman,
R. "Ice Cream Sundaes and Mashed Potatoes" in Astronomy,
Feb. 1999, p. 54. On the NEAR mission.
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Books
or Articles about Comets
Aguirre, E. "The Great Comet of 1997" in Sky & Telescope,
July 1997, p. 50. On Comet Hale-Bopp.
Benningfield,
D. "Where Do Comets Come From?" in Astronomy, Sep. 1990,
p. 28.
Brandt,
John and Chapman, Robert Rendezvous in Space. 1992, W.
H. Freeman. Introduction by two leading comet experts.
Gore,
R. "Halley' s Comet ' 86: Much More Than Met the Eye" in
National Geographic, Dec. 1986, p. 758. (Also the March 1987 issue
of Sky & Telescope was devoted to what we learned from Halley'
s Comet in 1986.)
Levy,
D. The Quest for Comets. 1994, Plenum Press. Personal story
of comet discovery and comet science by an amateur astronomer
who has found many comets. (See also his Comets: Creators and
Destroyers. 1998, Simon & Schuster. On what we can learn from
studying comets.)
Newcott,
W. "The Age of Comets" in National Geographic, Dec. 1997,
p. 94. Good introduction with beautiful photos.
Sagan,
Carl and Druyan, Anne Comet. 1986, Random House. Very good
presentation of historical material and human connections.
Spencer,
John and Mitton, Jacqueline, eds. The Great Comet Crash: The
Collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter. 1995, Cambridge
U. Press. Good, non-technical summary.
Weissman,
P. "Comets at the Solar System' s Edge" in Sky & Telescope,
Jan. 1993, p. 26.
Weissman,
P. "The Oort Cloud" in Scientific American, Sep. 1998,
p. 84.
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Books
or Articles about Cosmic Impacts
Chyba, C. "Death from The Sky: Tunguska" in Astronomy,
Dec. 1993, p. 38. Excellent review article. (See also: Gallant,
R. "Journey to Tunguska" in Sky & Telescope, June 1994,
p. 38.)
Lewis,
John Rain of Fire and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and
Asteroid Bombardment. 1995, Addison-Wesley. Good overview
of impacts.
McFadden,
L. and Chapman, C. "Near-Earth Objects: Interplanetary Fugitives"
in Astronomy, Aug. 1992, p. 30.
Morrison,
D. & Chapman, C. "Target Earth: It Will Happen" in Sky
& Telescope, Mar. 1990, p. 261. (See an updated version in Astronomy,
Oct. 1995, p. 34.)
Morrison,
D. "The Spaceguard Survey: Protecting the Earth from Cosmic
Impacts" in Mercury, Sep./Oct. 1992, p. 103.
Ortega,
T. "Comet Stalker" in Astronomy, Apr. 1999, p. 58. Profile
of astronomer Tom Gehrels and his work in finding earth-crossing
asteroids and comets.
Sagan,
C. Pale Blue Dot. 1994, Random House. Chapter 18 is about
impacts and how we might respond to the danger.
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Books
and Articles about the Search for Life in the Solar System
Achenbach, J. "Life Beyond Earth" in National Geographic,
Jan. 2000, p. 24. Discussion of many themes, from science to science
fiction, but with good information.
Bernstein,
M., et al. "Life' s Far-flung Raw Materials" in Scientific
American, July 1999, p. 42. On the discovery of organic materials
in the gas and dust among the stars, and in comets.
Jakosky,
Bruce The Search for Life On Other Planets. 1998, Cambridge
U. Press. Clear introduction by a leader in the field.
Kerr,
R. "Requiem for Life on Mars? Support for Microbes [in Meteorites]
Fades" in Science, vol. 282, p. 1398 (20 Nov. 1998).
Taylor,
Michael Dark Life: Martian Nanobacteria, Rock Eating Cave Bugs,
and Other Extreme Organisms of Inner Earth and Outer Space.
1999, Scribners. Good behind-the-scenes discussion of the controversy
surrounding the meteorites from Mars.
Treiman,
A. "Microbes in a Martian Meteorite?" in Sky & Telescope,
Apr. 1999, p. 52. An update on the rock from Mars.
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A
Few Especially Useful Web Sites
The
following sites contain a wealth of information, images, and links
about each world:
The
best images from recent NASA spacecraft can be found (and are well
organized) at Planetary
Photojournal
If
you want to know how objects and features got their names, try:
"The
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature"
A
good review of American and Soviet moon exploration is at the "Exploring
the Moon" site from NASA' s Johnson Space Flight Center
For
a wealth of information, maps, and links about Mars, try the Center
for Mars Exploration Home Page at NASA' s Ames Research Center
The
latest information and images about Jupiter and its moons can be
found at the Galileo
Mission Site from the Jet Propulsion Lab
For
a preview of the Cassini mission to Saturn and Titan, a good source
is Voyage
to Saturn
A
lot of information and links about comets and meteor showers has
been compiled by Gary
Kronk. He includes lists of currently visible comets, sungrazing
comets, periodic comets, and interesting comets of the past.
For
more on cosmic impacts and how to guard the Earth against them,
see the Asteroid
and Comet Impact Hazards Page managed by Dr. David Morrison.
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