Summary

Praise for the previous edition:
"...offer[s] detail-rich discussions..."—School Library Journal 

"...a wealth of specific facts and detailed explanations...Teachers and students alike will find the organization and clarity conducive to understanding some difficult concepts, as well as locating specific facts."—VOYA

The field of asteroids, meteorites, and comets is moving so quickly that it has affected the whole of planetary science. The great numbers and significant sizes of the bodies found in the distant Kuiper belt have forced a redefinition of what a planet is, effectively demoting Pluto. This has changed the theories of solar system formation and inspired a new generation of space missions to the outer solar system.

Asteroids, Meteorites, and Comets, Revised Edition discusses the other solar system bodies outside of the eight planets and their moons. This exciting, full-color volume covers the massive collection of smaller bodies orbiting the Sun, including asteroids in the main asteroid belt and throughout the solar system, comets both from the Kuiper belt and from the much more distant Oort cloud, and the interplanetary dust left in their wakes.

Chapters include: 

• Definitions and Discoveries of Small Solar System Bodies
• Processes and Effects of Impacts on Planets
• Asteroids and Meteorites
• Comets and Other Distant Bodies
• Meteor Showers
• Missions to Comets and Asteroids
• Conclusions: The Known and Unknown.

Specifications

Full-color photographs and line illustrations. Tables and charts. Index. Appendixes. Glossary. Further print and Web resources.

About the Author(s)

Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, Ph.D., has a doctorate in geology and geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), held a research position at Brown University, and is now on the faculty at MIT. She is an expert on early planetary evolution, volcanic processes, and the connections between meteorite impacts, flood basalts, and global extinction events. She has been published in many journals, including Science; Nature Geoscience; Geology, Earth, and Planetary Science Letters; Geophysical Research Letters; and the Journal of Geophysical Research.