Authors:
- Describes the fundamental physics necessary to understand the nature of comets including orbital characteristics, nucleus surface processes, dusty-gas dynamics, the solar wind interaction, and their lifecycle
- Provides an up-to-date general introduction to the subject incorporating new knowledge gained from Rosetta observations placed in a more general context to aid in overall understanding
- Special emphasis is placed on the nuclei and innermost comae
- Illustrated with over 300 diagrams, images, and tables
Part of the book series: Astronomy and Astrophysics Library (AAL)
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Written by a leading expert on comets, this textbook is divided into seven main elements with a view to allowing advanced students to appreciate the interconnections between the different elements. The author opens with a brief introductory segment on the motivation for studying comets and the overall scope of the book. The first chapter describes fundamental aspects most usually addressed by ground-based observation. The author then looks at the basic physical phenomena in four separate chapters addressing the nucleus, the emitted gas, the emitted dust, and the solar wind interaction. Each chapter introduces the basic physics and chemistry but then new specific measurements by Rosetta instruments at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko are brought in. A concerted effort has been made to distinguish between established fact and conjecture. Deviations and inconsistencies are brought out and their significance explained. Links to previous observations of comets Tempel 1, Wild 2, Hartley 2, Halley and others are made. The author then closes with three smaller chapters on related objects, the loss of comets, and prospects for future exploration.
This textbook includes over 275 graphics and figures – most of which are original. Thorough explanations and derivations are included throughout the chapters. The text is therefore designed to support MSc. students and new PhD students in the field wanting to gain a solid overview of the state-of-the-art.
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Authors and Affiliations
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Space Research and Planetary Sciences Division, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Nicolas Thomas
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: An Introduction to Comets
Book Subtitle: Post-Rosetta Perspectives
Authors: Nicolas Thomas
Series Title: Astronomy and Astrophysics Library
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50574-5
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-50573-8Published: 16 December 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-50576-9Published: 16 December 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-50574-5Published: 15 December 2020
Series ISSN: 0941-7834
Series E-ISSN: 2196-9698
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XLI, 503
Number of Illustrations: 149 b/w illustrations, 137 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Astrophysics and Astroparticles