The origin of the solar system has been a matter of speculation for many centuries, and since the time of Newton it has been possible to apply scientific principles to the problem. A succession of theories, starting with that of Pierre Laplace in 1796, has gained general acceptance, only to fall from favor due to its contradiction in some basic scientific principle or new heavenly observation. Modern observations by spacecraft of the solar system, the stars, and extra-solar planetary systems continuously provide new information that may be helpful in finding a plausible theory as well as present new constraints for any such theory to satisfy.
The Origin and Evolution of the Solar System begins by describing historical (pre-1950) theories and illustrating why they became unacceptable. The main part of the book critically examines five extant theories, including the current paradigm, the solar nebula theory, to determine how well they fit with accepted scientific principles and observations. This analysis shows that the solar nebula theory satisfies the principles and observational constraints no better than its predecessors. The capture theory put forward by the author fares better and also indicates an initial scenario leading to a causal series of events that explain all the major features of the solar system.

The Sun and stars rotate in di?erent ways and at di?erent velocity rates. The knowledge of how they rotate is important in understanding the formation and evolution of stars and their structure. The closest star to our Earth, the Sun, is a good laboratory to study in detail the rotation of a G star and allows to test new ideas and develop new techniques to study stellar rotation. More or less massive, more or lessevolved objects, however, can have averydi?erent rotation rate, structure and history. In recent years our understanding of the rotation of the Sun has greatly improved. The Sun has a well-known large-scale rotation, which can be m- sured thanks to visible features across the solar disk, such as sunspots, or via spectroscopy. In addition, several studies cast light on di?erential rotation in the convective zone and on meridional circulation in the radiative zone of the Sun. Even the rotation of the core of the Sun can now be studied thanks to various methods, such as dynamics of the gravitational moments and of course, helioseismology, through g-modes analysis. Moreover, the magnetic ?eld is strongly linked to the matter motions in the solar plasma. The solar magnetic ?eld can be measured only at the surface or in theupperlayers.Itistheproductoftheinternaldynamoorofthelocaldynamos if they exist - in any case magnetic ?eld and rotation cannot thus be separated.

This book provides a systematic introduction to the observation and application of kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) in various plasma environments, with a special focus on the solar-terrestrial coupling system. Alfven waves are low-frequency and long-wavelength fluctuations that pervade laboratory, space and cosmic plasmas. KAWs are dispersive Alfven waves with a short wavelength comparable to particle kinematic scales and hence can play important roles in the energization and transport of plasma particles, the formation of fine magneto-plasma structures, and the dissipation of turbulent Alfven waves. Since the 1990s, experimental studies on KAWs in laboratory and space plasmas have significantly advanced our understanding of KAWs, making them an increasingly interesting subject. Without a doubt, the solar-terrestrial coupling system provides us with a unique natural laboratory for the comprehensive study of KAWs. This book presents extensive observations of KAWs in solar and heliospheric plasmas, as well as numerous applications of KAWs in the solar-terrestrial coupling system, including solar atmosphere heating, solarwind turbulence, solar wind-magnetosphere interactions, and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. In addition, for the sake of consistency, the book includes the basic theories and physical properties of KAWs, as well as their experimental demonstrations in laboratory plasmas. In closing, it discusses possible applications of KAWs to other astrophysical plasmas. Accordingly, the book covers all the major aspects of KAWs in a coherent manner that will appeal to advanced graduate students and researchers whose work involves laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas.

An enthralling exploration of the star on our doorstep, charting the journey from ancient superstition to the deep scientific mysteries yet to be resolved. The Sun examines how we've come to understand the features and processes at work in our star, starting with the earliest observations of mysterious sunspots and ending with the rich and complex investigation of the connected Sun-Earth system. It reveals the interconnected sciences involved in finding out more about the Sun and the practical importance of doing so for our modern world. It's a slow-burn tale of scientific discovery!

This book presents pioneering work on a critical observational test of the planet formation theory based on the theoretical study of the water snowline, beyond which water takes the form of ice, in the protoplanetary disks - the place where planets are formed. Since the water snowline is thought to divide the regions of rocky and gas-giant planet formation, the location of the snowline is essential for the planet formation process. The book proposes a novel method to locate the snowlines using high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of water vapor lines, which is based on in sophisticated chemical modeling and line radiative transfer calculations. The author obtained the water vapor distribution in the disks using the chemical reaction network, which includes photoreactions and gas-grain interactions. The simulated transition lines of water vapor in the disks demonstrate that relatively weak transition lines with moderate excitation energies are the best tracers of water snowline. Furthermore, the author observed submillimeter lines of water vapor in a disk using ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) to obtain the upper limit of the line fluxes with the highest sensitivity to date. These unprecedented findings are important in locating the snowlines in the disks, and the method goes a long way toward achieving a comprehensive understanding of the planet formation processes as well as of the origin of water on rocky planets, including our Earth, based on future observations using ALMA and SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics).

Astrobiology not only investigates how early life took hold of our planet but also life on other planets - both in our Solar System and beyond - and their potential for habitability. The book take readers from the scars on planetary surfaces made by space rocks to the history of the Solar System narrated by those space rocks as well as exoplanets in other planetary systems. But the true question is how life arose here or elsewhere. Modern comparative genomics has revealed that Darwin was correct; a set of highly conserved genes and cellular functions indicate that all life is related by common ancestry. The Last Universal Common Ancestor or LUCA sits at the base of the Tree of Life. However, once that life took hold, it started to diversify and form complex microbial communities that are known as microbial mats and stromatolites. Due to their long evolutionary history and abundance on modern Earth, research on the biological, chemical and geological processes of stromatolite formation has provided important insights into the field of astrobiology. Many of these microbialite-containing ecosystems have been used as models for astrobiology, and NASA mission analogs including Shark Bay, Pavilion and Kelly Lakes. Modern microbialites represent natural laboratories to study primordial ecosystems and provide proxies for how life could evolve on other planets. However, few viral metagenomic studies (i.e., viromes) have been conducted in microbialites, which are not only an important part of the community but also mirror its biodiversity. This book focuses on particularly interesting sites such as Andean lake microbialites, a proxy of early life since they are characterized by very high UV light, while Alchichica and Bacalar lakes are characterized by high-salt and oligotrophic waters that nurture stromatolites. However, it is only the oasis of Cuatro Cienegas Basin in Mexico that stored past life in its marine sediments of the Sierra de San Marcos. This particular Sierra has a magmatic pouch that moves the deep aquifer to the surface in a cycle of sun drenched life and back to the depths of the magmatic life in an ancient cycle that now is broken by the overexploitation of the surface water as well as the deep aquifer in order to irrigate alfalfa in the desert. The anthropocene, the era of human folly, is killing this unique time machine and with it the memory of the planet.

Julius Schmidt was one of the finest astronomical observers of his time, and his detailed map of the Moon surpassed anything that had come before. Today, the German astronomer and geophysicist has remained a largely neglected figure, despite being one of the most important players in the history of lunar studies. This book at last makes accessible Schmidt's highly regarded German work, Der Mond. Considered an astronomical classic of the nineteenth century, Der Mond remained without a proper English counterpart for the last century and a half, until now. The author's faithful English translation provides readers with much-needed access into Schmidt's original publication, with the aim of showing the community just how vital his work and legacy have been in the international field of selenography.

This 1986 book presents a series of computer-drawn maps and tables for all total and annular eclipses of the Sun calculated to have been observable in East Asia in the 3400 years from 1500 BC to AD 1900. The study of past eclipses is a useful tool in both geophysics and chronology, for example in determining the long-term behaviour of the Earth's rate of rotation. The eclipses of the Sun that occurred in East Asia - notably in China, Korea and Japan - are particularly useful because numerous reliable written records of them are extant. The book will be of interest to professional astronomers whose work can benefit from long-term historical data, especially those interested in studying the Earth's rotation and to historians of Chinese astronomy. It will be an essential reference work for research libraries.

From the Earth's atmosphere to the edges of our Universe, the presence of dust is ubiquitous. One of the main challenges in studying dust in these various environments is thus to harmonize the diverse research techniques and results, including in-situ measurement, remote observation, laboratory experiments and modelling, and analysis of returned samples. For the first time in over a decade, this volume accomplishes exactly that, providing an overarching picture of the current state of dust science and research. Where possible, the papers in this volume emphasize the interconnections, similarities, and differences in the field, synthesizing results from several techniques into one cohesive view. Importantly, astrobiological connections have now been considered. The dust hazard, future technology and research, and space mission requirements and scenarios are also addressed. The outcome of this endeavor is an interdisciplinary compendium with a unified perspective on cosmic dust science. Originally published in Space Science Reviews in the Topical Collection "Cosmic Dust from the Laboratory to the Stars"

In astrology, each planet in our solar system is symbolically associated with specific archetypes, characteristics, themes and patterns in human experience. The discovery in 2005 of Eris -- a dwarf planet beyond Pluto -- was therefore an event of great significance for astrology as well as astronomy. In this unique book, Keiron Le Grice considers the astrological significance of Eris. How, he asks, can we determine Eris's meaning? What archetypal themes is it associated with? In what ways might the myths of Eris, the Greek goddess of strife, be relevant to the astrological meaning? What can Eris's discovery tell us about the evolutionary challenges we now face? Drawing on a wide variety of perspectives -- including mythology, ecology, religion, history, philosophy and Jungian psychology -- Le Grice carefully constructs a multi-faceted picture of Eris's possible meaning, helping to illuminate the unprecedented events of our time and providing clues to our possible future directions.

This book is an original study aimed at understanding how vacuum magnetic fields change with time. Specifically, it describes the waves that radiate from a sphere when the electric current on its surface is turned on or off, either suddenly, gradually, or periodically. Numerical simulations are an invaluable source of information about this and related subjects, but they are often more difficult to interpret than exact, closed-form solutions that can easily be applied to a variety of situations. Thus, the objective here is to obtain an exact solution of Maxwell's equations in closed form-something simple, yet rigorous, which can be used as a model for understanding transient magnetic fields in more complicated situations. The work therefore stands as a self-contained solution of Maxwell's equations for an electric current wrapped around the surface of a sphere. This study assumes a strong background in electromagnetism or a related research area. Online animations are available for each figure to better illustrate the motions of magnetic field lines.

This book describes numerical simulations of collisions between asteroids, based on a unique numerical code developed by the author. The code accurately solves the elastic dynamic equations and describes the effects of fracture and friction, which makes it possible to investigate the shapes of impact outcomes produced by asteroid collisions and subsequent gravitational accumulation of fragments. The author parallelizes the code with high parallelization efficiency; accordingly, it can be used to conduct high-resolution simulations with the aid of supercomputers and clarify the shapes of small remnants produced through the catastrophic destruction of asteroids. The author demonstrates that flat asteroids can only be produced by impacts involving objects with similar mass and low velocity, which suggests that the flat asteroids in our solar system were created in the planet formation era and have kept their shapes until today. The author also shows that asteroid collisions under certain conditions can produce the extremely elongated shape of an interstellar minor body, 1I/'Oumuamua. In brief, the book offers a comprehensive investigation of asteroid impacts and shapes, making it a uniquely valuable resource.

This book investigates the mineralogy and shock effects of Yanzhuang chondrite, using modern micro-mineralogical experimental techniques, including SEM, TEM, EPMA, Raman microprobe spectroscopy, instrumental neutron activation analysis, X-ray micro-diffraction analysis, micro-PIXE analysis and laser ablation ICP-MS. The micro-structural and micro-morphological characteristics as well as chemical composition of minerals were studied in details. Based on the studies in the shock effects of rocks and minerals, and the detailed study in the shock-produced melt, the book concludes that Yanzhuang chondrite is the most heavily shocked ordinary H group chondrite ever found and that it contains the most abundant shock induced melt among all known shock-melt-bearing chondritic meteorites.

Carbon plays a fundamental role on Earth. It forms the chemical backbone for all essential organic molecules produced by living organisms. Carbon-based fuels supply most of society's energy, and atmospheric carbon dioxide has a huge impact on Earth's climate. This book provides a complete history of the emergence and development of the new interdisciplinary field of deep carbon science. It traces four centuries of history during which the inner workings of the dynamic Earth were discovered, and documents extraordinary scientific revolutions that changed our understanding of carbon on Earth forever: carbon's origin in exploding stars; the discovery of the internal heat source driving the Earth's carbon cycle; and the tectonic revolution. Written with an engaging narrative style and covering the scientific endeavours of more than a hundred pioneers of deep geoscience, this is a fascinating book for students and researchers working in Earth system science and deep carbon research.

The Venus Express spacecraft, which was launched in November 2005 and ceased activity in December 2014, has brought about a new wealth of data on Venus's atmosphere, surface, and space environment. Following the completion of this landmark mission, an overview of the current state of scientific understanding of Venus has been assembled into a single collection. The ten papers in this book, written by an international team of specialists, are the products of this effort. They review our knowledge of Venus's interior structure, surface composition, and atmosphere in terms of thermal structure, dynamics, composition, chemistry, clouds, aeronomy, and interaction with the solar wind. Additionally, they identify the questions and measurements that remain open for study in ongoing and future research and exploration efforts. The resulting volume is primarily intended for students and researchers of planetary science. This book is a follow-up to the pioneering book Venus, published in 1983, and its successor volume Venus II, published in 1997, stood at their respective times as the most authoritative single-volume works available on the planet. Originally published in Space Science Reviews in the Topical Collection "Venus III"

Based on 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations performed with unprecedented high resolution, this book examines the giant impacts that dominate many planets' late accretion and evolution. The numerical methods developed are now publicly available, greatly facilitating future studies of planetary impacts in our solar system and exoplanetary systems. The book focuses on four main topics: (1) The development of new methods to construct initial conditions as well as a hydrodynamical simulation code to evolve them, using 1000 times more simulation particles than the previous standard. (2) The numerical convergence of giant impact simulations -- standard-resolution simulations fail to converge on even bulk properties like the post-impact rotation period. (3) The collision thought to have knocked over the planet Uranus causing it to spin on its side. (4) The erosion of atmospheres by giant impacts onto terrestrial planets, and the first full 3D simulations of collisions in this regime.

This book covers solar energy and the use of solar radiation in connection with lighting. It provides a detailed introduction to solar energy, photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion, and solar lighting technologies, while also discussing all of these elements in the context of the Balkan Peninsula. In the context of solar energy, the book covers a range of elements, from the structure of the sun, to PV solar plants. It subsequently addresses the status quo of solar technologies in Bulgaria, Serbia and the Republika Srpska and analyses the development of these technologies over the years, including their economic status, and how these aspects have shaped their current status. Undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professionals, particularly those based in the Balkans, will find this book both informative and interesting.

The conquest of Earth's moon was merely a precursor to a more dramatic step forward, which will take men and women to an outpost that might eventually become a second home for the human race.
Mars: The Next Step illustrates how the only feasible colonization of another planet in our solar system will be on Mars. The author addresses the various questions surrounding this theory with frank scientific caution that in no way obscures his vigorous enthusiasm and, above all, optimism for mankind's future in space.
This vivid and entertaining book explores "terraforming" (planetary engineering), which could turn Mars into a more congenial environment for humans, both in terms of changing the harsh climate of the planet and the production of plants able to thrive there by means of genetic engineering. The book includes numerous diagrams of possible manned spacecraft, along with color pictures of Mars taken on previous unmanned missions.

This book follows the development of research on the origin of the Moon from the late 18th century to the present. By gathering together the major texts, papers, and events of the time, it provides a thorough chronicle of the paradigmatic shift in planetary science that arose from the notion that the Earth-Moon system was formed from two colliding planetary bodies. The book covers pre-Apollo ideas, the conceptual evolution during and subsequent to the Apollo explorations of the Moon, and the development of the Earth-Moon system consensus. A plethora of excerpts from key publications are included to demonstrate the shift in scientific focus over the centuries. Through its comprehensive review of lunar science research and literature, this book shows how new technologies and discoveries catalyzed the community and revolutionized our understanding of the Moon's formation.

Over the past ten years, the discovery of extrasolar planets has opened a new field of astronomy, and this area of research is rapidly growing, from both the observational and theoretical point of view. The presence of many giant exoplanets in the close vicinity of their star shows that these newly discovered planetary systems are very different from the solar system. New theoretical models are being developed in order to understand their formation scenarios, and new observational methods are being implemented to increase the sensitivity of exoplanet detections. In the present book, the authors address the question of planetary systems from all aspects. Starting from the facts (the detection of more than 300 extraterrestrial planets), they first describe the various methods used for these discoveries and propose a synthetic analysis of their global properties. They then consider the observations of young stars and circumstellar disks and address the case of the solar system as a specific example, different from the newly discovered systems. Then the study of planetary systems and of exoplanets is presented from a more theoretical point of view. The book ends with an outlook to future astronomical projects, and a description of the search for life on exoplanets. This book addresses students and researchers who wish to better understand this newly expanding field of research.

The book covers intimately all the topics necessary for the development of a robust magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code within the framework of the cell-centered finite volume method (FVM) and its applications in space weather study. First, it presents a brief review of existing MHD models in studying solar corona and the heliosphere. Then it introduces the cell-centered FVM in three-dimensional computational domain. Finally, the book presents some applications of FVM to the MHD codes on spherical coordinates in various research fields of space weather, focusing on the development of the 3D Solar-InterPlanetary space-time Conservation Element and Solution Element (SIP-CESE) MHD model and its applications to space weather studies in various aspects. The book is written for senior undergraduates, graduate students, lecturers, engineers and researchers in solar-terrestrial physics, space weather theory, modeling, and prediction, computational fluid dynamics, and MHD simulations. It helps readers to fully understand and implement a robust and versatile MHD code based on the cell-centered FVM.

This book explores the dynamics of planetary and stellar fluid layers, including atmospheres, oceans, iron cores, and convective and radiative zones in stars, describing the different theoretical, computational and experimental methods used to study these problems in fluid mechanics, including the advantages and limitations of each method for different problems. This scientific domain is by nature interdisciplinary and multi-method, but while much effort has been devoted to solving open questions within the various fields of mechanics, applied mathematics, physics, earth sciences and astrophysics, and while much progress has been made within each domain using theoretical, numerical and experimental approaches, cross-fertilizations have remained marginal. Going beyond the state of the art, the book provides readers with a global introduction and an up-to-date overview of relevant studies, fully addressing the wide range of disciplines and methods involved. The content builds on the CISM course "Fluid mechanics of planets and stars", held in April 2018, which was part of the research project FLUDYCO, supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

Following the 'Big Bang', it took the universe billions of years to evolve into the unique system of stars and planets that we know of today. Scientists have studied the planets of our solar system for centuries, and are beginning to understand the billions of stars and other bodies that make up the Universe. Stars and Planets is an ideal reference book for anyone interested in astronomy, featuring 300 of the most well known stars, planets, moons, constellations and other cosmological phenomena, such as black holes and quasars. Each entry includes an image - either a photograph or an artist's impression or diagram - and a key information table including specifications such as the mass, radius, surface temperature, distance from sun, gravity and major elements of each object. Presented in a handy, pocket-size format, full of facts and engaging text, Stars and Planets is a valuable reference source as well as a fascinating read, revealing the spectacular world of the Cosmos.

This fascinating book reviews the progress made in Mercury studies since the flybys by Mariner 10 in 1974-75. Thus far, it is the only book on Mercury which balances a wide range of Earth-based observations, made under difficult conditions, with the only available space-based data. The text is based on continued research using the Mariner 10 archive, on observations from Earth, and on increasingly realistic models of this mysterious planet 's interior evolution.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the chemistry of CO2 in relation to surface interactions and photocatalytic transformation by UV radiation. The first part deals with the modelling of an anatase surface, its interaction with CO2, and the spontaneous exchange of oxygen atoms between the gas and solid phases. The book then naturally transitions to the photocatalytic reduction of CO2, achieved by adding UV radiation and traces of water to the experimental system, to produce methane and CO. This photocatalytic reduction is explained in detail and the implications for planetary chemistry (specifically concerning Mars), as well as Earth's atmospheric chemistry and global warming, are discussed.