This monograph is the fIrst book exclusively devoted to Dusty and Dirty from a unifIed Electrohydrodynamical point of view, incorporating new Plasmas concepts of Electric Cusp-Reconnection and Generalized Critical Ionization Velocities, based on a survey stimulated from a series of International Wo- shops/Symposia on Plasmas in Space and in the Laboratory held in Tokyo since 1980, and from associations with a number of Universities and Institutions which offered me opportunities to do specifIc research. For example, the subjects of Mirrors and Cusps, Critical Velocities, Double Layers or Dipoles, and Quadrupoles in this monograph were initiated by the fIrst International Workshop on Relation between Laboratory and Space Plasmas held in Tokyo in 1980 which was well received, in this connection in particular thankfully by the late Professor Hannes Alfven with encouraging communica tions, inspiring me to studies of critical velocities, electrical version offield line merging-reconnection, and Unconventional Plasmas. Although the subject of this monograph was partly included also in topics at the URSI Workshop on Nonlinear and Environmental Electromagnetics in 1984, at the second Wo- shop on Relation between Laboratory and Space Plasmas in 1986, and at the URSI Symposium on Environmental and Space Electromagnetics in 1989, the main subject: Dusty and Dirty Plasmas and EHD (electrohydrodynamics) was discussed exclusively at the later Symposium in 1992, resulting in the fIrst monograph, Dusty and Dirty Plasmas with Noise and Chaos in Space and in the Laboratory in this fIeld for which Professor John E.

Influenced by astronomy education research, 21st Century Astronomy offers a complete pedagogical and media package that facilitates learning by doing, while the new one-column design makes the Fifth Edition the most accessible introductory text available today.

Every night, above our heads, a drama of epic proportions is playing out. Diamond planets, zombie stars, black holes heavier than a billion Suns. The cast of characters is extraordinary, and each one has its own incredible story to tell. We once thought of our Earth as unique, but we have now discovered thousands of alien planets, and that's barely a fraction of the worlds that are out there. And there are more stars in the Universe than grains of sand on every planet in the Solar System. But amid all this vastness, the Milky Way Galaxy, our Sun and the Earth are home to the only known life in the Universe - at least for now. With a foreword from Professor Brian Cox, and access to all the latest stunning NASA photography, Andrew Cohen takes readers on a voyage of discovery, via the probes and telescopes exploring the outer reaches of our galaxy, revealing how it was formed and how it will inevitably be destroyed by the enigmatic black hole at its heart. And beyond our galaxy, the expanding Universe, which holds clues to the biggest mystery of all - how did it all begin? We now know more about those first moments of existence than we ever thought possible, and hidden in this story of how it all began are the clues to the fate of the Universe itself and everything in it.

Moons come, quite literally, in all shapes and sizes. Our Moon is just one of more than 200 moons in the Solar System that we've identified so far. Scientists have discovered moons made of rock, others of ice. There are moons with atmospheres or with oceans hidden beneath their surfaces, and even some with active volcanoes. Others could perhaps be suitable for life! Astronomer Anna Gammon-Ross of Royal Observatory Greenwich travels through the Solar System, hopping from one moon to the next, to discover not only what these natural satellites have in common, but also what makes each one unique. Learn about the moons that can be found in and around Saturn's rings (and the many others we suspect there could be), the objects orbiting the distant dwarf planets and the curious theory of moon-moons.

In summary, we can conclude that the contributions of the different ionization processes to the total ionization rate for the most abundant interstellar species are basically known. The ionization of the noble gases He and Ne is almost completely dominated by photoionization, whereas for H charge-exchange with the solar wind is most important. For other species, such as 0 and Ar, both processes contribute significantly. Electron impact ionization can typically contribute by '" 10% to the total rate in the inner Solar System. Because direct measurements of the solar EUV flux are not yet continuously available, the variation of the ionization rate over the solar cycle still contains a relatively large uncertainty. The recent measurements of pickup ion distributions and of the neutral helium gas provide an independent tool to determine the total ionization rate that can be used to cross calibrate with the results obtained for the individual ionization processes. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to M. Allen for supplying us with new data on photoioniza tion cross-sections compiled by him. We thank also M. Gruntman for drawing our attention to and support in collecting the most recent data on charge-exchange cross-sections. D. R. was supported by grant No. 2 P03C. 004. 09 from the Com mittee for Scientific Research (Poland). This work was also supported in part through NASA contract NAS7-918, NSF Grant INT-911637, NASA Grant NAGW- 2579.

The luminosity of the sun governs the temperature of the planets. And the solar forcing, or driving, of climate, primarily due to changes insolar radiation, is an idea whose history has not been well documented in a book. Recent satellite measurements have shown that solar radiation varies as a function of wavelength - a concept that for the past two centuries scientists have claimed would be proved. Now, with all of the attention being given to global warming, this topic has again become timely. The book will review the physics of the concept of solar forcing in manageable terms, tracing its history from its beginnings in the early 1800s toits apparent success in the 1920s, to its near demise in the 1950s and its resurrection in recent years. Emphasis will be on solar variation as a driver for climate change, with only a brief discussion of other mechanisms - thus assuring the book a clear focus.

The articles in this volume are a document of the Galileo mission to Jupiter. The Mission Overview is the first article; the second is a description of the design of the very complex spacecraft trajectory in relation to the scientific objects. Subsequent articles describe the various investigations planned by the scientific groups. These are divided in three groups: the Probe, the Magnetospheric Experiments, and the Remote Sensing and Radio Investigations.

Magnetic energy release plays an important role in a wide variety of cosmic objects such as the Sun, stellar coronae, stellar and galactic accretion disks and pulsars. The observed radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emission often directly results from magnetic flares', implying that these processes are spatially fragmented and of an impulsive nature. A true understanding of these processes requires a combined magnetohydrodynamical and plasma physical approach. Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary summary of magnetic energy release in the Sun and stars, in accretion disks, in pulsar magnetospheres and in laboratory plasmas. These proceedings include papers on both theoretical and observational aspects. Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics is for researchers in the fields of solar physics, stellar astrophysics and (laboratory) plasma physics and is a useful resource book for graduate level astrophysics courses.

Novel instruments for high-precision imaging polarimetry have opened new possibilities, not only for diagnostics of magnetic fields, but also for exploring effects in radiative scattering, atomic physics, spectral line formation and radiative transfer. The observational advances have stimulated various theoretical developments, for instance in vector radiative transfer and techniques for inverting polarized line profiles. The present volume gives a comprehensive and up-to-date account of this rapidly evolving and interdisciplinary field of science. It is based on the oral presentations given at the 2nd International Workshop on Solar Polarization held in Bangalore, India, in October 1998.

This book views Mercury as a whole in the context of its environment. It illustrates what we know and what we need to know, and why understanding Mercury is so crucial to our understanding of solar system origin and current processes on Earth. The book describes our current state of knowledge for Mercury and interactions between interior, exterior, and space environment which are highly dynamic and thus critical to understanding Mercury as a system.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Victor Hess of Germany flew instruments in balloons and so discovered in 1912 that an extra- errestial radiation of unknown origin is incident on the earth with an almost constant intensity at all times. These penetrating non solar radiations which were called Cosmic Rays by Millikan, USA, opened the new frontier of space physics and many leading scientists were attracted to it. At the end of World War II a number of space vehicles, e.g. stratospheric balloons, rockets and satellites were developed. In 1950 and onwards, these vehicles enabled spectacular advances in space physics and space astrophysics. New horizons were opened in the explorations of cosmic rays, the earth's magnetosphere, the Sun and the heliosphere, the moon and the planets. Using space-borne instruments, exciting discoveries were made of stars, and galaxies in the infra-red, ultra violet, x-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths. In this text book these fascinating new findings are presented in depth and on a level suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate students, research scientists and scientists of other disciplines. Although there are several excellent books and monographs on different aspects, most of these deal with specific areas. In this text book the findings of space physics and astrophysics are presented in an integrated manner with proper introductions to the fundamental aspects, and these are supplemented by relevant ground based observations."

The COSPAR Colloquium on Solar-Terrestrial Magnetic Activity and Space Environment (STMASE) was held in the National Astronomy Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) in Beijing, China in September 10-12, 2001. The meeting was focused on five areas of the solar-terrestrial magnetic activity and space environment studies, including study on solar surface magnetism; solar magnetic activity, dynamical response of the heliosphere; space weather prediction; and space environment exploration and monitoring. A hot topic of space research, CMEs, which are widely believed to be the most important phenomenon of the space environment, is discussed in many papers. Other papers show results of observational and theoretical studies toward better understanding of the complicated image of the magnetic coupling between the Sun and the Earth, although little is still known little its physical background. Space weather prediction, which is very important for a modern society expanding into out-space, is another hot topic of space research. However, a long way is still to go to predict exactly when and where a disaster will happen in the space. In that sense, there is much to do for space environment exploration and monitoring. The manuscripts submitted to this Monograph are divided into the following parts: (1) solar surface magnetism, (2) solar magnetic activity, (3) dynamical response of the heliosphere, (4) space environment exploration and monitoring; and (5) space weather prediction. Papers presented in this meeting but not submitted to this Monograph are listed by title as unpublished papers at the end of this book.

"In his new book, Transit of Venus, 1631 to the Present, Dr Nick Lomb - an astronomer at the Sydney Observatpry and the author of the Australian Sky Guide - has produced what may be his most timely publication to date...Dr Lomb has cooked up both a titillating textual treat and a full-bodied visual feast, and whether his readers choose to nibble at the book meditatively or to ingest it voraciously in a single sitting, they are sure to come away licking their lips and drooling for more." - Michael E. Chauvin, The Bulletin The transit of Venus across the sun in June 2012 will be the last chance in our lifetime to see this rare planetary alignment that has been so important in history. Rich in historical detail and cutting edge science, along with practical information on how and when to view the transit, Transit of Venus is the must-have companion to this extraordinary astronomical event. From Johannes Kepler's first prediction of a transit of Venus in 1631, to Captain Cook's 1769 transit expedition to Tahiti (which led to the European settlement of Australia), and on to our 21st-century quest to find distant Earth-like planets using the transit method, astronomer Nick Lomb takes us on a thrilling journey of exploration and adventure.

The last decade of this century has seen a renewed interest in the dynamics and physics of the small bodies of the Solar System, Asteroids, Comets and Meteors. New observational evidences such as the discovery of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, refined numerical tools such as the symplectic integrators, analytical tools such as semi-numerical perturbation algorithms and in general a better understanding of the dynamics of Hamiltonian systems, all these factors have converged to make possible and worthwhile the study, over very long time spans, of these "minor" objects. Also the public, the media and even some political assell}blies have become aware that these "minor" objects of our planetary environnement could become deadly weapons. Apparently they did have a role in Earth history and a role more ominous than "predicting" defeat (or victory, why not?) to batches of credulous rulers. Remembering what may have happened to the dinosaurs but keeping all the discretion necessary to avoid creating irrational scares, it may not be unwise or irrelevant to improve our knowledge of the physics and dynamics of these objects and to study in particular their interactions with our planet.

IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration) is the first NASA MIDEX mission and the first mission dedicated to imaging the Earth's magnetosphere. This volume offers detailed descriptions of the IMAGE instrumentation and of the image inversion techniques used to interpret the data. Also included are chapters on the IMAGE science objectives, the spacecraft design and capabilities, science and mission operations, and the processing and distribution of IMAGE's nonproprietary data products.

Divided into two parts, the first four chapters of Comets and their Origin refer to comets and their formation in general, describing cometary missions, comet remote observations, astrochemistry, artificial comets, and the chirality phenomenon. The second part covers the cometary ROSETTA mission, its launch, journey, scientific objectives, and instrumentations, as well as the landing scenario on a cometary nucleus. Along the way, the author presents general questions concerning the origin of terrestrial water and the molecular beginnings of life on Earth, as well as how the instruments used on a space mission like ROSETTA can help answer them. The text concludes with a chapter on what scientists expect from the ROSETTA mission and how its data will influence our life on Earth. As a result, the author elucidates highly topical and fascinating knowledge to scientists and students of various scientific backgrounds, allowing them to work with ROSETTA's data.

Cluster was one of the two missions - the other being the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) - constituting the Solar Terrestrial Science Programme (STSP), the first `cornerstone' of ESA's Horizon 2000 Programme. After the catastrophic Ariane-5 accident on 4 June 1996 which destroyed the four Cluster spacecraft, the European Space Agency Science Programme Committee gave approval to refurbish the spare Cluster spacecraft and make it ready for flight. This new spacecraft, considered to be the first of a new fleet, is called Phoenix. In the meantime various options to repeat the Cluster four-point measurements are being studied. Since Phoenix, as the fifth Cluster spacecraft, will be equipped with the spare Cluster experiments, the instrumentation articles in this book are still appropriate to the new mission. Furthermore, the objectives of the recovery mission, the ground systems, the ground observation program and the theory and modelling efforts all remain unchanged. Thus this series of articles will continue to be essential to the Cluster community and to the general scientific community as the recovery mission is implemented.

As in the days following Skylab, solar physics came to the end of an era when the So lar Maximum Mission re-entered the earth's atmosphere in December 1989. The 1980s had been a pioneering decade not only in space- and ground-based studies of the solar atmosphere (Solar Maximum Mission, Hinotori, VLA, Big Bear, Nanc;ay, etc.) but also in solar-terrestrial relations (ISEE, AMPTE), and solar interior neutrino and helioseismol ogy studies. The pace of development in related areas of theory (nuclear, atomic, MHD, beam-plasma) has been equally impressive. All of these raised tantalizing further questions about the structure and dynamics of the Sun as the prototypical and best observed star. This Advanced Study Institute was timed at a pivotal point between that decade and the realisation of Yohkoh, Ulysses, SOHO, GRANAT, Coronas, and new ground-based optical facilities such as LEST and GONG, so as to teach and inspire the up and coming young solar researchers of the 1990s. The topics, lecturers, and students were all chosen with this goal in mind, and the result seems to have been highly successful by all reports."

The question of the existence of other worlds and other living beings has been present in the human quest for knowledge since as far as Epicurus. For centuries this question belonged to the fields of philosophy and theology. The theoretical problem of the formation of the Solar System, and hence of other planetary systems, was tackled only during the 18th century, while the first observational attempts for a detection started less than one hundred years ago. Direct observation of an extra-solar planetary system is an extraordinarily difficult problem: extra-solar planets are at huge distances, are incredibly faint and are overwhelmed by the bright light of their own stars. With virtually no observational insight to test their models, theoreticians have remained for decades in a difficult position to make substantial progress. Yet, the field of stellar formation has provided since the 1980s both the the oretical and observational evidences for the formation of discs at the stage of star birth and for debris materials orbiting the very young stellar systems. It was tempting to consider that these left-overs might indeed later agglomerate into planetary systems more or less similar to ours. Then came observational evidences for planets outside the Solar System."