NASA's Genesis mission, launched on August 8, 2001 is the fifth mission in the Discovery series. Genesis addresses questions about the materials and processes involved in the origin of the solar system by providing precise knowledge of solar isotopic and elemental compositions for comparison with the compositions of meteoritic and planetary materials. This book describes the Genesis mission, the solar wind collector materials, the solar wind concentrator and simulations of its performance, the plasma ion and electron instruments, and the way these two instruments are used to determine the solar wind flow regime on board the spacecraft. The book is of interest to all potential users of the data returned by the Genesis mission, to those studying the isotopic and chemical composition of the early solar system whose work will be influenced by the measurements made by Genesis and by all those interested in the design and implementation of space instruments to study space plasmas.

Since Luna and Lunar Orbiter photographed the far side of the Moon, the mysterious dichotomy between the face of the Moon as we see it from Earth and the side of the Moon that is hidden has puzzled lunar scientists. As we learned more from the Apollo sample return missions and later robotic satellites, the puzzle literally deepened, showing asymmetry of the crust and mantle, all the way to the core of the Moon. This book summarizes the author's successful search for an ancient impact feature, the Near Side Megabasin of the Moon and the extensions to impact theory needed to find it. The implications of this ancient event are developed to answer many of the questions about the history of the Moon.

The book summarizes the results of the experimental studies of phase relations in the chemical systems relevant to Earth, carried out by the author in a time period of over 20 years between 1979 and 2001. It is based on 1000 piston-cylinder experiments at pressures up to 4 GPa, and close to 700 experiments carried out with a multi-anvil apparatus at pressures up to 24 GPA. This is the largest published collection of calculated phase diagrams for the chemical systems relevant to Earth. This is also the first time that the phase relations at the relatively low pressures of the lithospheric mantle, mainly applicable to the experimental thermobarometry of metamorphic rocks and mantle xenoliths, are seamlessly integrated with the phase relations of the sublithospheric upper mantle and the uppermost lower mantle, primarily applicable to inclusions in diamond and schocked meteorites. "Tibor Gasparik has devoted his career to determining the high-pressure, high-temperature phase relations of the geologically important Sodium-Calcium-Magnesium-Aluminium-Silicon (NCMAS) oxide system. This book is his opus magnum, summarizing more than 1700 experiments in over 120 figures. ... I have found Phase Diagrams for Geoscientists to be a useful first port-of-call for finding the P-T stability fields ... and I can recommend the book as a reference for geoscientists requiring an overview of the stable phase assemblages in the top 700 km of the Earth." (David Dobson, Geological Magazine, Vol. 142 (2), 2005)

The book introduces the solar coronal mass ejection phenomena. This includes both those observed in the corona and those further from the Sun, known as interplanetary coronal mass ejections. We discuss the history and physics behind these phenomena, theories describing their launch and evolution, association with other solar eruptive phenomena, and methods employed for their detection and scientific data extraction. Instruments used for their study (past, present and future) are also discussed, along with their resulting space weather effects on Earth and other planets. The latter requires a description of the Earth's magnetosphere, which is also included. Coronal Mass Ejections brings together solar physics, heliospheric physics, and magnetospheric physics, three traditionally separate fields of study. The content is accessible to beginning graduate students who are trying to master difficult fundamental concepts.

Over the last fifteen years, space-based exploration of the solar system has increased dramatically, with more and more sophisticated orbiters and landers being sent to Mars. This intense period, rich in unprecedented scientific results, has led to immense progress in our perception of Mars and of its evolution over geological time. In parallel, advances in numerical simulations and laboratory experiments also shed new light on the geochemical evolution of the planet Mars. The ISSI-Europlanet Workshop entitled "Quantifying the Martian Geochemical Reservoirs" was held in Bern in April 2011 with the objective to create a diverse interdisciplinary forum composed of scientists directly involved in space-based exploration of the Martian surface, meteoriticists studying SNC meteorites, and planetary and/or Earth scientists simulating, numerically or experimentally, the physical and chemical processes occurring on or within Mars. The chapters of this book provide an overview of current knowledge of the past and present Martian geochemical reservoirs, from the accretionary history to the secondary alteration processes at the surface. In addition to the detailed description of data from Mars and the methods used to obtain them, the contributions also emphasize comparison with features on Earth, providing a perspective on the extent to which our knowledge of terrestrial systems influences interpretation of data from Mars. Areas that would benefit from future work and measurements are also identified, providing a view of the short-term and long-term future of the study of Mars. This collection of chapters constitutes a timely perspective on current knowledge and thinking concerning the geochemical evolution of Mars, providing context and a valuable reference point for even more exciting future discoveries. It is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in geochemistry and space science. Previously published in Space Science Reviews, Vol. 174/1-4, 2013.

Electrical processes take place in all planetary atmospheres. There is evidence for lightning on Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, it is possible on Mars and Titan, and cosmic rays ionise every atmosphere, leading to charged droplets and particles. Controversy surrounds the role of atmospheric electricity in physical climate processes on Earth; here, a comparative approach is employed to review the role of electrification in the atmospheres of other planets and their moons. This book reviews the theory, and, where available, measurements, of planetary atmospheric electricity, taken to include ion production and ion-aerosol interactions. The conditions necessary for a global atmospheric electric circuit similar to Earth s, and the likelihood of meeting these conditions in other planetary atmospheres, are briefly discussed. Atmospheric electrification is more important at planets receiving little solar radiation, increasing the relative significance of electrical forces. Nucleation onto atmospheric ions has been predicted to affect the evolution and lifetime of haze layers on Titan, Neptune and Triton. For planets closer to Earth, heating from solar radiation dominates atmospheric circulations. Mars may have a global circuit analogous to the terrestrial model, but based on electrical discharges from dust storms, and Titan may have a similar global circuit, based on transfer of charged raindrops. There is an increasing need for direct measurements of planetary atmospheric electrification, in particular on Mars, to assess the risk for future unmanned and manned missions. Theoretical understanding could be increased by cross-disciplinary work to modify and update models and parameterisations initially developed for a specific atmosphere, to make them more broadly applicable to other planetary atmospheres. The possibility of electrical processes in the atmospheres of exoplanets is also discussed."

"The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets" presents the main processes participating in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. A group of experts in the different fields provide an update of our current knowledge on this topic. Several papers in this book discuss the key role of nitrogen in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. The earliest setting and evolution of planetary atmospheres of terrestrial planets is directly associated with accretion, chemical differentiation, outgassing, stochastic impacts, and extremely high energy fluxes from their host stars. This book provides an overview of the present knowledge of the initial atmospheric composition of the terrestrial planets. Additionally it includes some papers about the current exoplanet discoveries and provides additional clues to our understanding of Earth's transition from a hot accretionary phase into a habitable world. All papers included were reviewed by experts in their respective fields. We are living in an epoch of important exoplanet discoveries, but current properties of these exoplanets do not match our scientific predictions using standard terrestrial planet models. This book deals with the main physio-chemical signatures and processes that could be useful to better understand the formation of rocky planets.

Based on lectures given at a CNRS summer school in France, this book covers many aspects of stellar environments (both observational and theoretical) and offers a broad overview of the field. More specifically, Part I of the book focuses on the Sun, the properties of the ejected plasma, of the solar wind and on space weather. The second part deals with tides in planetary systems and in binary stellar systems, as well as with interactions in massive binary stars as seen by interferometry. Finally the chapters of Part III discuss the very close environments of young stars; Stellar Winds, Magnetic Fields and Disks; Magnetic field and convection in the cool supergiant Betelgeuse; The formation of circumstellar disks around evolved stars; and an introduction to accretion disks is given. With its broad approach the book will provide graduate students with a good overview of the environments of the Sun and stars.

"Weird Worlds" is the third book in David Seargent's "Weird" series. This book assumes a basic level of astronomical understanding and concentrates on the "odd and interesting" aspects of planetary bodies, including asteroids and moons. From our viewpoint here on Earth, this work features the most unusual features of these worlds and the ways in which they appear "weird" to us. Within our own Solar System, odd facts such as the apparent reversal of the Sun in the skies of Mercury, CO2-driven fountains of dust on Mars, possible liquid water (and perhaps primitive life!) deep within the dwarf planet Ceres, and a variety of odd facts about the planetary moons are all discussed. A special chapter is devoted to Saturn's giant moon Titan, and its methane-based weather system and "hydrological" cycle. This chapter also includes recent speculation on the possibility of methane-based organisms and the form that these might take, if they really do exist. Beyond our Solar System, the book looks at the range of worlds discovered and hypothesized. In "Weird Worlds," the author discusses planets where temperatures are so high that it rains molten iron, and others so cold that liquid methane floods across plains of ice! Worlds are described where the lightest element acts like a metal and where winds blow at thousands of miles per hour - as well as possible planets whose orbits are essentially parabolic. In keeping with previous titles in David Seargent's "Weird" series, "Weird Worlds" contains several projects that astronomers of all levels can undertake.

Lunar domes are structures of volcanic origin which are usually difficult to observe due to their low heights. The Lunar Domes Handbook is a reference work on these elusive features. It provides a collection of images for a large number of lunar domes, including telescopic images acquired with advanced but still moderately intricate amateur equipment as well as recent orbital spacecraft images. Different methods for determining the morphometric properties of lunar domes (diameter, height, flank slope, edifice volume) from image data or orbital topographic data are discussed. Additionally, multispectral and hyperspectral image data are examined, providing insights into the composition of the dome material. Several classification schemes for lunar domes are described, including an approach based on the determined morphometric quantities and spectral analyses. Furthermore, the book provides a description of geophysical models of lunar domes, which yield information about the properties of the lava from which they formed and the depth of the magma source regions below the lunar surface.

When in 1981 Louis and Walter Alvarez, the father and son team, unearthed a tell-tale Iridium-rich sedimentary horizon at the 65 million years-old Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at Gubbio, Italy, their find heralded a paradigm shift in the study of terrestrial evolution. Since the 1980s the discovery and study of asteroid impact ejecta in the oldest well-preserved terrains of Western Australia and South Africa, by Don Lowe, Gary Byerly, Bruce Simonson, Scott Hassler, the author and others, and the documentation of new exposed and buried impact structures in several continents, have led to a resurgence of the idea of the catastrophism theory of Cuvier, previously largely supplanted by the uniformitarian theory of Hutton and Lyell. Several mass extinction of species events are known to have occurred in temporal proximity to large asteroid impacts, global volcanic eruptions and continental splitting. Likely links are observed between asteroid clusters and the 580 Ma acritarch radiation, end-Devonian extinction, end-Triassic extinction and end-Jurassic extinction. New discoveries of 3.5 3.2 Ga-old impact fallout units in South Africa have led Don Lowe and Gary Byerly to propose a protracted prolongation of the Late Heavy Bombardment ( 3.95-3.85 Ga) in the Earth-Moon system. Given the difficulty in identifying asteroid impact ejecta units and buried impact structures, it is likely new discoveries of impact signatures are in store, which would further profoundly alter models of terrestrial evolution..

This is volume 5 of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems, a six-volume compendium of modern astronomical research, covering subjects of key interest to the main fields of contemporary astronomy. This volume on Galactic Structure and Stellar Populations, edited by Gerard F. Gilmore, presents accessible review chapters on Stellar Populations, Chemical Abundances as Population Tracers, Metal-Poor Stars and the Chemical Enrichment of the Universe, The Stellar and Sub-Stellar Initial Mass Function of Simple and Composite Populations, The Galactic Nucleus, The Galactic Bulge, Open Clusters and Their Role in the Galaxy, Star Counts and the Nature of Galactic Thick Disk, The Infrared Galaxy, Interstellar PAHs and Dust, Galactic Neutral Hydrogen, High-Velocity Clouds, Magnetic Fields in Galaxies, Astrophysics of Galactic Charged Cosmic Rays, Gamma-Ray Emission of Supernova Remnants and the Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays, Galactic Distance Scales, Globular Cluster Dynamical Evolution, Dynamics of Disks and Warps, Mass Distribution and Rotation Curve in the Galaxy, Dark Matter in the GalacticDwarf Spheroidal Satellites, and History of Dark Matter in Galaxies.

All chapters of the handbook were written by practicing professionals. They include sufficient background material and references to the current literature to allow readers to learn enough about a specialty within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology to get started on their own practical research projects. In the spirit of the series Stars and Stellar Systems published by Chicago University Press in the 1960s and 1970s, each chapter of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems can stand on its own as a fundamental review of its respective sub-discipline, and each volume can be used as a textbook or recommended reference work for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Advanced students and professional astronomers in their roles as both lecturers and researchers will welcome Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems as a comprehensive and pedagogical reference work on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

Lives of the Planets is a sweeping tour of our solar system, from the sun and demoted Pluto, to the Kuiper Belt and beyond the edge of the interstellar void. From the Neolithic computer that is Stonehenge to Galileo's telescope to Kepler's latest search for life on other planets, Richard Corfield deftly describes the colourful history of humanity's unfolding discovery of our solar system's secrets. In this era of unprecedented discovery, Lives of the Planets is a comprehensive survey of our growing knowledge and the history of how we got here.

NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) was launched on August 25, 1997, carrying six high-resolution spectrometers that measure the abundances of the elements, isotopes, and ionic charge states of energetic nuclei in space. Data from these instruments is being used to measure and compare the composition of the solar corona, the nearby interstellar medium, and cosmic-ray sources in the Galaxy, and to study particle acceleration processes in a variety of environments. ACE also includes three instruments that monitor solar wind and energetic particle activity near the inner Lagrangian point, "1.5 million kilometers sunward of Earth, and provide continuous, real-time data to NOAA for use in forecasting space weather. Eleven of the articles in this volume review scientific progress and outline questions that ACE will address in solar, space-plasma, and cosmic-ray physics. Other articles describe the ACE spacecraft, the real-time solar-wind system, and the instruments used to measure energetic particle composition.

The proposal of the School was made in 1998 to three institutions, which responded enthusiastically: The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), its main co-sponsor, the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, both in Trieste, Italy, and the Chancellor's Office, Universidad Simon Bolfvar (USB). The secretarial and logistic support was provided in Trieste by the ICTP and in Caracas by USB and the IDEA Convention Center. In addition the event was generously supported by the following institutes, agencies, foundations and academies: NASA Headquarters, European Space Agency, TALVEN Programme, (Delegacion Permanente de Venezuela ante la UNESCO), The SETI Institute, Centro Latinoamericano .de Ffsica, The Third World Academy of Sciences, Academia de Ciencias Ffsicas, Matematicas y Naturales, Red Latinoamericana de Biologfa, The Planetary Society, The Latin American Academy of Sciences (Fondo ACAL), Alberto Vollmer Foundation, Inc, Fundacion J. Oro, Associated to the Catalonian Research Foundation, Red Latinoamericana de Astronomfa and Colegio Emil Friedman. A total of 36 lectures were delivered by 20 lecturers, of which 14 were from the following countries: Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain and the USA. Six lecturers were from the host country. In addition there were 5 chairpersons from the host country that were not participants; two participants acted as chairpersons (Pedro Benitez and Tomas Revilla).

Analysis of the orbital motion of the Earth, the Moon and other planets and their satellites led to the discovery that all bodies in the Solar System are moving with the first cosmic velocity of their proto parents. The mean orbital velocity of each planet is equal to the first cosmic velocity of the Protosun, the radius of which is equal to the semi-major axis of the planet s orbit. The same applies for the planets satellites. All the small planets, comets, other bodies and the Sun itself follow this law, a finding that has also been proven by astronomical observations. The theoretical solutions based on the Jacobi dynamics explain the process of the system creation and decay, as well as the nature of Kepler s laws.

Advances in Space Environment Research - Volume I contains the proceedings of two international workshops, the World Space Environment Forum (WSEF2002) and the High Performance Computing in Space Environment Research (HPC2002), organized by the World Institute for Space Environment Research (WISER) from 22 July to 2 August 2002 in Adelaide, Australia.
The articles in this volume review the state-of-the-art of the theoretical, computational and observational studies of the physical processes of Sun-Earth connections and Space Environment. They cover six topical areas: Sun/Heliosphere, Magnetosphere/Bow Shock, Ionosphere/Atmosphere, Space Weather/Space Climate, Space Plasma Physics/Astrophysics, and Complex/Intelligent Systems.
The authors are leading space physicists from 20 countries/regions, representing the WISER international network of research and training centers of excellence dedicated to promote cooperation in cutting-edge space environment research and training of first-rate space scientists, and to link nations for the peaceful use of the space environment.
This volume is useful for space physicists, astrophysicists and plasma physicists; and can be adopted as a reference book for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Recent space missions to the outer solar system, Galileo (1996-2003) and Cassini-Huygens (2004-today), together with ground observations, have revealed that the moons of the outer solar system are enigmatic objects, introducing extraordinary challenges for geologists, astrobiologists, organic chemists, and planetologists. Chemical exchange exists through the different layers that form their interiors, and also from the interior to the surface. The most convincing evidence is certainly the discovery of water vapour and ice particles emerging from Enceladus's active south polar region. Evidence for exchange with a subsurface liquid ocean has also been provided by the inference of hydrated salts on the surfaces of Jupiter's moons, Europa and Ganymede, as well as the detection of sodium salts in particles originating in Enceladus's plumes. Aqueous exchange with the rocky core may also be possible, considering that 40Ar has been observed in the plumes of Enceladus during one flyby of Cassini and in the atmosphere of Titan. The ongoing CH4 replenishment in Titan's atmosphere is additional striking evidence of exchange processes within the moons.

This volume contains the reviews and poster papers presented at the workshop Solar Convection and Oscillations and their Relationship: SCORe '96, held in Arhus, Denmark, May 27 - 31, 1996. The aim of this workshop was to bring together experts in the fields of convection and helioseismology, and to stimulate collaborations and joint research. The participation to this workshop was purposely kept limited in order to provide optimal conditions for informal discussions. In autumn of 199,5 the long-awaited GONG network of solar telescopes became fully operational and the first data already show significant improvement over existing datasets on solar oscillations. Furthermore, in December of 1995 the satellite SOHO was launched which, together with GONG, provides a major step forward in both the quantity and the quality of available solar oscillation data. It is with this in mind that we decided to organize the workshop to prepare for the optimal use of this wealth of data, with which to deepen our understanding of solar structure and specifically, of one of the longest-standing problems in solar and stellar modelling: the treatment of convection.

Advanced technologies in astronomy at various wavelengths have provided us with high resolution and high quality data on the QSO population. This meeting was aimed at understanding the morphology and nature of the host galaxies and environments of QSOs. The invited lectures as well as the contributed and poster papers highlighted the main issues of current research: the stellar and gaseous content of the underlying galaxy; the characterization of the population of companions and the nature of their interaction with the host galaxy; the connection between radio-loud QSO and radio-galaxies, and QSOs and ULIRGs; the evolution with redshift of both the host galaxy and its environment, and the main implications in theories of galaxy formation and evolution. This volume provides a valuable overview and timely update of the exciting and rapidly developing field of QSO hosts and their environments - essential reading for graduate students and researchers.

The Mars Science Laboratory is the latest and most advanced NASA roving vehicle to explore the surface of Mars. The Curiosity rover has landed in Gale crater and will explore this region assessing conditions on the surface that might be hospitable to life and paving the way for later even more sophisticated exploration of the surface. This book describes the mission, its exploration and scientific objectives, studies leading to the design of the mission and the instruments that accomplish the objectives of the mission. This book is aimed at all those engaged in Martian studies as well as those interested in the origin of life in other environments. It will be a valuable reference for anyone who uses data from the Mars Science Laboratory. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 170/1-4, 2012.

Impact cratering is an important geological process on all solid planetary bodies, and, in the case of Earth, may have had major climatic and biological effects. Most terrestrial impact craters have been erased or modified beyond recognition. However, major impacts throw ejecta over large areas of the Earth's surface. Recognition of these impact ejecta layers can help fill in the gaps in the terrestrial cratering record and at the same time provide direct correlation between major impacts and other geological events, such as climatic changes and mass extinctions. This book provides the first summary of known distal impact ejecta layers

Based on the author s own work and results obtained by international teams he coordinated, this SpringerBrief offers a concise discussion of the origin and early evolution of atmospheres of terrestrial planets during the active phase of their host stars, as well as of the environmental conditions which are necessary in order for planets like the Earth to obtain N_2-rich atmospheres. Possible thermal and non-thermal atmospheric escape processes are discussed in a comparative way between the planets in the Solar System and exoplanets. Lastly, a hypothesis for how to test and study the discussed atmosphere evolution theories using future UV transit observations of terrestrial exoplanets within the orbits of dwarf stars is presented."

Beyond the four centuries of sunspot observation and the five decades during which artificial satellites have monitored the Sun that is to say for 99.99999% of the Sun 's existence our knowledge of solar history depends largely on analogy with kindred main sequence stars, on the outcome of various kinds of modelling, and on indirect measures of solar activity. They include the analysis of lunar rocks and meteorites for evidence of solar flares and other components of the solar cosmic-ray (SCR) flux, and the measurement of cosmogenic isotopes in wood, stratified ice and marine sediments to evaluate changes in the galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) flux and thus infer changes in the sheltering magnetic fields of the solar wind. In addition, shifts in the global atmospheric circulation which appear to result from cyclic fluctuations in solar irradiance have left their mark in river sediments and in the isotopic composition of cave deposits. In this volume the results these sources have already produced have been summarised, paying special attention to those that reflect processes in different parts of the Sun 's interior and that display periodicities and trends which may enable us to forecast future large-scale environmental changes.

ESA's Venus Express Mission has monitored Venus since April 2006, and scientists worldwide have used mathematical models to investigate its atmosphere and model its circulation. This book summarizes recent work to explore and understand the climate of the planet through a research program under the auspices of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland. Some of the unique elements that are discussed are the anomalies with Venus' surface temperature (the huge greenhouse effect causes the surface to rise to 460 DegreesC, without which would plummet as low as -40 DegreesC), its unusual lack of solar radiation (despite being closer to the Sun, Venus receives less solar radiation than Earth due to its dense cloud cover reflecting 76% back) and the juxtaposition of its atmosphere and planetary rotation (wind speeds can climb up to 200 m/s, much faster than Venus' sidereal day of 243 Earth-days).