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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Solar system
The idea of a symposium devoted to the contemporary knowledge of
the world of Copernicus - the planetary system - to commemorate the
500th anniversary of his birth, came during the XIV General
Assembly of IAU in Brighton. The Executive Committee has approved
it in the program of the Extraordinary (Copernicus) General
Assembly ofIAU in Poland in 1973. The IAU Symposium No 65
(Copernicus Symposium IV) on the 'Exploration of the Planetary
System' was held in Copernicus' native town - Torun, Poland, from
5th to 8th September, 1973 under the auspices of Commissions 16
(Physical Study of Planets and Satellites) and 40 (Radio-astronomy)
and the co-sponsorship of COSPAR. There were about 140 invited
participants from 29 countries and about the same num ber of other
participants to the Extraordinary General Assembly of IAU who came
to Torun to attend the sessions of this symposium. Special funds of
the Polish Acade my of Sciences made possible the participation of
several young astronomers in this meeting. We are very grateful to
Professor P. Swings, the Director of the Astrophysical Institute of
the University of Liege, Belgium, for accepting the task of
chairing this symposium. His expert and enthusiastic guidance
helped us constantly in the prepara tion. The efforts of the
Members of the Scientific Organizing Committee are also very much
appreciated. Special thanks are due to Professors A. Dollfus and T.
Owen."
This Symposium was held at Surfer's Paradise, Queensland,
Australia, from 7 to 11 September 1973. The Organizing Committee,
chaired by J. P. Wild, consisted of A. Boischot, A. Bruzek, J. T.
Jefferies, G. Newkirk, T. Takakura, and V. V. Zhelez nyakov. We are
indebted to the Local Organizing Commettee, chaired by S. F. Smerd
and including R. G. Giovanelli, R. E. Loughhead, N. G. Seddon, K.
V. Sheridan, and J. P. Wild, for advice in preparing this volume as
well as for the smooth arrangement of the sessions. In addition,
the session chairmen and reporters are to be thanked for their
assistance in preparing the recorded discussions. It is a pleasure
to thank Mrs R. Toevs and Mr A. Csoeke-Poeckh of High Altitude
Observatory for assistance in editing these Proceedings. The
financial aid for the Symposium afforded by the International
Astronomical Union, the Ian Potter Foundation of Melbourne, and the
Sunshine Foundation of Melboume, as well as generous assistance of
the CSIRO Divisions of Physics and Radiophysics is gratefully
acknowledged. That the solar corona is not a quiescent plasma was
first fully appreciated through the discovery of solar radio bursts
thirty years ago. Since that time intensive re search has uncovered
a vast variety of coronal disturbances and revised our con cept of
this region of the solar atmosphere to that of a dynamic medium
undergoing continuous expansion, constantly evolving under the
influence of underlying photo spheric activity, and frequently
traversed by transient phenomena.
The IAU Symposium No. 62, 'The Stability of the Solar System and of
Small Stellar Systems' was held in Warsaw in Poland during the
Extraordinary General Assembly of the IAU in commemoration of the
SOOth anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. The
Symposium was sponsored by Commission 7 (Celestial Mechanics) and
cosponsored by Commissions 4 (Ephemerides) and 37 (Star Clusters
and Asso- ciations) of the IAU and by IUTAM. The Organizing
Committee included Y. Kozai (Chairman), J. A. Agekjan, A. Deprit,
G. N. Duboshin, S. G\lska (Local represen- tative), M. Henon, B.
Morando and C. Parkes (IUTAM representative). The Symposium was
supported financially by the IA U, the IUT AM and the Polish
Academy of Sciences. Y. KOZAI Chairman of the Organizing Committee
STABILITY THEORY IN CELESTIAL MECHANICS J MOSER Courant Institute
of Mathematical ScIences, New York University, New York, N. Y.
10012, U.S.A. Abstract, This expository lecture surveys recent
progress of the stability theory in Celestial Mechanics with
emphasis on the analytical problems. In particular, the old
question of convergence of perturbation series are discussed and
positive results obtained, in the light of the work by Kolmogorov
Arnold and Moser. For the three body problem, classes of
quasi-periodic solutions and doubly asymptotic (or homo- clinic)
orbits are discussed.
Over the past two decades auroral science has developed from a
somewhat mysterious and imprecise specialty into a discipline
central in the study of the ionosphere and magnetosphere. The
investigation of aurora unites scientists with very different
backgrounds and interests so that it is difficult to write a
self-contained account of the field in a book of reasonable length.
In this work I have attempted to include those aspects of theory
which I have found valuable in predicting the effects on the
atmosphere of auroral particle precipitation. In addition I have
attempted to describe the techniques of observation with particular
emphasis on optical methods which have been useful. While the
aeronomy of aurora has been regarded as central, the mechanisms by
which particles are accelerated and precipitated into the
atmosphere is of no less interest. This aspect of the subject has
however been treated in a briefer fashion since it is a part of the
immense and rapidly developing field of magnetospheric science.
Generally I have attempted to provide a coherent introduction to
auroral science with an emphasis on relatively simple physical
interpretations and models. References are given to enable the
reader to find more extensive or rigorous discussions of particular
topics. A fairly complete, quantitative atlas of the auroral
spectrum is included.
It was about fourteen years ago that some of us became intrigued
with the idea of searching the sky for X-ray and gamma-ray sources
other than the Sun, the only celestial emitter of high-energy
photons known at that time. It was, of course, clear that an effort
in this direction would not have been successful unless there
occurred, somewhere in space, processes capable of producing
high-energy photons much more efficiently than the processes
responsible for the radiative emission of the Sun or of ordinary
stars. The possible existence of such processes became the subject
of much study and discussion. As an important part of this
activity, I wish to recall a one-day conference on X-ray astronomy
held at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1960. The
theoretical predictions did not provide much encouragement. While
several 'unusual' celestial objects were pin-pointed as possible,
or even likely, sources of X-rays, it did not look as if any of
them would be strong enough to be observable with instru mentation
not too far beyond the state of the art. Fortunately, we did not
allow our selves to be dissuaded. As far as I am personally
concerned, I must admit that my main motivation for pressing
forward was a deep-seated faith in the boundless re sourcefulness
of nature, which so often leaves the most daring imagination of man
far behind."
The aim of the present book will be to summarize the results of the
space exploration of the Moon in the past fifteen years
-culminating in the manned Apollo missions of 1969-1972 -on the
background of our previous acquaintance with our satellite made in
the past by astronomical observations at a distance. Astronomy is
one of the oldest branches of science conceived by the inquisitive
human mind; though until quite recently it had been debarred from
the status of a genuine experimental science by the remoteness of
the objects of its study. With the sole exception of meteoritic
matter which occasionally finds its way into our labora tories, all
celestial bodies could be investigated only at a distance: namely,
from the effects of attraction exerted by their mass, or from the
ciphered messages of their light carried by nimble-footed photons
across the intervening gaps of space. A dramatic emergence
oflong-range spacecraft -capable of carrying men with their
instruments not only outside the confines of our atmosphere, but to
the actual surface of our nearest celestial neighbour - has since
1957 thoroughly changed this time honoured picture. In particular
(as we shall detail in Chapter 1 of this book) space astronomy
ofthe Moon is barely 15 years old. But relative infant as it is by
age, it has already provided us with such a tremendous amount of
new and previously inacces sible scientific data as to virtually
revolutionalize our subject."
The devotion of an IA U symposium entirely to the topic of chromo
spheric fine structure at a time when models of the spherically
symmetric chromosphere are still evolving constitutes a valid
recognition of the growing feeling among solar astron omers that
the chromosphere cannot be understood independently of its discrete
structural features. Network structure, which seemingly borders the
photospheric supergranule cells, persists intact throughout the
chromosphere and most of the chromosphere-corona transition region.
The network is the locus of the bright coarse mottles, and the
spicule bushes and is the terminus for one end of the quiet chromo
spheric fibrils as well. Additionally, it is the locus of most of
the magnetic flux of the quiet chromosphere. It is not surprising,
therefore, that current studies of the chromosphere tend to center
around efforts to better describe the network phenom ena and to
ascertain the physical properties of the network features. Clearly,
the supergranule cells and associated network structures constitute
a fundamental and singularly important feature of solar structure
in the boundary layers. Just as it is now clear that much of the
chromo spheric fine structure is associated with the network
bordering supergranule cells, it seems equally clear that
structural features are almost universally associated with both
fluid flow and magnetic geometry. Indeed, many observers claim that
the brightness features faithfully map the mag netic lines offorce
while still others claim that associated with each class of
brightness feature there is a more or less unique fluid flow."
o beaute sans seconde SeuIe sembIabIe Ii toi SOLEIL pour tout Ie
monde ... JEAN-FRANc;OIS SARASIN (1615-1654) The last decade has
seen the publication of monographs covering most areas of solar
activity: flares (Smith and Smith, 1963), sunspots (Bray and
Loughhead, 1964) and the corona (Billings, 1966). Consequently, of
all the major manifestations of solar activity only prominences are
without a comprehensive and unified treatment in the current
literature. The present book is written in an attempt to remedy
this situation, and to furnish an account of some of the most
spectacular and most beautiful aspects of solar activity. Our
ultimate aim is an understanding of the physical processes
involved. I hope that this book may provide if only a small step
toward this goal. After an historical introduction and some general
definitions Chapter I proceeds with an account of several
classification schemes for prominences. Most of the observational
material is presented in Chapter II and forms the basis on which
different models of prominences are built in Chapter III. Chapters
IV and V give most of the physics of prominences, treating, as they
do, the formation and stability of these objects. The interaction
of prominences with other manifestations of solar activity is the
subject of Chapter VI, and the final Chapter VII considers
prominences in the larger context: as an integral part of the
corona.
Marvel at the wonders of the Universe, from stars and planets to
black holes and nebulae, in this exploration of our Solar System
and beyond. Universe opens with a look at astronomy and the history
of the Universe, using 3D artworks to provide a comprehensive
grounding in the fundamental concepts of astronomy, including the
basic techniques of practical astronomy. The core of the book is a
tour of the cosmos covering the Solar System, the Milky Way, and
galaxies beyond our own. Explanatory pages introduce different
celestial phenomena, such as galaxies, and are followed by
catalogues that profile the most interesting and important
examples. A comprehensive star atlas completes the picture, with
entries on each of the 88 constellations and a monthly sky guide
showing the night sky as it appears throughout the year as viewed
from both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Full of personal insights and accounts of the long journey to
getting a man on the moon, Missions to the Moon is the perfect
companion for anyone with a love of space travel, the moon
landings, or NASA, CNSA, RFSA, and the rest of the world's space
programs. With dozens of stunning photographs and fascinating
memorabilia - such as Apollo 11 Mission Reports and Flight
Director's Logs - track the birth of the space race and Yuri
Gagarin's first space flight, to the many successes and failures of
the Apollo mission, all the way to that boots-on-the-ground moment
we have come to know so well. Uniquely complemented by
ground-breaking digital technology you can become fully immersed in
this interactive story of mankind's ongoing journey into the final
frontier.
This book provides readers with an understanding of the basic
physics and mathematics that governs our solar system. It explores
the mechanics of our Sun and planets; their orbits, tides, eclipses
and many other fascinating phenomena. This book is a valuable
resource for undergraduate students studying astronomy and should
be used in conjunction with other introductory astronomy textbooks
in the field to provide additional learning opportunities.
Features: Written in an engaging and approachable manner, with
fully explained mathematics and physics concepts Suitable as a
companion to all introductory astronomy textbooks Accessible to a
general audience
In this volume of essays, the top experts and major players behind
the United States's recently renewed push to the moon fuel a
growing debate over lunar exploration. The announcement in 2004
that the U.S. would be revamping its moon program inspired both
excitement about the possibilities and concern over cost and safety
issues. This book takes the controversy out of the realm of pure
science and into the mainstream of national debate. Lunar experts
Alan Binder, Andy Chaikin, Yoji Kondo, Courtney Stadd, Frank White,
and many others weigh in on the case for a return, point out the
best way to do it, and speculate on what could be done with this
newly obtained real estate. The essays are accompanied by
illustrations of what life on the moon might look like.
Contributions come from different perspectives and styles, offering
a broad take on the very real possibility that humans will again
walk-- and work, live, and play-- on the lunar landscape. From
telescopes and tourism, to training for Mars, to building a new
branch of humanity and saving the Earth, this compendium makes the
case for sending people back to the moon.
Celebrating the centenary of George Ellery Hale's discovery of
magnetic fields in sunspots, IAU Symposium 273 reviews the recent
advances made in the fields of solar and stellar magnetism.
Sunspots are responsible for the time-varying properties of the
Sun, including the solar irradiance. Combined study of the spots on
the Sun and on other stars provides a greater understanding of
sunspot formation and behaviour on a long-term basis. On the other
hand, stellar observations can be best understood by using detailed
properties of the Sun as a reference point. This volume contains
reviews and research articles from solar and stellar astronomers on
the recent findings of solar and stellar magnetism using
observational, theoretical and simulation studies of the Sun and
the stars to approach the subject in a unified manner. Its findings
are useful to advanced students and researchers in solar and
stellar astronomy.
Illustrated with breathtaking images of the Solar System and of the
Universe around it, this book explores how the discoveries within
the Solar System and of exoplanets far beyond it come together to
help us understand the habitability of Earth, and how these
findings guide the search for exoplanets that could support life.
The author highlights how, within two decades of the discovery of
the first planets outside the Solar System in the 1990s, scientists
concluded that planets are so common that most stars are orbited by
them. The lives of exoplanets and their stars, as of our Solar
System and its Sun, are inextricably interwoven. Stars are the
seeds around which planets form, and they provide light and warmth
for as long as they shine. At the end of their lives, stars expel
massive amounts of newly forged elements into deep space, and that
ejected material is incorporated into subsequent generations of
planets. How do we learn about these distant worlds? What does the
exploration of other planets tell us about Earth? Can we find out
what the distant future may have in store for us? What do we know
about exoworlds and starbirth, and where do migrating hot Jupiters,
polluted white dwarfs, and free-roaming nomad planets fit in? And
what does all that have to do with the habitability of Earth, the
possibility of finding extraterrestrial life, and the operation of
the globe-spanning network of the sciences?
This book provides readers with an understanding of the basic
physics and mathematics that governs our solar system. It explores
the mechanics of our Sun and planets; their orbits, tides, eclipses
and many other fascinating phenomena. This book is a valuable
resource for undergraduate students studying astronomy and should
be used in conjunction with other introductory astronomy textbooks
in the field to provide additional learning opportunities.
Features: Written in an engaging and approachable manner, with
fully explained mathematics and physics concepts Suitable as a
companion to all introductory astronomy textbooks Accessible to a
general audience
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).
Many astrophysical bodies produce winds, jets or explosions, which
blow spectacular bubbles. From a nonmathematical, unifying
perspective, based on the understanding of bubbles, the authors
address many of the most exciting topics in modern astrophysics
including supernovae, the production of structure in the Early
Universe, the environments of supermassive black holes and
gamma-ray bursts.
This book introduces the reader to all the basic physical building
blocks of climate needed to understand the present and past climate
of Earth, the climates of Solar System planets, and the climates of
extrasolar planets. These building blocks include thermodynamics,
infrared radiative transfer, scattering, surface heat transfer and
various processes governing the evolution of atmospheric
composition. Nearly four hundred problems are supplied to help
consolidate the reader's understanding, and to lead the reader
towards original research on planetary climate. This textbook is
invaluable for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate
students in atmospheric science, Earth and planetary science,
astrobiology, and physics. It also provides a superb reference text
for researchers in these subjects, and is very suitable for
academic researchers trained in physics or chemistry who wish to
rapidly gain enough background to participate in the excitement of
the new research opportunities opening in planetary climate.
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