Planets and Planetary Systems

by Eales, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780470016930
• ISBN10: 0470016930
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-08-10
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Planets and Planetary Systems is a balanced introduction to the science of planets within our own solar system and those in other solar systems. This is an extremely fast moving field, and at present there are not suitable texts for undergraduates.The book starts with a description of the basic properties of the planets in our solar systems, and then moves on to compare them with what is known about planets in other solar systems. The dynamics of planetary systems follows, before the book moves on to cover the interiors of planets and then their atmospheres. The book ends by looking at the origin of planetary systems and the role of impacts in solar system evolution.

Author Biography

Stephen Eales is the author of Planets and Planetary Systems, published by Wiley.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Our planetary system	p. 1
Diversity in the Solar System	p. 1
General trends in the properties of the planets	p. 9
Why are planets round?	p. 12
When is a planet not a planet?	p. 19
Exercises	p. 21
Other planetary systems	p. 23
The discovery of exoplanets	p. 23
The implications of the existence of other planetary systems	p. 29
The future for exoplanet research	p. 32
Exercises	p. 36
Further Reading and Web Sites	p. 37
The surfaces of the planets	p. 39
Rocks	p. 39
Geological structures	p. 43
Crater counting	p. 50
Mercury and Venus	p. 52
A tourist's guide to Mars	p. 55
Recent research on Mars	p. 58
Exercises	p. 64
Further Reading and Web Sites	p. 64
The interiors of the planets	p. 65
What we do and don't know about planetary interiors	p. 65
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune	p. 72
Why we know so much about the Earth	p. 73
Why is the surface of the Earth such an interesting place?	p. 78
Exercises	p. 83
Further Reading	p. 84
The atmospheres of the planets	p. 85
The atmosphere of the Earth	p. 85
The other planets	p. 93
The weather on the Earth and elsewhere	p. 96
The origin and evolution of planetary atmospheres	p. 99
Exercises	p. 102
Further Reading and Web Sites	p. 103
The dynamics of planetary systems	p. 105
Laws of planetary motion	p. 105
Stable and unstable orbits	p. 108
Tidal forces	p. 111
Exercises	p. 117
The small objects in planetary systems	p. 119
The evidence of the meteorites	p. 119
The asteroid belt	p. 123
Comets	p. 126
The Oort Cloud	p. 132
The Edgeworth-Kuiper belt	p. 135
Exercises	p. 139
Further Reading and Web Sites	p. 139
The origin of planetary systems	p. 141
Laplace's big idea	p. 141
The protoplanetary disc	p. 144
From dust to planetesimals	p. 147
From planetesimals to planetary embryos	p. 149
From planetary embryos to planets	p. 150
Collisions, the Oort Cloud and planetary migration	p. 152
Exercises	p. 156
Further Reading	p. 157
Life in planetary systems	p. 159
A short history of life on Earth	p. 159
The evolution of the Solar System as a habitat	p. 164
The possibility of life elsewhere	p. 167
Exercises	p. 171
Further Reading and Web Sites	p. 171
Answers	p. 173
	p. 175
The epoch of planetary exploration	p. 175
	p. 179
Derivation of Kepler's first and second laws	p. 179
Index	p. 183
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