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Month-by-month information on meteor showers and how to make the most of watching them. Advice on starting and building a meteorite collection plus the scientific explanation of what meteors are and where they come from. Includes new information about recent space exploration and studies of meteors.
What is unique about Richard Norton's book is that it is both a field guide to observing meteors, and also a field guide to locating, preparing and analysing meteorites. In addition to giving the reader information about observing techniques for meteors, this book also provides a fully detailed account of the types of meteorites, how and where to find them, how to prepare and analyse them. The book provides everything the amateur astronomer (or geologist!) needs to know about meteors and meteorites. It is thus the only complete book on the subject available at present.
This definitive guide provides advanced students and researchers with a detailed yet accessible overview of all of the central topics of meteor science. Leading figures from the field summarise their active research on themes ranging from the physical composition of meteoroids to the most recent optical and radar observations and ongoing theoretical developments. Crucial practical issues are also considered, such as the risk posed by meteoroids - to spacecraft, and on the ground - and future avenues of research are explored. Taking advantage of the latest dynamical models, insights are offered into meteor flight phenomena and the evolution of meteoroid streams and complexes, as well as describing the in-depth laboratory analysis of recovered material. The rapid rate of progress in twenty-first-century research makes this volume essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how recent developments broaden our understanding of meteors, meteoroids and their origins.
The perfect collectors guide to meteorites. Describes different meteorite forms and how to differentiate between them. Provides value range for meteorites recovered in the field 511 colour photographs.
Explore the universe and immerse yourself in the story of our solar system, planet, and life through meteorites. "Meteorite is a treasure"--Wall Street Journal Meteorites have long been seen as portents of fate and messages from the gods, their fiery remains inspiring worship and giving rise to legends that have persisted for millennia. But beyond the lore, meteorites tell an even greater story: that of our solar system. In Meteorite, geologist Tim Gregory shows that beneath the charred crusts of these celestial stones lies a staggering diversity of rock types. Their unique constituents, vibrant colors, and pungent smells contain thrilling tales of interstellar clouds, condensing stardust, and the fiery collisions of entire worlds. Gregory explores the world of meteorites to uncover new insights into what our solar system was like before our sun became a star, into the forging of our planet, and into the emergence of life on it. Humans have long looked to the skies for answers to big questions. Meteorite reveals how science is finally arriving at those answers.
Meteorites - as well as shooting stars and meteors - result from a collision of a solid body from space with our Earth, but only meteorites are able to penetrate the Earth's protective shield, the atmosphere, and fall to the Earth's surface. Apart from lunar samples, they are the only materials from beyond the Earth which we can probe and study. This book gives a concise and up-to-date description of meteorites - fall phenomena, chemical and mineral composition, classification - as well as a discussion of their formation and origin, which also tells us the story of the formation of our planetary system. The text is understandable for laymen and students, but can also be used as an introduction to the field for students and scientists.
"A well-illustrated overview of the science and (literal) impact of these space rocks." -- Science News, on the first edition Leading experts in the field provide a compelling introduction to the space rocks that enter Earth's atmosphere at speeds ranging from 25,000 mph to 160,000 mph. Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on the Earth each day. These messengers from space give us a unique insight into the nature of the material that was present when our solar system formed. Many of the specimen meteorites in this second edition were re-photographed to improve quality, and the optical microscopy shots were updated. There is also much new information on discoveries and developments in the study of meteorites, including: Meteorite falls and craters, and new information on ones previously covered Use of weather radar to detect and analyze meteorites, such as the 28,000 mph January 18, 2018, Michigan "fireball" How astrophysicists determine if a meteorite comes from Mars, and information about the Martian meteorites found to date Updated information on the results of the European Space Agency's Rosetta Mission in which a controlled impact was successfully completed into Comet 67P after investigating it with a probe for more than two years. Co-author Sara Russell, who is part of NASA's Mars program, provides the latest news about NASA's Mars programs, including the Mars Rover, which landed in 2016.
