World Scientific Series in Astronomy and Astrophysics - Vol. 2
PHYSICS OF COMETS
(Second Edition)
by K S Krishna Swamy (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India)
Foreword by F L Whipple (Harvard University)
The study of Comet Halley in 1986 was a tremendous success for cometary science. In March of that year, six spacecrafts passed through Comet Halley as close as 600 km from the nucleus and made the in situ measurements of various kinds. These space missions to Comet Halley and that of the ICE spacecraft to Comet Giacobini-Zinner combined with studies, both ground-based and above the atmosphere, have increased our knowledge of cometary science in a dramatic way.
This new edition of Physics of Comets incorporates these new and exciting findings. The emphasis of the book is on the physical processes operating in a cometary environment. It discusses up-to-date observations, methods and results based on the study of various comets. The subject is developed in a systematic manner covering various aspects of cometary phenomena. This book may serve as a text book for students, and as reference material for researchers.
Contents:
- General Introduction
- Dynamics
- Physical Aspects
- Spectra
-
Spectra of Coma
- Gas-Production Rates in Coma
- Dust Tail
- Light Scattering Theory
- The Nature of Dust Particles
- Ion Tails
- Nucleus
- Origin
- Relation to Other Solar System
- Problems and Prospects
Readership: Students and research workers in astronomy and
astrophysics, and amateur astronomers.
| 396pp |
Pub. date: May 1997 |
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