Physics and Chemistry of Comets

"Physics and Chemistry of Comets" by Walter F. Huebner is a astronomy book and space science reference focused on Deep Sky & Solar System. Best for students, researchers, and serious astronomy enthusiasts.

Topic: Deep Sky & Solar System

Author: Walter F. Huebner

Who this is for:

• Astronomy students
• Researchers and advanced hobbyists
• Readers exploring space science topics

Why this book matters: It matters because it helps readers build a stronger understanding of astronomy concepts, observations, and scientific ideas related to space.

As this excellent book demonstrates, the study of comets has now reached the fas cinating stage where we understand comets in general simple tenns while, at the same time, we are uncertain about practically all the details of cometary nature, structure, processes, and origin. In every aspect, even including dynamics, a choice among several or many competing theories is made impossible simply by the lack of detailed knowledge. The space missions, snapshot studies of two comets, partic ularly the one that immortalizes the name of Sir Edmund Halley, have produced a huge mass of valuable new infonnation and a number of surprises. Nonetheless, we face the tantalizing realization that we have obtained only a fleeting glance at two of perhaps a hundred billion (lOll) or more comets with possibly differing natures, origins, and physical histories. To my personal satisfaction, comets seem to have discrete nuclei made up of dirty snowballs, as I concluded four decades ago, but perhaps they are more like frozen rubbish piles.