Asteroids Meteorites and Comets by Linda T Elkins-Tanton rev edn (2010).pdf

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Asteroids, Meteorites, and Comets
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The Solar SySTem
AsTEroids,
METEoriTEs, And
CoMETs
rEvisEd EdiTion
Linda T. Elkins-Tanton
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To my son Turner Bohlen:
May you ind many things in your life as wondrous and
beautiful as a passing comet on its travels around the Sun.
     
Asteroids, Meteorites, and Comets, Revised Edition
Copyright © 2010, 2006 by Linda T. Elkins-Tanton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc.
An imprint of Infobase Publishing
132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.
Asteroids, meteorites, and comets / Linda T. Elkins-Tanton—Rev. ed.
p. cm.—(The solar system)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8160-7696-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4381-3186-3 (e-book)
1. Asteroids. 2. Meteorites. 3. Comets. I. Title.
QB651.E45 2011
523.5—dc22
2009035380
Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses,
associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at
(212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755.
You can ind Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonile.com
Text design and composition by Annie O’Donnell
Illustrations by Dale Williams
Photo research by Elizabeth Oakes
Cover printed by Bang Printing, Brainerd, Minn.
Book printed and bound by Bang Printing, Brainerd, Minn.
Date printed: August 2010
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Contents
Foreword
v
Preface
viii
Acknowledgments
xiii
Introduction
xiv
1 Deinitions and Discoveries of Small Solar System Bodies 1
What Are Asteroids, Comets, Meteorites, and Meteors?
1
Discovering Planets: The Titius-Bode Law
6
Discovering the Asteroids
7
The Long Debate over the Nature of Meteorites
16
Tom Burbine: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Remote Sensing
19
The Slow History of Recognizing Impact Craters
27
Who Decides Which Space Missions Get Launched?
31
2 Processes and Effects of Impacts on Planets
47
The Process of Small Meteorite Falls
47
Terminal Velocity
48
The Late Heavy Bombardment
53
The Process of Giant Meteorite Falls
55
Hypervelocity Impacts on Earth
68
3 Asteroids and Meteorites
77
Where Do Asteroids Orbit?
79
Asteroids in the Inner Solar System
79
Describing Orbits
83
Inner Planet–Crossing Asteroids: The Aten, Amor,
and Apollo Families
86
The Main Asteroid Belt
92
Asteroids in the Outer Solar System
97
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How Are Meteorites and Asteroids Related?
106
How the Discovery of Eris Caused Pluto to Lose Its
Status as a Planet
107
Cari Corrigan and the Antarctic Search for Meteorites
118
Chondrites: Primordial Material
128
Presolar Grains
136
Achondrites
138
Iron Meteorites
148
Breaking Rocks off Other Planets and Sending Them
to Earth as Meteorites
149
Stony-Iron Meteorites
153
Compositions of Asteroids
156
Spectrophotometry and Mineral Absorption Bands
157
4 Comets and Other Distant Bodies
162
What Are Their Orbits?
175
Short-Period Comets
179
Long-Period Comets
193
5 Meteor Showers
198
6 Missions to Comets and Asteroids
201
7 Conclusions: The Known and the Unknown
214
Appendix 1: Units and Measurements
217
Fundamental Units
217
Comparisons among Kelvin, Celsius, and Fahrenheit
220
Useful Measures of Distance
221
Deinitions for Electricity and Magnetism
226
Preixes
229
Appendix 2: Light, Wavelength, and Radiation
230
Appendix 3: A List of All Known Moons
240
Glossary
245
Further Resources
256
Index
263
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