Research Catalog

Title

Pluto and Charon : ice worlds on the ragged edge of the solar system / Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton.

Author

Stern, Alan, 1957-

Publication

Weinheim ; VCH-Wiley, c2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Mitton, Jacqueline

Description

xviii, 244 p. : ill., ports.; 22 cm.

Summary

"The exploration of Pluto and its moon, Charon, is a tale of perseverance and ingenuity on the part of the planetary scientists who have been lured by the fascination of these far-flung miniature worlds. In their book, Stern and Mitton turn that story into an entertaining adventure, starting with the discovery of Pluto in 1930. In a highly accessible narrative, they bring to life the many Pluto researchers ("Plutophiles"), who with skill and resourcefulness have pieced together over several decades an amazingly detailed picture of the nature of Pluto and Charon. The book also documents vividly the struggle to persuade NASA to fund the first mission to Pluto. At last, New Horizons (led by author Stern as Principal Investigator) is due to be launched in early 2006 on a 9-year journey to Pluto, Charon and beyond." "For this second edition, Stern and Mitton have brought their 1998 book fully up to date, including the latest discoveries about Pluto's ancient relationship with the members of the Kuiper Belt of icy bodies and dwarf planets beyond Neptune. They have also added a completely new chapter on the New Horizons mission."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Charon (Satellite)
• Charon (Satellite) > Discovery and exploration
• Pluto (Dwarf planet)
• Pluto (Dwarf planet) > Discovery and exploration

Note

• Previous ed. published: 1998.
• Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

New frontier -- First facts -- A distant dance -- The importance of snow -- Building a binary planet -- Ice fields and ice dwarfs -- Everest -- New horizons -- Where no one has gone before.

ISBN

• 3527405569
• 9783527405565

LCCN

9783527405565

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library