Exploring the Solar System

Drawing upon the latest results from the second golden age of Solar System exploration, author Peter Bond provides an authoritative and up–to–date account of the planets, satellites and smaller debris that orbit the Sun. Written in an informal style, with minimal use of mathematics, this book is the ideal introductory text for non–science students and other readers with little or no science background. With the aid of numerous illustrations, many in full colour, this exciting book brings to life the weird and wonderful worlds that populate our corner of the Universe.

Introduction 1 1 Beginnings 3 2 Sun 23 3 Earth 52 4 The Moon 86 5 Mercury 112 6 Venus 133 7 Mars 156 8 Jupiter 210 9 Saturn 243 10 Uranus 281 11 Neptune 298 12 Pluto and the Kuiper Belt 314 13 Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites 335 14 Exoplanets 379 Appendices 412 Glossary 432 Further Reading 437 Index 450

Award winning author, Peter Bond , is a Fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society. He has written 10 books and hundreds of articles about astronomy, space exploration and planet Earth, and contributed to, or edited, numerous others. Peter has been a consultant and writer for the European Space Agency for many years, and was a press officer for the Royal Astronomical Society 1995–2007.

"This is an excellent account of our present knowledge of the Solar System. The text is clearly written, and the full–colour illustrations are magnificent and each one has a substantial caption...I recommend it to all who know little or nothing about the Solar System." ( The Observatory , March 2013) “This textbook is right up to date, containing many recent results from our robotic emissaries currently exploring Venus, Mars and the Saturnian system, especially the astounding discoveries the Cassini–Hygens mission has made about the moons Titan and Enceladus.”  ( BBC Sky At Night , 1 June 2012) “The book would make an excellent introduction to the planets, and the focus on exploration offers a different, less structured approach to an exciting and active research field, that will appeal to the interested non–specialist as well as students in the field.”  ( Astronomy & Geophysics , 2012) “I highly recommend the accessible and very informative book Exploring the Solar System by Peter Bond, to undergraduate students in science or in non–science related fields, and anyone in the general public seeking an understandable yet comprehensive overview of the Solar System. This book provides the up to the minute information about the Sun′s family that will enrich your understanding of science in general, and outer space in particular.”  ( Blog Business Word , 31 March 2012)