Overview

Processes governing the evolution of planetesimals are critical to understanding how rocky planets are formed, how water is delivered to them, the origin of planetary atmospheres, how cores and magnetic dynamos develop, and ultimately, which planets have the potential to be habitable. Theoretical advances and new data from asteroid and meteorite observations, coupled with spacecraft missions such as Rosetta and Dawn, have led to major advances in this field over the last decade. This transdisciplinary volume presents an authoritative overview of the latest in our understanding of the processes of planet formation. Combining meteorite, asteroid and icy body observations with theory and modelling of accretion and orbital dynamics, this text also provides insights into the exoplanetary system and the search for habitable worlds. This is an essential reference for those interested in planetary formation, solar system dynamics, exoplanets and planetary habitability.

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9781107118485

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'... a host of academic cosmogonists, meteoriticists, Solar System dynamicists, and planetary physicists have collaborated to write 17 review papers. These are collected to form this impressive book, one that is beautifully produced, well-illustrated and an ideal introduction to the topic for a researcher qualified in maths and physics ... I recommend this book unreservedly. I was left with a feeling of great gratitude to the researchers who have spent so much time in explaining so clearly the intricacies of these minor solar System bodies.' David W. Hughes, The Observatory

Author Information

Linda T. Elkins-Tanton is the Director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. Her research focusses on the evolution of terrestrial planets and the relationships between Earth and life on Earth. Elkins-Tanton is a two-time National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow. She won a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2008, the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas prize in 2010, and in 2013 was named the Astor Fellow at the University of Oxford. She co-edited Volcanism and Global Environmental Change (Cambridge, 2015), and has written a six-book reference series entitled The Solar System. In 2012 she was honored with an asteroid named 8252 Elkins-Tanton. Benjamin P. Weiss is a Professor of Planetary Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Chair of the Program in Planetary Sciences within the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Weiss' research interests include the formation, evolution and history of terrestrial planets and small bodies. Weiss was awarded the Macelwane Medal in 2009 and was the 2003 winner of the Francis and Milton Clauser Doctoral Prize at the California Institute of Techmology. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and in 2012 he was honored with an asteroid named 8069 Benweiss.

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