ESA’s Rosetta but also NASA’s Deep Space 1, Stardust, and Deep Impact) that have
significantly enhanced our knowledge.
Comets II, the second book on comets in the University of Arizona Space Science
series after the original book, Comets, edited by Wilkening in 1982, was edited by
Festou, Keller, and Weaver, and is a collection of 37 20–30-page papers covering the
state of cometary research prior to the launch of Rosetta in 2004. While each paper
has a review nature, it does not really provide a simple introduction to the topic and
is rather inhomogeneous in approach. But it is nonetheless extremely useful for
looking for specific details.
The proceedings of the 35th Saas Fee Conference on Trans-Neptunian Objects
and Comets contains a large chapter by Heike Rauer (2010) covering many aspects
of cometary research and can also be considered as a good introduction to the
subject. The chapters by Dave Jewitt (“The Kuiper Belt and comets”) and by
Alessandro Morbidelli (“Comets and their reservoirs”) in this book are also very
informative (Jewitt 2010; Morbidelli 2010).
Apart from the above, there are a number of books on specific aspects that will be
referred to in the rest of the text. I draw attention here to some notable examples. The
ISSI Scientific Report, “Heat and Gas Diffusion in Comet Nuclei”, edited by
W.F. Huebner et al. from 2006, provides a thorough analytical discussion of the
physics of sublimation from ice–dirt mixtures. This work arose from Huebner’s
efforts to compare several models which were producing markedly different results
for what were thought to be fundamental quantities in comet nucleus evolution. It is
therefore almost a required starting point for students seeking to understand active
processes on cometary nuclei.
A little known book edited by N. Kömle et al., Theoretical Modelling of Comet
Simulation Experiments, provides insights into a set of laboratory experiments
designed to look at cometary processes. These were carried out in the late 1980s
in Germany under the title “KOSI” (“KOmeten-SImulation”). The individual papers
here drew attention to the need for laboratory experiments but also detailed some of
the difficulties in modelling the complex processes expected on cometary nuclei.
The textbook on Gaskinetic Theory by Tamas Gombosi is an excellent text on the
approaches needed to understand and appreciate cometary gas outflow. The plasma
distribution arising from a comet’s interaction was studied in detail at the time of the
Halley encounters. The multiple encounters at many positions with respect to the
nucleus were of significant advantage in studying the phenomena. Tom Cravens’s
book on the Physics of Solar System Plasmas gives a brief review of these results but
also includes the theoretical background and is an important reference text for space
plasma physics. It is in some ways complementary to the book by Gombosi. Several
chapters in Introduction to Space Physics edited by Kivelson and Russell are also of
interest to students because of the simplicity with which fundamental concepts are
brought forward.
Three useful books on the topic of celestial mechanics are Solar System Dynamics
by Murray and Dermott, Methods of Celestial Mechanics by my former colleague,
Gerhard Beutler, and Celestial Mechanics: A Computational Guide for the Practitioner by L.G. Taff (1985). The latter is slightly sneered upon by some of the
professionals for its jokey style but, for amateurs (including myself), it is very clear.
Preface (Motivation and Scope)
xi
significantly enhanced our knowledge.
Comets II, the second book on comets in the University of Arizona Space Science
series after the original book, Comets, edited by Wilkening in 1982, was edited by
Festou, Keller, and Weaver, and is a collection of 37 20–30-page papers covering the
state of cometary research prior to the launch of Rosetta in 2004. While each paper
has a review nature, it does not really provide a simple introduction to the topic and
is rather inhomogeneous in approach. But it is nonetheless extremely useful for
looking for specific details.
The proceedings of the 35th Saas Fee Conference on Trans-Neptunian Objects
and Comets contains a large chapter by Heike Rauer (2010) covering many aspects
of cometary research and can also be considered as a good introduction to the
subject. The chapters by Dave Jewitt (“The Kuiper Belt and comets”) and by
Alessandro Morbidelli (“Comets and their reservoirs”) in this book are also very
informative (Jewitt 2010; Morbidelli 2010).
Apart from the above, there are a number of books on specific aspects that will be
referred to in the rest of the text. I draw attention here to some notable examples. The
ISSI Scientific Report, “Heat and Gas Diffusion in Comet Nuclei”, edited by
W.F. Huebner et al. from 2006, provides a thorough analytical discussion of the
physics of sublimation from ice–dirt mixtures. This work arose from Huebner’s
efforts to compare several models which were producing markedly different results
for what were thought to be fundamental quantities in comet nucleus evolution. It is
therefore almost a required starting point for students seeking to understand active
processes on cometary nuclei.
A little known book edited by N. Kömle et al., Theoretical Modelling of Comet
Simulation Experiments, provides insights into a set of laboratory experiments
designed to look at cometary processes. These were carried out in the late 1980s
in Germany under the title “KOSI” (“KOmeten-SImulation”). The individual papers
here drew attention to the need for laboratory experiments but also detailed some of
the difficulties in modelling the complex processes expected on cometary nuclei.
The textbook on Gaskinetic Theory by Tamas Gombosi is an excellent text on the
approaches needed to understand and appreciate cometary gas outflow. The plasma
distribution arising from a comet’s interaction was studied in detail at the time of the
Halley encounters. The multiple encounters at many positions with respect to the
nucleus were of significant advantage in studying the phenomena. Tom Cravens’s
book on the Physics of Solar System Plasmas gives a brief review of these results but
also includes the theoretical background and is an important reference text for space
plasma physics. It is in some ways complementary to the book by Gombosi. Several
chapters in Introduction to Space Physics edited by Kivelson and Russell are also of
interest to students because of the simplicity with which fundamental concepts are
brought forward.
Three useful books on the topic of celestial mechanics are Solar System Dynamics
by Murray and Dermott, Methods of Celestial Mechanics by my former colleague,
Gerhard Beutler, and Celestial Mechanics: A Computational Guide for the Practitioner by L.G. Taff (1985). The latter is slightly sneered upon by some of the
professionals for its jokey style but, for amateurs (including myself), it is very clear.
Preface (Motivation and Scope)
xi