JUPITER 2E PB (Smithsonian Library of the Solar System)

JUPITER 2E PB (Smithsonian Library of the Solar System)

Astronomy professor Beebe has worked for NASA during all six Voyager encounters and as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team. Now, in her first book, she shares her extensive knowledge about the great planet Jupiter. 318 times as massive as the earth, and surrounded by 16 moons and equatorial rings of debris, Jupiter can be studied as the center of a miniature solar system, a perspective that enables scientists to understand our galaxy's past and attempt to predict its future. As Beebe describes all the wonders of the Jovian system, from the Great Red Spot to the gas-giant's weather systems, sunlike properties, and the orbits of its varied satellites, her delight in its complexity enlivens and invigorates her meticulous explanations. Beebe begins with an overview of humankind's fascination with Jupiter, from mythology to Galileo's revelatory scrutiny through the lens of the first perfected telescope, and on to the tremendously exciting successes of the Pioneer and Voyager missions. She then tackles the components of the Jovian system by first explaining its atmosphere and the planet's interior, then the discoveries associated with its satellites and rings, and finally, its magnetic field. After the summer bombardment by the Shoemaker-Levy comet, Jupiter will be of more interest than ever

BEEBE R

Smithsonian

17 January, 1997

Paperback

nothing

PLA0280

1560986859