Pluto and Charon - Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System

250 Pages·1998·35.496 MB·English

by  Alan Stern, Jacqueline Mitton

CHARON
°"tfy,
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ofthe Solar
ALAN
STERN
JACQUELINE MITTON
Pluto and Charon explores the remote, ice-
bound reaches of our planetary system in
an interwoven tale of exotic Pluto, its
unusual satellite companion Charon, and
the dynamic, high-technology world of
twentieth-century astronomy. Astronomers
Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton recount
a story ofplanetary astronomy at its fron-
tier. The book begins with a description of
the dramatic discovery of Pluto by Clyde
Tombaugh in 1930, and continues through
to the latest images of Pluto taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope, and the effort to
build Pluto Express, a NASA reconnais-
sance mission to the only planet not yet
visited by spacecraft.
Stern and Mitton vividly presentthe major
events in the discovery and exploration of
the distant Pluto-Charon and introduce
the reader to the researchers whose inge-
nuity and determination opened up the
outer solar system for all to appreciate.
Their light and accessible narrative trans-
forms our view ofPluto and Charon from
the vague awareness ofa faint pinprick of
light slowly moving against the constella-
tions into a richer appreciation for a pair
of ice worlds with an astonishingly wide
range of remarkable attributes. So too, as
Stern and Mitton describe, astronomers
have evolved their view of Pluto from a
planetary footnote to the gateway to the
deep outer solar system.
Three themes thread this new book. The
first concerns the advances made possible
by dramatic improvements in ground-
based astronomical instrumentation.
Second is the revolution in scientific
perspective wrought by spacecraft visits to
the planets. Stern and Mitton's third
theme concerns the cultural revolution
that has taken place as humans, born and
bred on Earth, have come to know exotic
and far distant worlds as real places.
(continued on backflap)

AND
PLUTO
CHARON

AND
PLUTO
CHARON
Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge
of the Solar System
ALAN STERN
JACQUELINE MITTON
A
Wiley-lnterscience Publication
JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.
NewYork • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto
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Copyright © 1998byJohnWiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library ofCongress CataloginginPublicationData:
Stern,Alan, 1957-
Pluto and Charon: IceWorlds on the Ragged Edge ofthe Solar
System/byAlanStern,JacquelineMitton.
p. cm. •
Includesbibliographical referencesandindex.
ISBN 0-471-15297-8 (cloth alk. paper)
:
1. Atomic absorptionspectroscopy. 2. Environmental monitoring.
I. Pluto (Planet) 2. Charon (Satellite) I. Mitton,Jacqueline.
II. Title.
QB701.S84 1998
523.48'2—dc21 96-9502
CIP
Printedin theUnitedStatesofAmerica
98765432
10
To Sarah and Kate,
Sistersfor a new century.
—
Alan Stern