Solar System Evolution

Brand: Cambridge University Press

$38.88 - $45.48
(No reviews yet) Write a Review
UPC:
9780521372121
Maximum Purchase:
3 units
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication Date:
1992-10-30
Author:
Stuart Ross Taylor
Language:
english
Adding to cart… The item has been added

This book describes the origin and evolution of the solar system, with an emphasis on interpretation rather than description. Starting with the Big Bang 15-20 billion years ago, it traces the evolution of the solar system from the separation of a disk of gas and dust, the solar nebula, 4.7 billion years ago. The problems of the formation of the Sun and the planets are considered beginning with Jupiter and the other gas giants, and ending with the formation of the Earth, the other rocky inner planets and the Moon. All planets, satellites and rings are different and random encounters have played a major role in the evolution of the system: the Moon is the product of a chance collision. The author concludes that the solar system is probably unique; other planetary systems may be common, but will probably not resemble ours either in numbers or types of planets.