Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Browse subjects
  3. Earth and Environmental Sciences
  4. Planetary science and astrobiology
  5. Content listing

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

56 results in Planetary science and astrobiology

Page 1 of 3

Martian Impact Craters
  • A Morphological Perspective
  • Peter J. Mouginis-Mark, Joseph M. Boyce
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    October 2025
    Print publication:
    31 October 2025
  • Our exploration of Mars has revealed a world as fascinating as Earth, with a changing climate, giant volcanoes, former oceans, polar ice caps, and numerous impact craters. This book provides a comprehensive summary of the morphology and distribution of meteorite craters on Mars, and the wealth of information these can provide on the crustal structure, surface geology, climate and evolution of the planet. The chapters present highly illustrated case studies of landforms associated with impact craters to highlight their morphological diversity, using high-resolution images and topographic data to compare these features with those on other bodies in the Solar System. Including research questions to inspire future work, this book will be valuable for researchers and graduate students interested in impact craters (both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial) and Mars geology, as well as planetary geologists, planetary climatologists and astrobiologists.

The International Atlas of Mars Exploration
  • Curiosity, InSight and Perseverance
  • Volume 3, 2015 to 2021
  • Philip J. Stooke
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    April 2025
    Print publication:
    22 May 2025
  • This third volume of the award-winning The International Atlas of Mars Exploration picks up the story where Volume 2 left off, after the first Martian year of Curiosity's mission in 2014. Covering the exploration of Mars from 2015 to 2021 and supported by a unique set of detailed annotated maps and graphics, this volume documents the activities of Opportunity, Curiosity, InSight, China's rover Zhurong, and the early activities of Mars 2020. This essential visual reference chronicles the day-to-day operations of each mission, recording future landing site planning, how landing sites were chosen and what happened during each mission. Like the previous volumes, the atlas is accessible to space enthusiasts, but the bibliography and meticulous detail make it a particularly valuable resource for academic researchers and students working in planetary science and planetary mapping.

Ganymede
  • Edited by Martin Volwerk, Melissa McGrath, Xianzhe Jia, Tilman Spohn
  • Published online:
    03 February 2025
    Print publication:
    20 February 2025
  • With ESA's upcoming JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission to Jupiter and Ganymede, this book provides a fascinating and timely summary of our current knowledge about Ganymede: the largest moon in the Solar System and the only one with an intrinsic magnetic field. Written by a team of multidisciplinary experts spanning geology, space physics and habitability, it provides up-to-date knowledge about Ganymede. The history of its discovery, formation, surface, atmosphere and space environment are discussed in accessible language and supported by the enormous amount of data obtained by Galileo, the Hubble Space Telescope and earlier missions. The latest surface maps of Ganymede are also presented, providing an invaluable reference for graduate students and researchers working in planetary science.

From Stars to Life
  • A Quantitative Approach to Astrobiology
  • Manasvi Lingam, Amedeo Balbi
  • Published online:
    22 November 2024
    Print publication:
    05 December 2024
  • How did life originate? Is there life beyond Earth? What is the future of life on our planet? The rapidly growing multidisciplinary field of astrobiology deals with life's big questions. This text harnesses the authors' two decades' experience of teaching acclaimed courses in astrobiology, and adopts a novel quantitative approach towards this emergent discipline. It details the physical principles and chemical processes that have shaped the origins and distribution of molecules, stars, planets, and hence habitable environments, life, and intelligence in the Universe. By synthesising insights from domains as diverse as astronomy and physics to microbiology, biochemistry, and geology, the authors provide a cutting-edge summary of astrobiology, and show how answers to many fundamental questions are drawing closer than ever. Geared towards advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the physical sciences, the text contains more than 150 innovative problems designed to enhance students' knowledge and understanding.

Static and Dynamic High Pressure Mineral Physics
  • Edited by Yingwei Fei, Michael J. Walter
  • Published online:
    03 August 2023
    Print publication:
    24 November 2022
  • High pressure mineral physics is a field that has shaped our understanding of deep planetary interiors and revealed new material phenomena occurring at extreme conditions. Comprised of sixteen chapters written by well-established experts, this book covers recent advances in static and dynamic compression techniques and enhanced diagnostic capabilities, including synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction, spectroscopic measurements, in situ X-ray diffraction under dynamic loading, and multigrain crystallography at megabar pressures. Applications range from measuring equations of state, elasticity, and deformation of materials at high pressure, to high pressure synthesis, thermochemistry of high pressure phases, and new molecular compounds and superconductivity under extreme conditions. This book also introduces experimental geochemistry in the laser-heated diamond-anvil cell enabled by the focused ion beam technique for sample recovery and quantitative chemical analysis at submicron scale. Each chapter ends with an insightful perspective of future directions, making it an invaluable source for graduate students and researchers.

Vesta and Ceres
  • Insights from the Dawn Mission for the Origin of the Solar System
  • Edited by Simone Marchi, Carol A. Raymond, Christopher T. Russell
  • Published online:
    01 April 2022
    Print publication:
    31 March 2022
  • The NASA Dawn mission, launched in 2007, aimed to visit two of the most massive protoplanets of the main asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. The aim was to further our understanding of the earliest days of the Solar System, and compare the two bodies to better understand their formation and evolution. This book summarises state-of-the-art results from the mission, and discusses the implications for our understanding not only of the asteroid belt but the entire Solar System. It comprises of three parts: Part 1 provides an overview of the main belt asteroids and provides an introduction to the Dawn mission; Part 2 presents key findings from the mission; and Part 3 discusses how these findings provide insights into the formation and evolution of the Solar System. This is a definitive reference for academic researchers and professionals of planetary science, asteroid science and space exploration.

Meteorite Mineralogy
  • Alan Rubin, Chi Ma
  • Published online:
    11 August 2021
    Print publication:
    05 August 2021
  • Meteorites are fascinating cosmic visitors. Using accessible language, this book documents the history of mineralogy and meteorite research, summarizes the mineralogical characteristics of the myriad varieties of meteorites, and explains the mineralogical characteristics of Solar System bodies visited by spacecraft.  Some of these bodies contain minerals that do not occur naturally on Earth or in meteorites. The book explains how to recognize different phases under the microscope and in back-scattered electron images.  It summarizes the major ways in which meteoritic minerals form – from condensation in the expanding atmospheres of dying stars to crystallization in deep-seated magmas, from flash-melting in the solar nebula to weathering in the terrestrial environment. Containing spectacular back-scattered electron images, colour photographs of meteorite minerals, and with an accompanying online list of meteorite minerals, this book provides a useful resource for meteorite researchers, terrestrial mineralogists, cosmochemists and planetary scientists, as well as graduate students in these fields

Radiative Transfer in Stellar and Planetary Atmospheres
  • Edited by Lucio Crivellari, Sergio Simón-Díaz, María Jesús Arévalo
  • Published online:
    24 December 2019
    Print publication:
    09 January 2020
  • Radiative transfer is essential for obtaining information from the spectra of astrophysical objects. This volume provides an overview of the physical and mathematical background of radiative transfer, and its applications to stellar and planetary atmospheres. It covers the phenomenology and physics of early-type and late-type stars, as well as ultra-cool dwarf stars and extrasolar planets. Importantly, it provides a bridge between classical radiative transfer and stellar atmosphere modelling and novel approaches, from both theoretical and computational standpoints. With new fields of application and a dramatic improvement in both observational and computational facilities, it also discusses the future outlook for the field. Chapters are written by eminent researchers from across the astronomical disciplines where radiative transfer is employed. Using the most recent observations, this is a go-to resource for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics.

Remote Compositional Analysis
  • Techniques for Understanding Spectroscopy, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of Planetary Surfaces
  • Edited by Janice L. Bishop, James F. Bell III, Jeffrey E. Moersch
  • Published online:
    15 November 2019
    Print publication:
    28 November 2019
  • How do planetary scientists analyze and interpret data from laboratory, telescopic, and spacecraft observations of planetary surfaces? What elements, minerals, and volatiles are found on the surfaces of our Solar System's planets, moons, asteroids, and comets? This comprehensive volume answers these topical questions by providing an overview of the theory and techniques of remote compositional analysis of planetary surfaces. Bringing together eminent researchers in Solar System exploration, it describes state-of-the-art results from spectroscopic, mineralogical, and geochemical techniques used to analyze the surfaces of planets, moons, and small bodies. The book introduces the methodology and theoretical background of each technique, and presents the latest advances in space exploration, telescopic and laboratory instrumentation, and major new work in theoretical studies. This engaging volume provides a comprehensive reference on planetary surface composition and mineralogy for advanced students, researchers, and professional scientists.

Introduction to Space Physics
  • Edited by Margaret G. Kivelson, Christopher T. Russell
  • Published online:
    14 September 2019
    Print publication:
    28 April 1995
  • All aspects of space plasmas in the Solar System are introduced and explored in this text for senior undergraduate and graduate students. Introduction to Space Physics provides a broad, yet selective, treatment of the complex interactions of the ionized gases of the solar terrestrial environment. The book includes extensive discussion of the Sun and solar wind, the magnetized and unmagnetized planets, and the fundamental processes of space plasmas including shocks, plasma waves, ULF waves, wave particle interactions, and auroral processes. The text devotes particular attention to space plasma observations and integrates these with phenomenological and theoretical interpretations. Highly coordinated chapters, written by experts in their fields, combine to provide a comprehensive introduction to space physics. Based on an advanced undergraduate and graduate course presented in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, the text will be valuable to both students and professionals in the field.

Planetary Geoscience
  • Harry Y. McSween, Jr, Jeffrey E. Moersch, Devon M. Burr, William M. Dunne, Joshua P. Emery, Linda C. Kah, Molly C. McCanta
  • Published online:
    25 June 2019
    Print publication:
    11 July 2019
  • For many years, planetary science has been taught as part of the astronomy curriculum, from a very physics-based perspective, and from the framework of a tour of the Solar System - body by body. Over the past decades, however, spacecraft exploration and related laboratory research on extraterrestrial materials have given us a new understanding of planets and how they are shaped by geological processes. Based on a course taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this is the first textbook to focus on geologic processes, adopting a comparative approach that demonstrates the similarities and differences between planets, and the reasons for these. Profusely illustrated, and with a wealth of pedagogical features, this book provides an ideal capstone course for geoscience majors - bringing together aspects of mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, volcanology, sedimentology, geomorphology, tectonics, geophysics and remote sensing.

An Introduction to the Solar System
  • 3rd edition
  • Edited by David A. Rothery, Neil McBride, Iain Gilmour
  • Published online:
    11 May 2019
    Print publication:
    11 January 2018
  • Ongoing advances in Solar System exploration continue to reveal its splendour and diversity in remarkable detail. This undergraduate-level textbook presents fascinating descriptions and colour images of the bodies in the Solar System, the processes that occur upon and within them, and their origins and evolution. It highlights important concepts and techniques in boxed summaries, while questions and exercises are embedded at appropriate points throughout the text, with full solutions provided. Written and edited by a team of practising planetary scientists, this third edition has been updated to reflect our current knowledge. It is ideal for introductory courses on the subject, and is suitable for self-study. The text is supported by online resources, hosted at www.cambridge.org/solarsystem3, which include selected figures from the book, self-assessment questions and sample tutor assignments, with outlines of suggested answers.

Solving Fermi's Paradox
  • Duncan H. Forgan
  • Published online:
    25 April 2019
    Print publication:
    02 May 2019
  • The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI) has for sixty years attempted to solve Fermi's paradox: if intelligent life is relatively common in the universe, where is everybody? Examining SETI through this lens, this volume summarises current thinking on the prevalence of intelligent life in the universe, and discusses sixty-six distinct solutions to the so-called paradox. It describes the methodology of SETI, and how many disciplines feed into the debate, from physics and biology, to philosophy and anthropology. The presented solutions are organised into three key groups: rare-Earth solutions, suggesting planetary habitability, life and intelligence are uncommon; catastrophist solutions, arguing civilisations do not survive long enough to make contact; and non-empirical solutions, those that take theoretical approaches, such as that our methodology is flawed. This comprehensive introduction to SETI concludes by looking at the future of the field and speculating on humanity's potential fate.

Spectroscopy and Photochemistry of Planetary Atmospheres and Ionospheres
  • Mars, Venus, Titan, Triton and Pluto
  • Vladimir A. Krasnopolsky
  • Published online:
    09 February 2019
    Print publication:
    14 February 2019
  • The chemical composition of any planetary atmosphere is of fundamental importance in determining its photochemistry and dynamics in addition to its thermal balance, climate, origin and evolution. Divided into two parts, this book begins with a set of introductory chapters, starting with a concise review of the Solar System and fundamental atmospheric physics. Chapters then describe the basic principles and methods of spectroscopy, the main tool for studying the chemical composition of planetary atmospheres, and of photochemical modeling and its use in the theoretical interpretation of observational data on chemical composition. The second part of the book provides a detailed review of the carbon dioxide atmospheres and ionospheres of Mars and Venus, and the nitrogen-methane atmospheres of Titan, Triton and Pluto. Written by an expert author, this comprehensive text will make a valuable reference for graduate students, researchers and professional scientists specializing in planetary atmospheres.

Exploring Planetary Climate
  • A History of Scientific Discovery on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan
  • Ralph D. Lorenz
  • Published online:
    14 December 2018
    Print publication:
    03 January 2019
  • This book chronicles the history of climate science and planetary exploration, focusing on our ever-expanding knowledge of Earth's climate, and the parallel research underway on some of our nearest neighbours: Mars, Venus and Titan. From early telescopic observation of clouds and ice caps on planetary bodies in the seventeenth century, to the dawn of the space age and the first robotic planetary explorers, the book presents a comprehensive chronological overview of planetary climate research, right up to the dramatic recent developments in detecting and characterising exoplanets. Meanwhile, the book also documents the discoveries about our own climate on Earth, not only about how it works today, but also how profoundly different it has been in the past. Highly topical and written in an accessible and engaging narrative style, this book provides invaluable historical context for students, researchers, professional scientists, and those with a general interest in planetary climate research.

Saturn in the 21st Century
  • Edited by Kevin H. Baines, F. Michael Flasar, Norbert Krupp, Tom Stallard
  • Published online:
    13 December 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018
  • The Cassini Orbiter mission, launched in 1997, has provided state-of-the-art information into the origins and workings of Saturn. Drawing from new discoveries and scientific insight from the mission, this book provides a detailed overview of the planet as revealed by Cassini. Chapters by eminent planetary scientists and researchers from across the world comprehensively review the current state of knowledge regarding Saturn's formation, interior, atmosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere and magnetosphere. Specialised chapters discuss the planet's seasonal variability; the circulation of strong zonal winds; the constantly changing polar aurorae; and the Great Storm of 2010–2011, the most powerful convective storm ever witnessed by humankind. Documenting the latest research on the planet, from its formation to how it operates today, this is an essential reference for graduate students, researchers and planetary scientists.

Mercury
  • The View after MESSENGER
  • Edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, Brian J. Anderson
  • Published online:
    10 December 2018
    Print publication:
    20 December 2018
  • Observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury have transformed our understanding of the origin and evolution of rocky planets. This volume is the definitive resource about Mercury for planetary scientists, from students to senior researchers. Topics treated in depth include Mercury's chemical composition; the structure of its crust, lithosphere, mantle, and core; Mercury's modern and ancient magnetic field; Mercury's geology, including the planet's major geological units and their surface chemistry and mineralogy, its spectral reflectance characteristics, its craters and cratering history, its tectonic features and deformational history, its volcanic features and magmatic history, its distinctive hollows, and the frozen ices in its polar deposits; Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere and the processes that govern their dynamics and their interaction with the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field; the formation and large-scale evolution of the planet; and current plans and needed capabilities to explore Mercury further in the future.

Chondrules
  • Records of Protoplanetary Disk Processes
  • Edited by Sara S. Russell, Harold C. Connolly Jr., Alexander N. Krot
  • Published online:
    30 June 2018
    Print publication:
    19 July 2018
  • Chondrules are spherical silicate grains which formed from protoplanetary disk material, and as such provide an important record of the conditions of the Solar System in pre-planetary times. Chondrules are a major constituent in chondritic meteorites, however despite being recognised for over 200 years, their origins remain enigmatic. This comprehensive review describes state-of-the-art research into chondrules, bringing together leading cosmochemists and astrophysicists to review the properties of chondrules and their possible formation mechanisms based on careful observations of their chemistry, mineralogy, petrology and isotopic composition. Current and upcoming space missions returning material from chondritic asteroids and cometary bodies has invigorated research in this field, leading to new models and observations, and providing new insight into the conditions and timescales of the solar protoplanetary disk. Presenting the most recent advances, this book is an invaluable reference for researchers and graduate students interested in meteorites, asteroids, planetary accretion and solar system dynamics.

Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact
  • Steven J. Dick
  • Published online:
    26 April 2018
    Print publication:
    03 May 2018
  • The search for life in the universe, once the stuff of science fiction, is now a robust worldwide research program with a well-defined roadmap probing both scientific and societal issues. This volume examines the humanistic aspects of astrobiology, systematically discussing the approaches, critical issues, and implications of discovering life beyond Earth. What do the concepts of life and intelligence, culture and civilization, technology and communication mean in a cosmic context? What are the theological and philosophical implications if we find life - and if we do not? Steven J. Dick argues that given recent scientific findings, the discovery of life in some form beyond Earth is likely and so we need to study the possible impacts of such a discovery and formulate policies to deal with them. The remarkable and often surprising results are presented here in a form accessible to disciplines across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Planetary Ring Systems
  • Properties, Structure, and Evolution
  • Edited by Matthew S. Tiscareno, Carl D. Murray
  • Published online:
    26 February 2018
    Print publication:
    22 March 2018
  • Planetary rings are among the most intriguing structures of our solar system and have fascinated generations of astronomers. Collating emerging knowledge in the field, this volume reviews our current understanding of ring systems with reference to the rings of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and more. Written by leading experts, the history of ring research and the basics of ring–particle orbits is followed by a review of the known planetary ring systems. All aspects of ring system science are described in detail, including specific dynamical processes, types of structures, thermal properties and their origins, and investigations using computer simulations and laboratory experiments. The concluding chapters discuss the prospects of future missions to planetary rings, the ways in which ring science informs and is informed by the study of other astrophysical disks, and a perspective on the field's future. Researchers of all levels will benefit from this thorough and engaging presentation.

Page 1 of 3