Weird comets and asteroids
Subtitle: the strange little worlds of the Sun's family
By: David A. J. Seargent
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
ISBN-13: 9783319565576
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Comets; Asteroids
Description: This book concentrates on some of the odd aspects of comets and asteroids. Strange behavior of comets, such as outbursts and schisms, and how asteroids can temporally act as comets are discussed, together with the possible threat of Centaurs-class objects like the Taurid complex. Recent years have seen the distinction between comets and asteroids become less prominent. Comets in "asteroid" orbits and vice versa have become almost commonplace and a clearer view of the role of small bodies in the formation of the Solar System and their effect on Earth has become apparent. Seargent covers this development in detail by including new data and information from space probes. .
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Dedication; Preface; Acknowledgments; Contents; 1.: Unsung Little Worlds; Piazzi's Moving "Star" ... and Its Many Companions; Trojans, Amors, Apollos ... and Other Wandering Asteroids; Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (But Not Too Much to Worry About!); Asteroid Families, Groups and Pairs; Light and Dark Asteroids; Vesta-The Brightest Asteroid; Ceres: Asteroid, Low-Activity Comet or Dwarf Planet (or All Three!)?; Far-Flung Mini Planets of the Outer Solar System; Mini Lands Beyond Neptune; the Kuiper Belt and Beyond; A Weird World Called Sedna; The Sword of Damocles!; title: 2.: Weird Objects with Split Personalities Asteroids Behaving Like Comets; Comet Elst-Pizarro and Its Relatives; Colliding Asteroids and "Temporary Comets"; Rotational Instability as a Cause of "Cometary" Activity in Asteroids; Tidal Heating and Comet-like Behavior; The Weird Geminid Parent; The Mysterious 322P/SOHO; Comets Behaving Like Asteroids; The Mysterious 107P/Wilson-Harrington; "Ghost Comets"?; 3.: Comet Oddities: Different Objects Sharing the Same Orbit; Comet Groups; Sungrazers and Sunskirters; The Mysterious Object of 1921: Did It Have a Sibling?; title: The Earth-Grazers of 20164.: More Comet Oddities: Outbursts, Disruptions and Other Strange Behavior; The Weird Tale of Comet Holmes; The "Gas Outbursts" of Comet Tuttle-Giacobini-ƯKresák; 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann; A Volcanic Comet?; 15P/Finlay; A Phoenix Comet?; Outbursts of Longer-Period Comets; Lopsided Lightcurves, "Tail Flares" and Other Unexpected Behavior; Two Long-Period Comets Acting Strangely; The Little Comet That Flew to Pieces; Comet Landslides and Avalanches; Vanishing Comets; "Brigadoon" Comets; Weird Tail Behavior; 5.: The Fascinating Taurid Complex; title: Was Encke a "Chimera" Comet? A Second (Related?) Asteroid/Meteor/Comet Complex?!; A Very Young Meteorite: Is it a Piece of Comet Encke?; Fireball Concentrations Within the Taurid Complex; An Oort-Cloud Comet Invades the Taurid Complex?; Comet Encke in Ancient Times; Some Unusual Events and the Taurid Complex: Is There a Connection?; 6.: The Mice That Roared!; Appendix A; The Taurid Complex; Appendix B; Comet/Asteroid "Transition" Objects; Glossary; Author Index; Subject Index