Icy bodies of the solar system
Subtitle: proceedings of the 263th symposium of the International Astronomical Union held in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 3-7, 2006
By: edited by Julio A. Fernández ... [et al.].
Contributors: Fernández, J. A. (Julio A.)
Series: IAU symposium proceedings series -- 263.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 331
ISBN-13: 9780521764889
Subjects: Comets; Asteroids; Protoplanetary disks; Ice; Congresses
Description: IAU Symposium 263 provides a state-of-the-art review of icy bodies in the Solar System, a topic crucial to understanding processes involved in the Solar System's formation, the consequences for water on planets, and ultimately, the habitable zones around other stars. Ice-rich planetesimals which form beyond the snow line are discussed, using an interdisciplinary approach. The main topics covered include: accretion of icy grains in the protoplanetary disk, the long-period comet flux and the Oort cloud population, transfer mechanisms of bodies from their source regions to the Sun's neighborhood, the physics and dynamics of trans-Neptunian objects, transition objects (comets and asteroids), cryovolcanism and modeling the interiors of icy bodies, and a review of past, present and future space missions. This volume gives a broad overview of the importance of these bodies, from comets up to liquid water on terrestrial planets, and the formation of ices in the Solar System.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

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