Meteoroids: Sources of Meteors on Earth and Beyond

Description

This definitive guide provides advanced students and researchers with a detailed yet accessible overview of all of the central topics of meteor science. Leading figures from the field summarise their active research on themes ranging from the physical composition of meteoroids to the most recent optical and radar observations and ongoing theoretical developments. Crucial practical issues are also considered, such as the risk posed by meteoroids - to spacecraft, and on the ground - and future avenues of research are explored. Taking advantage of the latest dynamical models, insights are offered into meteor flight phenomena and the evolution of meteoroid streams and complexes, as well as describing the in-depth laboratory analysis of recovered material. The rapid rate of progress in twenty-first-century research makes this volume essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how recent developments broaden our understanding of meteors, meteoroids and their origins.

Galina O. Ryabova is Principal Researcher at Tomsk State University, Russian Federation. Her research interests include the mathematical modelling of meteoroid streams and interrelations in the asteroid-comet-meteoroid complex. She has served on the Organizing Committee of the International Astronomical Union's Commission on 'Meteors, Meteorites and Interplanetary Dust', and is a council member of the International Meteor Organization (IMO). David J. Asher is Visiting Research Fellow at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, whose interests include solar system dynamics. His work with Robert H. McNaught brought the Leonid meteor storms of 1999-2002 to public attention worldwide. He has served on the Organizing Committee of the IAU's 'Meteors, Meteorites and Interplanetary Dust' Commission and, through his long involvement with the IMO, maintains extensive links with the active amateur meteor community in many countries. Margaret D. Campbell-Brown is Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario and Vice-President of the IAU's Commission on 'Meteors, Meteorites and Interplanetary Dust'. Her research focuses on the origin of sporadic meteoroids and their physical and chemical properties, and her telescopic tracking system for meteors has produced unprecedented data on the fragmentation and dynamics of small meteoroids.

'... this book is not only beautifully produced but is also comprehensive, authoritative, accessible, specialized, and up to date. It is an excellent introduction, at an advanced-student level, to a fascinating subject, and one that still holds many mysteries.' David W. Hughes, The Observatory ''Meteoroids are small bits of rock and ice that flare into meteors (shooting stars) when they impact atmospheres ... this book showcases important recent developments. Since 2000, a revolution in dynamical studies, supported by the assembly of large data sets, has allowed researchers to correlate major meteor showers with parent bodies and improve prediction of their activity. The first lunar impact flash wasn't confirmed until 1999, but now the subject merits a chapter of its own! Nevertheless, understanding the nature and behavior of meteoroids is still constrained in many ways, especially regarding how they fragment while traversing the atmosphere. Twelve coauthored chapters are grouped into five subject-related sections: meteor physics, meteor observations on Earth, exometeors, sources of meteoroids (the longest section), and finally the hazards posed by meteoroids in space and on Earth. Written primarily for specialists, [the] chapters are exhaustively referenced ...' B. M. Simonson, Choice