The Pluto System After New Horizons


Book Description

Once perceived as distant, cold, dark, and seemingly unknowable, Pluto had long been marked as the farthest and most unreachable frontier for solar system exploration. The Pluto System After New Horizons is the benchmark research compendium for synthesizing our understanding of the Pluto system. This volume reviews the work of researchers who have spent the last five years assimilating the data returned from New Horizons and the first full scientific synthesis of this fascinating system.




Chasing New Horizons


Book Description

Called "spellbinding" (Scientific American) and "thrilling...a future classic of popular science" (PW), the up close, inside story of the greatest space exploration project of our time, New Horizons’ mission to Pluto, as shared with David Grinspoon by mission leader Alan Stern and other key players. On July 14, 2015, something amazing happened. More than 3 billion miles from Earth, a small NASA spacecraft called New Horizons screamed past Pluto at more than 32,000 miles per hour, focusing its instruments on the long mysterious icy worlds of the Pluto system, and then, just as quickly, continued on its journey out into the beyond. Nothing like this has occurred in a generation—a raw exploration of new worlds unparalleled since NASA’s Voyager missions to Uranus and Neptune—and nothing quite like it is planned to happen ever again. The photos that New Horizons sent back to Earth graced the front pages of newspapers on all 7 continents, and NASA’s website for the mission received more than 2 billion hits in the days surrounding the flyby. At a time when so many think that our most historic achievements are in the past, the most distant planetary exploration ever attempted not only succeeded in 2015 but made history and captured the world’s imagination. How did this happen? Chasing New Horizons is the story of the men and women behind this amazing mission: of their decades-long commitment and persistence; of the political fights within and outside of NASA; of the sheer human ingenuity it took to design, build, and fly the mission; and of the plans for New Horizons’ next encounter, 1 billion miles past Pluto in 2019. Told from the insider’s perspective of mission leader Dr. Alan Stern and others on New Horizons, and including two stunning 16-page full-color inserts of images, Chasing New Horizons is a riveting account of scientific discovery, and of how much we humans can achieve when people focused on a dream work together toward their incredible goal.




Discovering Pluto


Book Description

The story of Pluto and its largest moon, from discovery through the New Horizons flyby--Provided by publisher.




Pluto and Charon


Book Description

Rave reviews for Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System The story of the quest to understand Pluto and the resulting transformation of our concept of the diminutive planet from that of solar-system misfit to king of the Kuiper Belt is told in this book by Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton. Stern, a Plutophile to the core, is one of the most energetic, talented, and savvy planetary astronomers in the business today. Mitton, trained as an astronomer, is an experienced writer and editor of scientific books for nonscientists. Together they have created an immensely informative book . . . Written in an engaging and informal style, Pluto and Charon takes the reader step by step from the discovery of the ninth planet in 1930 to the current understanding of Pluto and its moon, Charon.-Sky & Telescope More than a book summarizing what we know about [the] planet, [Pluto and Charon is] about how far and how fast astronomical technology has come since 1965 . . . Stern and Mitton use the narrative of Pluto research to explain in comfortable, everyday language how such work is done . . . One of the nice touches in the book is that Stern and Mitton tell us something about each astronomer.-Astronomy Pluto and Charon presents the exploration of the ninth planet-written as a vivid historical account-for anyone with an interest in science and astronomy . . . the authors describe in simple language the methods researchers use to explore the universe and the way ever-improving instrumentation helps their knowledge advance.-Physics Today




How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming


Book Description

The solar system most of us grew up with included nine planets, with Mercury closest to the sun and Pluto at the outer edge. Then, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of adding one more planet to our solar system, Brown’s find ignited a firestorm of controversy that culminated in the demotion of Pluto from real planet to the newly coined category of “dwarf” planet. Suddenly Brown was receiving hate mail from schoolchildren and being bombarded by TV reporters—all because of the discovery he had spent years searching for and a lifetime dreaming about. A heartfelt and personal journey filled with both humor and drama, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming is the book for anyone, young or old, who has ever imagined exploring the universe—and who among us hasn’t?




Pluto


Book Description

Encompassing astronomy, mythology, psychology, and astrology, Pluto offers a wealth of knowledge about our most famous dwarf planet. First observed in 1930 and once defined as the ninth and final planet in our solar system, Pluto and its discovery and reclassification throw a unique light on how we generate meaning in science and culture. This anthology, timed to appear in concordance with NASA's New Horizons's approach to Pluto in July 2015, shows that while the astronomical Pluto may be little more than an ordinary escaped moon or tiny Kuiper Belt object, it is a powerful hyperobject, for its mythological and cultural effigies on Earth incubate deep unconscious seeds of the human psyche. Certain astronomical features pertain to Pluto in terms of its distance from the Sun, coldness, and barrenness. These also inform its mythology and astrology as befitting a planet named after the God of the Underworld. Among the issues central to this collection are the meanings of darkness, loss, grief, inner transformation, rebirth, reincarnation, and karmic revelation, all of which are associated with the astrology of Pluto. Pluto also embodies the meaning of true wealth as being nonmaterial essence instead of property, conventional accolades, ego identity, achievement. It is the marker of negative capability. Table of Contents Dana Wilde: Pluto on the Borderlands Richard Grossinger: Pluto and The Kuiper Belt Richard C. Hoagland: New Horizon ... for a Lost Horizon J. F. Martel: Pluto and the Death of God James Hillman: Hades Fritz Bruhubner: The Mythology and Astrology of Pluto Thomas Frick: Old Horizons John D. Shershin: The Inquisition of Pluto Stephan David Hewitt: Pluto and the Restoration of Soul Jim Tibbetts: Our Lady of Pluto, the Planet of Purification Shelli Jankowski-Smith: Love Song for Pluto Robert Kelly: Pluto Dinesh Raghavendra: Falling in Love with a Plutonian Steve Luttrell: Dostoevsky's Pluto Philip Wohlstetter: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto Jonathan Lethem: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto Robert Sardello: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto Ross Hamilton: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto College of the Atlantic Students: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto Jeffrey A. Hoffman: What the Probe Will Find, What I'd Like It to Find Nathan Schwartz-Salant: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto Charley B. Murphy: The Ten Worlds of Pluto Timothy Morton: Ten Things I'd Like to Find on Pluto & The End of the World Robert Phoenix: My Father Pluto Ellias Lonsdale: Pluto is the Reason We Have a Chance Rob Brezsny: Pluto: Planet of Wealth




Pluto and Lowell Observatory: A History of Discovery at Flagstaff


Book Description

Pluto looms large in Flagstaff, where residents and businesses alike take pride in their community's most enduring claim to fame: Clyde Tombaugh's 1930 discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory. Percival Lowell began searching for his theoretical "Planet X" in 1905, and Tombaugh's "eureka!" experience brought worldwide attention to the city and observatory. Ever since, area scientists have played leading roles in virtually every major Pluto-related discovery, from unknown moons to the existence of an atmosphere and the innovations of the New Horizons spacecraft. Lowell historian Kevin Schindler and astronomer Will Grundy guide you through the story of Pluto from postulation to exploration.




The Trans-Neptunian Solar System


Book Description

The Trans-Neptunian Solar System is a timely reference highlighting the state-of-the-art in current knowledge on the outer solar system. It not only explores the individual objects being discovered there, but also their relationships with other Solar System objects and their roles in the formation and evolution of the Solar System and other planets. Integrating important findings from recent missions, such as New Horizons and Rosetta, the book covers the physical properties of the bodies in the Trans-Neptunian Region, including Pluto and other large members of the Kuiper Belt, as well as dynamical indicators for Planet 9 and related objects and future prospects. Offering a complete look at exploration and findings in the Kuiper Belt and the rest of the outer solar system beyond Neptune, this book is an important resource to bring planetary scientists, space scientists and astrophysicists up-to-date on the latest research and current understandings. - Provides the most up-to-date information on the exploration of the Trans-Neptunian Solar System and what it means for the future of outer solar system research - Contains clear sections that provide comprehensive coverage on the most important facets of the outer Solar System - Includes four-color images and data from important missions, including New Horizons and Rosetta - Concludes with suggestions and insights on the future of research on Trans-Neptunian objects




Visiting Pluto


Book Description

Read about the New Horizons spacecraft and its mission to gather more information about the distant dwarf planet, Pluto.




Demoting Pluto


Book Description

"Describes the dwarf planet Pluto and the 2006 decision to change its status from a regular planet"--