Asteroids Books

The first chapters are a little bit too technical. However, you will learn a lot about the scientific background on asteroids and impacts. The chapters on how Earth has been hit in the past, the summary of the theory about the dinosaur extinction, and how the Chicxulub crater was found, are really good. The book also has a good coverage on subjects such as near-Earth objects, actual near-misses, what if?, and the Spaceguard survey.

If you became interested on these subjects after the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact on Jupiter, or because you are a Sc-Fi fan who like the "hard stuff" and read Clark's "The Hammer of God", Benford's "Shiva Descending", or Niven's "Lucifr's Hammer", this book is for you. You can deepen your scientific knowledge and learn why these fiction novels seem so real, specially those written before the Alvarez paradigm.

I loved Vector Prime. It's one the best Star Wars books I've ever read. They fight aliens called the Yuuzhan Vong. The Yuuzhan Vong are fom another galaxy. The only bad thing about it is when Chewie dies. Get this book!

This is a set of papers primarily of interest to astrobiologists. One might want to use it as part of an astrobiology course for graduate students.

The articles are fascinating. We start with a section on organic material in space. We learn about extrasolar planets, including "hot jupiters." We read a discussion of habitable zones for these extrasolar planets. And we look at a scenario of life being transferred from Mars to Earth.

Next is a section on water: how essential it is for life, and what it would mean to have life without water. We look at the geomorphological record of water-related erosion on Mars, and we see a discussion of tides on Europa. And we look at life in cold water, hot water, and salty water.

Third is a section on radiation and life. That includes magnetic shielding from cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and effects of cosmic rays. The fourth section is about gravity: gravitational effects at the cellular level, and effects of gravity on plants and animals. And the fifth section is about complexity and life: scaling phenomena, molecular self-assembly, and what it would be like to look for fossils in an extraterrestrial environment. The book concludes with a paper about forthcoming space missions relevant to astrobiology.

This book has plenty of useful material for astrobiologists!

After their superb atlases of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Hunt and Moore delight us once again with an "everything we know about" book, this time on the farthest of the four gas giants, Neptune.

Even more so than its predecessors, this work is primarily based on the data returned by Voyager 2 in its August, 1989 flyby, which resulted in the discovery of the "Great Dark Spot", of new minor satellites, and gave us spectacular close-ups of the surface of Neptune's sole giant moon, Triton, and its strange "cantalope terrain". All of these marvels are reproduced in full color, making this book as visually appealing as it is intellectually stimulating. Sadly, since no further missions to Neptune are planned, this will probably be the state-of-the-art of our knowledge of Neptune for some years to come, making this book a worthy investment.

A historical overview of the discovery and telescopic exploration of Neptune and a brief technical discussion of Voyager 2's mission and the unique technical challenges it faced during the Neptune encounter complete this work. A wonderful book that should not be missing in any astronomical library.

Blue Nights in Atlantis
Author: Gerald Libonati


A young man Damio Abydos lives with minimal connection to the village of his birth. One morning he is visited by an apparition that offers him a vision of a world beyond his experience. Not sure if the image was real or a figment of his mind, he nevertheless believes the possibility of a world beyond his borders. He travels to Atlantis more easily than he thought possible and is welcomed into a home there.

What makes this book so magical is the clarity with which we see through Damio's eyes. With powers of observation usually reserved for the artist, the author lets us visualize images as crisp as if we were seeing them ourselves. We feel the energy of the Atlantian structures and the vibrancy of the people.

Damio changes his perceptions about the practices of the ancient sects, taking time to learn as much about them as he can. His own beliefs do not embrace religion. In fact he suspects them of manipulation, but is keenly interested in what he might learn. He becomes involved with the daughter of his guest and divides the family with his interest in a religion opposed to theirs. The conflict is less about ideology than politics and Damio is a bit naive. He is eager to learn of the advances and abilities of the high priests and fails to see how much they interfere in the common mans routine to further their own agenda.

The story is a struggle between ordinary people living the lives they want and power of the more influential. Damio, whose life was radically changed by the initial visitation that brought him here, is further buffeted about when an asteroid is discovered on a collision course with the Earth. In a reaction common to human governments, the religious powers keep the discovery secret as they make their own plans. When the public does become aware of the reality the society breaks down in fear.

The beings who appeared as the high priests hail from a distant part of our galaxy and have the means to return. Their final efforts here are to ensure the continuation of their long- range plans. Damio is an integral part of those plans. Despite himself, he does manage to exit the island and survive the earth changes.

This is a splendid, fantastical journey that occurs as much in your mind as on the pages of this book, due mostly to the author's skill with words. Read it for the story- it's a good one. But read it too, for the sheer beauty of the writing.

The Bobrowsky edited book is an excellent must-read book for anyone conducting serious intellectual inquiry into a potential asteroid impact with the Earth. The articles are a wonderful collection on a very serious topic. The reader gains multiple insights on the varied interdisciplinary issues related to asteroids. This is a fine contribution to the current state of knowledge. The book would make for an excellent university text in either astronomy or public policy agenda-setting and formulation. I highly recommend the investment in this book if you have serious interest in the history of asteroid/comet impacts as well as what humans may do to mitigate such a disaster in the future. I believe this book to be the best I have read on the topic of asteroids impacts. I am pleased to have added it to my personal library.

This was the first report on asteroids and meteors I have ever done. This was my cornerstone of my vast research material. A great report book, you should get it, or even better rent in from your school libray. (Since it's out of print)

We're giving this book as a gift after having enjoyed it with our own family. We're amateur "stargazers", and our young friends enjoyed having this book as reference during visits with us. It's difficult to explain certain terms regarding the evening skies. This book helps to clarify, and does so beautifully!

The book does a good job a teaching what these objects are, by using a precise and yet simple vocabulary. The text covers a lot of related subjects, including impact with earth, but never goes into catastrophism and sensationalism.

This book, which is mainly a fact book about asteroids, with a little about comets, was cool. It was easy to read and understand, but not so simple that you wouldn't learn anything from it. From this book, I learned a lot about asteroids, much more than one could learn at the local movie theater. If you are interested in learning about asteroids and are in middle school or upper elementary school, this is the book for you!