Facts on File Asteroids, Meteorites, and Comets: Revised Edition (The Solar System)

The field of asteroids, meteorites, and comets is moving so quickly that it has affected the whole of planetary science. The great numbers and significant sizes of the bodies found in the distant Kuiper belt have forced a redefinition of what a planet is, effectively demoting Pluto. This has changed the theories of solar system formation and inspired a new generation of space missions to the outer solar system. Asteroids, Meteorites, and Comets, Revised Edition discusses the other solar system bodies outside of the eight planets and their moons. This exciting, full-colour volume covers the massive collection of smaller bodies orbiting the Sun, including asteroids in the main asteroid belt and throughout the solar system, comets both from the Kuiper belt and from the much more distant Oort cloud, and the interplanetary dust left in their wakes.