The story of Pluto and its largest moon, from discovery through the New Horizons flyby-- - (Baker & Taylor)
One of the most fascinating bodies in the solar system, Pluto continues to pique popular interest, whether called a mini-world or a dwarf planet. Smaller than Earth’s moon, Pluto was found to be an outsized member of a group of icy bodies on the edge of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt in the 1970s. It has now been surveyed at close range, along with its large moon, Charon. This book brings current the scientific results about this charismatic world, and supplies a summary and color plates as it looks forward to the next steps planned in the exploration of the Kuiper Belt. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) - (Book News)
In Discovering Pluto, Dale P. Cruikshank and William Sheehan recount the grand story of our unfolding knowledge and exploration of Pluto, its moons, and the outer Solar System. They explain the efforts of scientists, mathematicians, and researchers over the centuries to understand the outer Solar System, leading to the discovery and detailed exploration of Pluto as the premier body in the Kuiper Belt, the so-called third zone of our Solar System.
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Chicago Distribution Center)
Discovering Pluto is an authoritative account of the exploration of Pluto and its moons, from the first inklings of tentative knowledge through the exciting discoveries made during the flyby of the NASA New Horizons research spacecraft in July 2015. Co-author Dale P. Cruikshank was a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, while co-author William Sheehan is a noted historian of the Solar System.
Telling the tale of Pluto’s discovery, the authors recount the grand story of our unfolding knowledge of the outer Solar System, from William Herschel’s serendipitous discovery of Uranus in 1781, to the mathematical prediction of Neptune’s existence, to Percival Lowell’s studies of the wayward motions of those giant planets leading to his prediction of another world farther out. Lowell’s efforts led to Clyde Tombaugh’s heroic search and discovery of Pluto—then a mere speck in the telescope—at Lowell Observatory in 1930.
Pluto was finally recognized as the premier body in the Kuiper Belt, the so-called third zone of our Solar System. The first zone contains the terrestrial planets (Mercury through Mars) and the asteroid belt; the second, the gas-giant planets Jupiter through Neptune. The third zone, holding Pluto and the rest of the Kuiper Belt, is the largest and most populous region of the solar system.
Now well beyond Pluto, New Horizons will continue to wend its lonely way through the galaxy, but it is still transmitting data, even today. Its ultimate legacy may be to inspire future generations to uncover more secrets of Pluto, the Solar System, and the Universe.
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Chicago Distribution Center)