Cometography: Volume 1, Ancient-1799

Cometography: Volume 1, Ancient-1799
Author: Gary W. Kronk
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 586
Release: 1999-09-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521585040

The first in a set of four volumes that make up the most complete and comprehensive catalog of every comet observed throughout history.

Cometography: Volume 2, 1800-1899

Cometography: Volume 2, 1800-1899
Author: Gary W. Kronk
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 880
Release: 1999
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521585057

Cometography is a four-volume catalog of every comet observed throughout history. Volume II provides a complete discussion of every comet seen during the nineteenth century. Cometography uses the most reliable orbits known to determine the distances from the Earth and Sun at the time a comet was discovered and last observed, as well as the largest and smallest angular distance to the Sun, most northerly and southerly declination, closest distance to the Earth, and other details to enable the reader to understand the physical appearance of each well-observed comet. The book also provides non-technical details to help the reader better appreciate how the comet may have influenced various cultures at the time of its appearance. Cometography will be valuable to historians of science as well as providing amateur and professional astronomers with a definitive reference on comets through the ages.

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets
Author: Peter Jenniskens
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 804
Release: 2006-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1316347826

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets is a unique handbook for astronomers interested in observing meteor storms and outbursts. Spectacular displays of 'shooting stars' are created when the Earth's orbit crosses a meteoroid stream, as each meteoroid causes a bright light when it enters our atmosphere at high speed. Jenniskens, an active meteor storm chaser, explains how meteoroid streams originate from the decay of meteoroids, comets and asteroids, and how they cause meteor showers on Earth. He includes the findings of recent space missions to comets and asteroids, the risk of meteor impacts on Earth, and how meteor showers may have seeded the Earth with ingredients that made life possible. All known meteor showers are identified, accompanied by fascinating details on the most important showers and their parent comets. The book predicts when exceptional meteor showers will occur over the next fifty years, making it a valuable resource for both amateur and professional astronomers.

Meteor Showers

Meteor Showers
Author: Gary W. Kronk
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2013-10-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461478979

Meteor showers are among the most spectacular celestial events that may be observed by the naked eye, and have been the object of fascination throughout human history. In “Meteor Showers: An Annotated Catalog,” the interested observer can access detailed research on over 100 annual and periodic meteor streams in order to capitalize on these majestic spectacles. Each meteor shower entry includes details of their discovery, important observations and orbits, and gives a full picture of duration, location in the sky, and expected hourly rates. Armed with a fuller understanding, the amateur observer can better view and appreciate the shower of their choice. The original book, published in 1988, has been updated with over 25 years of research in this new and improved edition. Almost every meteor shower study is expanded, with some original minor showers being dropped while new ones are added. The book also includes breakthroughs in the study of meteor showers, such as accurate predictions of outbursts as well as comet and meteor observations from the 6th century to the 17th century that were not published in the first edition. It holds all of the information needed to inspire a new observer or provide deeper knowledge to the long-time enthusiast.

Hunting and Imaging Comets

Hunting and Imaging Comets
Author: Martin Mobberley
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2010-10-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1441969055

For many astronomers, the holy grail of observation is to discover a comet, not least because comets always bear the name of their discoverer! Hunting and Imaging Comets was written for comet hunters and digital imagers who want to discover, rediscover, monitor, and make pictures of comets using astronomical CCD cameras and DSLRs. The old days of the purely visual comet hunter are pretty much over, but this is not to say that amateurs have lost interest in finding comets. The books also covers the discovery of comet fragments in the SOHO image data, CCD monitoring of older comets prone to violent outbursts, the imaging of new NEOs (Near Earth Objects) that have quite often been revealed as comets - not asteroids - by amateur astronomers, and the finding of recent comets impacting Jupiter.

The Great Christ Comet

The Great Christ Comet
Author: Colin R. Nicholl
Publisher: Crossway Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Astonomy in the Bible
ISBN: 9781433542138

Drawing on the biblical text and using the latest astronomical research, this book presents compelling evidence that the historic star of Bethlehem that accompanied Christ's birth was actually a great comet.

Comets and How to Observe Them

Comets and How to Observe Them
Author: Richard Schmude, Jr.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2010-09-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1441957901

Comets have inspired wonder, excitement and even fear ever since they were first observed. But they are important members of the solar system, that contain material from early in the life of the system, held in deep-freeze. This makes them key in our understanding of the formation and evolution of many Solar System bodies. Recent ground- and space-based observations have changed much in our understanding of comets. Comets, and How to Observe Them gives a summary of our current knowledge and describes how amateur astronomers can contribute to the body of scientific knowledge of comets. This book contains many practical examples of how to construct comet light-curves, measure how fast a comet’s coma expands, and determine the rotation period of the nucleus. All these examples are illustrated with drawings and photographs. Because of their unpredictable nature comets are always interesting and sometime spectacular objects to observe and image. The second part of the book therefore takes the reader through the key observing techniques that can be used with commercially available modern observing equipment, from basic observations to more scientific measurements.

Decoding the Stars: A Biography of Angelo Secchi, Jesuit and Scientist

Decoding the Stars: A Biography of Angelo Secchi, Jesuit and Scientist
Author: Ileana Chinnici
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2019-06-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9004387331

Winner of the 2021 Donald E. Osterbrock Book Prize for Historical Astronomy In Decoding the Stars, Ileana Chinnici offers an account of the life of the Jesuit scientist Angelo Secchi (1818-1878). In addition to providing an invaluable account of Secchi’s life and work—something that has been sorely lacking in the English-language scholarship—this biography will be especially stimulating for those interested in the evolution of astrophysics as a discipline from the nineteenth century onward. Despite his eclecticism, reminiscent of the natural philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Secchi was in many ways a very modern scientist: open to innovation and cooperation, and a promoter of popularization and citizen science. Secchi also appears fully inserted in the cultural context of his time: he participated in philosophical and scientific debates, spread new theories and ideas, but also suffered the consequences of political events that marked those years and impacted on his life and activities.

Unveiling Galaxies

Unveiling Galaxies
Author: Jean-René Roy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2018
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1108417019

A thought provoking study of the powerful impact of images in guiding astronomers' understanding of galaxies through time.