Weird Worlds

David A. J. Seargent

ISBN 10: 1461470633 / ISBN 13: 9781461470632

Published by Springer New York, Springer US Apr 2013, 2013

About this Item

Neuware -¿Weird Worlds¿ is the third book in David Seargent¿s ¿Weird¿ series. This book assumes a basic level of astronomical understanding and concentrates on the ¿odd and interesting¿ aspects of planetary bodies, including asteroids and moons. From our viewpoint here on Earth, this work features the most unusual features of these worlds and the ways in which they appear ¿weird¿ to us. Within our own Solar System, odd facts such as the apparent reversal of the Sun in the skies of Mercury, CO2-driven fountains of dust on Mars, possible liquid water (and perhaps primitive life!) deep within the dwarf planet Ceres, and a variety of odd facts about the planetary moons are all discussed. A special chapter is devoted to Saturn¿s giant moon Titan, and its methane-based weather system and ¿hydrological¿ cycle. This chapter also includes recent speculation on the possibility of methane-based organisms and the form that these might take, if they really do exist. Beyond our Solar System, the book looks at the range of worlds discovered and hypothesized.In ¿Weird Worlds,¿ the author discusses planets where temperatures are so high that it rains molten iron, and others so cold that liquid methane floods across plains of ice! Worlds are described where the lightest element acts like a metal and where winds blow at thousands of miles per hour ¿ as well as possible planets whose orbits are essentially parabolic.In keeping with previous titles in David Seargent¿s ¿Weird¿ series, ¿Weird Worlds¿ contains several projects that astronomers of all levels can undertake.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 324 pp. Englisch.

Seller Inventory # 9781461470632

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Weird Worlds
• Publisher: Springer New York, Springer US Apr 2013
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1461470633
• ISBN 13: 9781461470632
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 155H x 17D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 155 millimeters height by 17 millimeters depth
• Weight: 552 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book concentrates on the “odd and interesting” aspects of planetary bodies, including asteroids and moons, describing unusual features of these worlds and the ways in which they appear “weird” to us. Also discusses the possibility of methane-based organisms.

About the Author

David A. J. Seargent holds an MA and Ph.D., both in Philosophy from the University of Newcastle NSW, where he formerly worked as a tutor in Philosophy for the Department of Community of Programs/Worker’s Educational Association external education program. As an amateur astronomer, he is known for his observations of comets, one of which he discovered in 1978. He is the author of four astronomy books: “Comets – Vagabonds in Space” (Doubleday, 1982), “The Greatest Comets in History” (Springer, 2008), “Weird Astronomy” (Springer, 2010), and most recently “Weird Weather” (Springer, 2012). He is the author of a regular column in “Australian Sky and Telescope” magazine.