Origin and Evolution of Comets ─ Ten Years After the Nice Model and One Year After Rosetta

Rickman, a researcher who worked on the camera system for the Rosetta space probe, introduces cometary science from the perspective of origins and evolution, and describes the physical and chemical properties of different types of comets. The discussions of comet dynamics and comet reservoirs delve deeply into mathematical models and will not be accessible to the general reader. The last chapter summarizes ongoing questions about the origin of Earth’s water, prebiotic material from comets, and mass extinction caused by comet impact. Black and white images taken by space probes and telescopes are provided. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)