Rendezvous In Space: The Science of Comets - Hardcover

"... I do not hesitate to recommend this book to amateurs and professionals - anyone, in fact, with an interest in comets." Observatory

When Halley's Comet returned in the mid 1980s, scientists and non-professional skywatchers were ready to watch and learn. Their dramatic findings revolutionized our knowledge of comets and form the core of this "post-Halley" summary of cometary science. "Rendezvous in Space" explains in elementary scientific language what we now know about comet physics, chemistry, and behaviour following the Halley fly-by. The emphasis is on the flourishing of cometary science in recent years-the theoretical breakthroughs of the 1950s, recent probes like the innovative pursuit of comet Giacobini-Zinner, and the remarkable Halley observations. The book also offers guidance for optimizing comet watching, methods of plotting comet orbits and positions, instructions for reporting a new comet, and sources for keeping up with ongoing and future comet studies.