Product Description
This comprehensive volume summarizes current knowledge of the Jovian system, in view of recent scientific developments regarding the Galileo spacecraft, the Galileo probe, the Cassini spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope, and numerous ground-based and theoretical studies. Chapters by recognized authorities cover all aspects of Jupiter, its satellites and magnetosphere.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 1 review)

A comprehensive resource on Jupiter by Jill Malter (jillmalter@aol.com)

5 Stars
November 21, 2005
Oh, yes, there are several excellent books about Jupiter for the layman. But if you have a technical background and want to learn about Jupiter, why not get the real thing? And this book is indeed the one to get. It has an introduction, twenty-six excellent papers by noted experts in their fields, and a CD with some additional color images. It contains information discovered by the Voyager, Galileo, and even the Cassini missions, as well as from a variety of telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope. The book starts out by addressing questions of Jupiter's origin and interior. A major question is the ratio of helium to hydrogen. That value has to be above the minimum set by cosmology (Big Bang nucleosynthesis), given that the high metallicity of both Jupiter and the Sun suggest that we're not dealing with primordial matter. And one would expect it to be less than the ratio for our Sun, given that the Sun has produced some helium by burning hydrogen. But measurements of this ratio seem a little low, and we're treated to some possible explanations. Next, we learn about the Jovian atmosphere. An interesting question here has been the amount of water and its significance. And we learn about some of the photochemistry of the stratosphere. As the editors say, "if you like your hydrocarbons fricasseed and you like to dance under a strobe of X-rays, then Jupiter's middle and upper atmosphere is the place to be." After this, we move a little higher up, to discuss Jovian dust, including Jupiter's rings. How thick are they? How dense? And are the gossamer rings really composed of micron-sized particles and smaller? We then are introduced to the outer satellites and the Trojan asteroids. There are papers discussing the major satellites in some detail. We learn about Io, its tidal heating, and its volcanoes. And about Europa, including its tides and tectonics. There's material about Europa's Laplace mean motion resonance with Io and Ganymede. And a discussion of astrobiological issues: if Europa has liquid water under its crust, and if there are hydrothermal vents, it is possible that life exists there. There is a paper about the atmospheres of the satellites, and another about radiation effects on satellite surfaces. Jupiter's large size and 10-hour rotation period are responsible for an immense Jovian magnetosphere, and the final papers in this book discuss various aspects of it. We learn about magnetospheric interactions with satellites. And about the Io plasma torus. And there is a paper on the dynamics of the magnetosphere. One fundamental question here which still has not been totally resolved is the process by which this magnetosphere manages to accelerate the Io plasma from basically a few electron volts to well over 100 thousand electron volts. And there is a fascinating paper about Jupiter's aurora. The final paper is on the Jovian radiation belts. Issues include the basic electron energy spectrum in the inner radiation belts and the wave modes that may be present there. And there is a practical issue as well: if we don't know what radiation fluxes we're facing, it will be tougher to design the next deep space probe to Jupiter. If you are interested in studying any aspect of the Jovian system, this book is a good place to start. I highly recommend it.

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