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The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed.Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular--our Earth--provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life.From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

Solar system -- Origin. --- Interplanetary dust. --- Life -- Origin.

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This is a handbook on the physics of interplanetary dust, a topic of interest not only to astronomers and space scientists but also to engineers. The following topics are covered in the book: historical perspectives; cometary dust; near-Earth environment; meteoroids and meteors; properties of interplanetary dust, information from collected samples; in situ measurements of cosmic dust; numerical modeling of the Zodiacal Cloud structure; synthesis of observations; instrumentation; physical processes; optical properties of interplanetary dust; orbital evolution of interplanetary dust; circumplanetary dust, observations and simple physics; interstellar dust and circumstellar dust disks.

Interplanetary dust. --- Interplanetary dust --- Astrophysics. --- Physical geography. --- Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics). --- Geophysics/Geodesy. --- Astronomy, Observations and Techniques. --- Solid State Physics. --- Spectroscopy and Microscopy. --- Geography --- Astronomical physics --- Astronomy --- Cosmic physics --- Physics --- Space sciences. --- Geophysics. --- Observations, Astronomical. --- Astronomy—Observations. --- Solid state physics. --- Spectroscopy. --- Microscopy. --- Analysis, Microscopic --- Light microscopy --- Micrographic analysis --- Microscope and microscopy --- Microscopic analysis --- Optical microscopy --- Optics --- Analysis, Spectrum --- Spectra --- Spectrochemical analysis --- Spectrochemistry --- Spectrometry --- Spectroscopy --- Chemistry, Analytic --- Interferometry --- Radiation --- Wave-motion, Theory of --- Absorption spectra --- Light --- Spectroscope --- Solids --- Astronomical observations --- Observations, Astronomical --- Geological physics --- Terrestrial physics --- Earth sciences --- Science and space --- Space research --- Cosmology --- Science --- Qualitative --- Analytical chemistry