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Asteroids and comets
Author(s) -
Chapman Clark R.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg021i002p00196
Subject(s) - asteroid , astrobiology , meteorite , solar system , near earth object , astronomy , planetary science , comet , icarus , interplanetary dust cloud , interplanetary spaceflight , meteoroid , formation and evolution of the solar system , physics , geology , solar wind , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
Asteroids and comets are populations of countless bodies ranging downwards in size from Ceres, which is about 1000 km in diameter. Although they constitute a virtually negligible fraction of the mass of the solar system, their physical/chemical properties and locations in the system are of particular interest, since they provide most of our observational and experimental clues about the earliest epochs of solar system history. This is particularly due to the fundamental role of meteorites in planetary science; meteorites are fragments of asteroids and comets, although they are treated in this review only tangentialIy. In addition, the ongoing behavior of asteroids and comets (primarily their response to the interplanetary radiation and impact environment) provides interesting insight to unusual physical and geological processes. Both asteroids and comets have been the subject of an important international meeting during the period covered by this report. A comprehensive book and a special issue of a journal emanated from each conference (Asteroids. Gehreis, ed., 1979, and Icarus 40. 1979; Comets. Wilkening, ed., 1982, and Icarus 47. 1981). Particularly in the case of comets, for which the book was published in mid‐1982, it would be superfluous to treat the pre‐1982 literature in great detail. More has happened since the 1979 publication of the Asteroids book, so I rely more on subsequent journal publications about asteroids.