Discover the wonders of the Solar System with the complete guide to our planetary neighbourhood. From the star at its centre to the planets and their moons that orbit it, to the distant objects in its far reaches, explore the system that we call home.
Welcome to the All About Space GUIDE TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM
All About Space Guide to the Solar System 4th Edition
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT… THE SOLAR SYSTEM • Join us on a tour through our current understanding of the planetary system we call home
THE EIGHT MAJOR PLANETS
WHAT DID OUR SUN LOOK LIKE IN ITS INFANCY? • New findings may shed light on what our star looked like in its youth
OUR SUN IS GETTING HOTTER • As our nearest star enters its next solar cycle, physicists have revealed what the future holds – and it’s not what they expected
WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE SUN? • Each layer of our home star is affected in the cycle change
SUN’S EFFECT ON THE PLANETS • Whether stripping them away or lighting them up, the atmospheres of the Solar System’s worlds are continually shaped by the output of our star
WHAT IF OUR SUN BECAME TOO ACTIVE? • With enough notice and preparedness we could negate the dangers and simply enjoy the greatest light show of all time
SOLAR SURVEYORS • In order to better understand and anticipate solar weather, space agencies have sent up a family of orbiters and satellites
IS OUR SUN GOING INTO HIBERNATION? • Each sunspot cycle has been getting less intense. Is our star falling asleep?
WHAT IS A SOLAR MAXIMUM AND SOLAR MINIMUM? • Solar maxima and minima happen some years apart, though at regular but varied intervals
HOW ARE SUNSPOTS MADE? • Sunspots are a consequence of the Sun’s magnetic field and complex fluid dynamics
OUR SUN • What goes on inside the mysterious powerhouse that dominates our Solar System?
ON CYCLE 25 • Solar scientist Madhulika Guhathakurta gives her personal view of our current solar cycle
PLANET PROFILE MERCURY • The minute world is arguably the least explored of the four terrestrial planets
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING AT MERCURY?
EXPLORING THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE SWIFT PLANET
MERCURY FACTS
BEPICOLOMBO’S SEVEN-YEAR JOURNEY TO MERCURY
WHAT’S NEW AT MERCURY? • Scientists are still busy analysing data from the MESSENGER mission – and it has plenty of surprises
INNER PLANETS • How does the third rock from the Sun compare to those further in?
VENUS 22 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT VENUS • Earth’s sister planet is an intriguing and mysterious world, with more to it than meets the eye
PLANET PROFILE EARTH • The rocky world that we call home is full of wonders
NEWS FROM EARTH
SURFACE WATER AND OCEAN TOPOGRAPHY MISSION
PLANET EARTH BY NUMBERS
THE EVOLUTION OF PLANET EARTH
THE MOON IS ALIVE • THE LUNAR SURFACE IS HOME TO MORE ACTIVITY THAN ITS BARREN APPEARANCE LETS ON
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE MOON IS ALIVE? • There are increasing signs of ongoing life
WATER ON THE MOON • Ideas of a bone-dry lunar surface have been overturned by detection of water within rock minerals, and as surface ice
VOLCANOES ON THE MOON • The Moon has been volcanically active for most of its history
THE MOON’S EXPLOSIVE OUTGASSING • Outbursts could explain the appearance of the lunar surface
PLANET PROFILE MARS • The Red Planet has a host of new robots investigating it
NEWS FROM MARS
NUCLEAR ROCKETS
MARS BY NUMBERS
EVOLUTION OF THE RED PLANET
MARTIAN MOONS EXPLORATION • Japan’s next sample-collection feat will be to the second and third closest natural satellites in the Solar...