The more we learn about our solar system, the more fascinating it becomes. The sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface. Venus suffers from a greenhouse effect run amok. On Mars, geologic forces unlike those seen on Earth help to sculpt the landscape. Tiny moons stabilize the ethereal rings around the gas giants. Jupiter's satellite Europa has icy niches where life might evolve.
Though astronomers have begun to detect planetary systems around other stars, the uniqueness of ours is so far intact. Many planets in far-off systems seem to be freakishly large and moving in bizarre orbits that would devastate any alien Earths out there. One of the greatest mysteries of our solar system may be why it is so stable.
This special edition of Scientific American provides the latest developments about our corner of the cosmos, in articles written by the experts who are leading the investigations. Let the pages that follow guide your tour of our solar system, and savor the fact that you can visit these extraordinary nearby worlds and still be home for supper. - The Editors
The sun's surface is comparatively cool, yet its outer layers are broiling hot. Astronomers are beginning to understand how that's possible.
Mercury: The Forgotten Planet by Robert M. Nelson
Although it is one of Earth's nearest neighbors, this strange world remains, for the most part, unknown.
Global Climate Change on Venus by Mark A. Bullock and David H. Grinspoon
Venus's climate, like Earth's, has varied over time--the result of newly appreciated connections between geologic activity and atmospheric change.
The Origins of Water on Earth by James F. Kasting
Evidence is mounting that other planets hosted oceans at one time, but only Earth has maintained its watery endowment.
The Unearthly Landscapes of Mars by Arden L. Albee
The Red Planet is no dead planet. Flowing water, ice and wind have all shaped the landscape over the past several billion years.
The Small Planets by Erik Asphaug
Asteroids have become notorious as celestial menaces but are best considered in a positive light, as surreal worlds bearing testimony to the origin of the planets.
The Galileo Mission to Jupiter and Its Moons by Torrence V. Johnson
Few scientists thought that the Galileo spacecraft could conduct such a comprehensive study of the Jovian system. And few predicted that these worlds would prove so varied.
The Hidden Ocean of Europa by Robert T. Pappalardo, James W. Head and Ronald Greeley
Doodles and freckles, creamy plains and crypto-icebergs-the amazing surface of Jupiter's brightest icy moon hints at a global sea underneath.
Bejeweled Worlds by Joseph A. Burns, Douglas P. Hamilton and Mark R. Showalter
Small moons sculpt elegant, austere rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and maybe even Mars.
Journey to the Farthest Planet by S. Alan Stern
Scientists are finally preparing to send a spacecraft to Pluto and the Kuiper belt, the last unexplored region in our planetary system.
The Oort Cloud by Paul R. Weissman
On the outskirts of the solar system swarms a vast cloud of comets. The dynamics of this cloud may help explain such matters as mass extinctions on Earth
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