Pluto and Charon

Preface
Prologue: Encounter!
Chapter 1: New Frontier
Chapter 2: First Facts
Chapter 3: A Distant Dance
Chapter 4: The Importance of Snow
Chapter 5: Building a Binary Planet
Chapter 6: Icefields and Ice Dwarfs
Chapter 7: Everest
Chapter 8: New Horizons
Chapter 9: Where No-one has Gone Before
Appendix: A Chronology of Major Events in the Exploration of Pluto and Charon
Suggested Reading

S. ALAN STERN, PhD, is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist with both observational and theoretical interests. Dr Stern is a pilot, a former NASA F-18 and WB-57 flight astronomer, and a principal and experienced research investigator in NASA's planetary research program. He was a finalist candidate to become a NASA Space Shuttle mission specialist. He is the Director of the Department of Space Studies of the Southwest Research Institute; the department is located in Boulder, Colorado. Dr Stern has published more than 170 technical papers and 30 popular articles. His research has primarily focused on studies of the satellites of the outer planets, Pluto, comets, the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt, and the formation and evolution of the outer solar system. Dr Stern has led instrument teams for several NASA planetary missions, for the Space Shuttle, and for airborne and suborbital rocket expeditions as well. He is the Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.

JACQUELINE MITTON, PhD, lives in Cambridge, England and works as a writer and editor. She trained as an astronomer at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and has for many years concentrated on bringing astronomy to the general public. For 15 years she was Press Officer for the Royal Astronomical Society, making frequent contributions to radio and TV programs. She writes for both children and adults and has 23 previous books to her credit. Her recent titles include 'Once Upon a Starry Night' and 'Zodiac', (both for children), 'Lifting Titan's Veil' and 'The Cambridge Dictionary of Astronomy'.

Rave reviews for Pluto and Charon 1/E: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System

"The story of the quest to understand Pluto and the resulting transformation of our concept of the diminutive planet from that of solar-system misfit to king of the Kuiper Belt is told in this book by Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton. Stern, a Plutophile to the core, is one of the most energetic, talented, and savvy planetary astronomers in the business today. Mitton, trained as an astronomer, is an experienced writer and editor of scientific books for nonscientists. Together they have created an immensely informative book . . . Written in an engaging and informal style, Pluto and Charon takes the reader step by step from the discovery of the ninth planet in 1930 to the current understanding of Pluto and its moon, Charon." - Sky & Telescope

"More than a book summarizing what we know about [the] planet, [Pluto and Charon is] about how far and how fast astronomical technology has come since 1965 . . . Stern and Mitton use the narrative of Pluto research to explain in comfortable, everyday language how such work is done . . . One of the nice touches in the book is that Stern and Mitton tell us something about each astronomer. - Astronomy

"Pluto and Charon presents the exploration of the ninth planet-written as a vivid historical account-for anyone with an interest in science and astronomy . . . the authors describe in simple language the methods researchers use to explore the universe and the way ever-improving instrumentation helps their knowledge advance." - Physics Today

"In this new edition, excellent writer Mitton and productive NASA scientist Stern have significantly updated their book...highly recommended." ( CHOICE , May 2006)
"...contains a wealth of scientific findings about Pluto, Charon, and many other Kuiper Belt objects." ( Sky & Telescope , April 2006)