Shoemaker by Levy: The Man Who Made an ImpactPrinceton University Press, 9.2.2021 - 319 sivua It was a lucky twist of fate when in the early1980s David Levy, a writer and amateur astronomer, joined up with the famous scientist Eugene Shoemaker and his wife, Carolyn, to search for comets from an observation post on Palomar Mountain in Southern California. Their collaboration would lead to the 1993 discovery of the most remarkable comet ever recorded, Shoemaker-Levy 9, with its several nuclei, five tails, and two sheets of debris spread out in its orbit plane. A year later, Levy would be by the Shoemakers' side again when their comet ended its four-billion-year-long journey through the solar system and collided with Jupiter in the most stunning astronomical display of the century. Not only did this collision revolutionize our understanding of the history of the solar system, but it also offered a spectacular confirmation of one scientist's life work. As a close friend and colleague of Shoemaker (who died in 1997 at the age of 69), Levy offers a uniquely insightful account of his life and the way it has shaped our thinking about the universe. |
Kirjan sisältä
Tulokset 1 - 5 kokonaismäärästä 25
... experience in comet hunting and observing , using telescopes here , I could help . As if to cement the idea , two weeks later I discovered that ancient comet , now called Comet Levy 1988e . On hearing of my find , Gene and Carolyn ...
... experience somewhere , and he would answer , always being sure that his words ended before the exposure did . It ... experienced . Sixteen months earlier we had discovered Comet Shoemaker - Levy 9 , and during that magic week we , and ...
... experiences and indiscretions shape all of us , the book's early chapters show how Gene's school and college days set him on the track to developing into the scientist he was destined to become . His courtship and marriage are important ...
... experiences , I was a colleague of Gene's and Carolyn's for a long time . I was drawn to them . Once , early in our friendship , I asked Gene about their next observing session . “ We're going after those Trojan asteroids near Jupiter ...
... experience with two earlier subjects , so I would like to begin these acknowledgments by thanking them — Clyde Tombaugh , discoverer of the planet Pluto , ' and Bart Bok , the scientist of the Milky Way — for helping frame my thoughts ...
Sisältö
14 | |
1948 | 27 |
A Revolution in Earth | 44 |
Impact | 58 |
19531960 | 69 |
19661968 | 101 |
19681969 | 113 |
19691970 | 126 |
19801995 | 184 |
19841995 | 197 |
1993 | 213 |
1994 | 225 |
19951997 | 241 |
1997 | 251 |
Epilogue | 262 |
Notes | 269 |