For Further Exploration
Note: Resources about exoplanets are provided in Chapter 21.
Articles
Meteors and Meteorites
Alper, J. “It Came from Outer Space.” Astronomy (November 2002): 36. On the analysis of organic materials in meteorites.
Beatty, J. “Catch a Fallen Star.” Sky & Telescope (August 2009): 22. On the recovery of meteorites from an impact that was seen in the sky.
Durda, D. “The Chelyabinsk Super-Meteor.” Sky & Telescope (June 2013): 24. A nice summary, with photos and eyewitness reporting.
Garcia, R., & Notkin, G. “Touching the Stars without Leaving Home.” Sky & Telescope (October 2008): 32. Hunting and collecting meteorites.
Kring, D. “Unlocking the Solar System’s Past.” Astronomy (August 2006): 32. Part of a special issue devoted to meteorites.
Rubin, A. “Secrets of Primitive Meteorites.” Scientific American (February 2013): 36. What they can teach us about the environment in which the solar system formed.
Evolution of the Solar System and Protoplanetary Disks
Jewitt, D., & Young, E. “Oceans from the Skies.” Scientific American (March 2015): 36–43. How did Earth and the other inner planets get their water after the initial hot period?
Talcott, R. “How the Solar System Came to Be.” Astronomy (November 2012): 24. On the formation period of the Sun and the planets.
Young, E. “Cloudy with a Chance of Stars.” Scientific American (February 2010): 34. On how clouds of interstellar matter turn into star systems.
Websites
Meteors and Meteorites
American Meteor Society: http://www.amsmeteors.org/. For serious observers.
British and Irish Meteorite Society: http://www.bimsociety.org/meteorites1.shtml.
Center for Meteorite Studies: https://meteorites.asu.edu/meteorites. This Center at Arizona State University has information for beginners under the tab “Meteorites.”
Meteorites from Mars: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/. A listing and links from the Jet Propulsion Lab.
Meteors and Meteor Showers: http://www.astronomy.com/observing/observe-the-solar-system/2010/04/meteors-and-meteor-showers. From Astronomy magazine.
Meteors: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/meteors/. A collection of articles on meteor observing from Sky & Telescope magazine.
Nine Planets Meteorites and Meteors Page: http://nineplanets.org/meteorites.html.
Some Interesting Meteorite Falls of the Last Two Centuries: http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/meteorites-1.html.
Evolution of the Solar System and Protoplanetary Disks
Circumstellar Disk Learning Site: http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~kalas/disksite/index.html. By Dr. Paul Kalas.
Disk Detective Project: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ssilverberg/disk-detective. The WISE mission is asking the public to help them find protoplanetary disks in their infrared data.
Videos
Meteors and Meteorites
Meteorites and Meteor-wrongs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQO335Y3zXo. Video with Dr. Randy Korotev of Washington U. in St. Louis (7:05).
Rare Meteorites from London’s Natural History Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Rsk-ywN44. A tour of the meteorite collection with curator Caroline Smith (18:22). Also see a short news piece about a martian meteorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EMR2r53f2s (2:54).
What Is a Meteor Shower (and How to Watch Them): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNmgvlwInCA. Top tips for watching meteor showers from the At-Bristol Science Center (3:18).
Evolution of the Solar System and Protoplanetary Disks
Origins of the Solar System: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/origins-solar-system.html. Video from Nova ScienceNow narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson (13:02).
Where Do Planets Come From?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIJUdZWlXo. Public talk by Anjali Tripathi in March 2016 in the Center for Astrophysics Observatory Nights Series (56:14).
