The Solar System

A concise, illustrated guide to the solar system. Just as the explorers of the sixteenth century unveiled the night skies, the Hubble space telescope and space probes such as Voyager, Pioneer and Cassini are expanding our knowledge of our neighbouring planetary worlds. New fields of research are opening up, such as the exploration of the asteroids and comets. Scientists have recently discovered a new family of trans-neptunal bodies as far away as Neptune's orbit. This discovery may even lead to the demotion of Pluto from a planet to a smaller body. This comprehensive reference explains the origin of stars and the sun and extensively covers each planet. It is illustrated with spectacular photographs and meticulous colour diagrams. * Detailed directory of web sites direct you to new sources of information. * An appealing, authoritative reference for any stargazer of any age. * Firefly Guides are a beautifully produced top-quality Mondadori-printed international co-edition series.