SOLAR SURVEYORS: Observing the Sun from Space (Springer-Praxis, July 2022)
This is the story of humankind’s quest over centuries to learn the true nature of the most dominant object in our Solar System: the Sun.
Award-winning science writer Peter Bond describes in detail how our ideas about the Sun have changed over the millennia, starting with the simple observations of classical astronomy and continuing through telescopic observations to the age of nuclear physics. He shows how we discovered the Sun’s basic characteristics – its distance, size, temperature and composition – and then describes how, with ever more sophisticated instruments, we have learned about the Sun’s enormous energy output, its atmosphere and the explosive eruptions that blast clouds of magnetized gas and high-energy particles toward our world.
Most of this book focuses on the Space Age, when suborbital rockets and satellites have probed every aspect of our nearby star. Each of these missions is described in detail, with summaries of their objectives, spacecraft designs, scientific payloads and results. The book also looks forward, describing forthcoming missions that will shed new light on remaining solar mysteries, notably the source of the energy that heats the outer corona to millions of degrees.
Richly illustrated with mission photos, design diagrams, and infocharts, this book is a fascinating read for anybody interested in the Sun and our attempts to unravel its secrets.
Peter Bond will be familiar to many readers as the author of 13 previous books (and innumerable articles) on astronomical topics. He has also worked as the space science advisor and press officer for the Royal Astronomical Society, and his depth of experience is evident in his writing. He has both a deep appreciation of the subject and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and concisely. As well as being an enjoyable read, this is destined to become a valuable reference work on the history of solar observation. Solar Surveyors is a highly readable and informative book, covering our attempts to observe and understand the most dominant object in our solar system. Highly recommended. (British Astronomical Association)
Solar Surveyors is a very comprehensive overview of mostly space-based solar and interplanetary missions dating from the earliest rocket launches to study solar X-ray and ultraviolet emission in the years following World War 2 to the latest probes still operating... The book would be very useful to those who are writing introductions to their PhD theses and perhaps the general reader who wishes to be familiar with the history of space solar physics... (The Observatory)
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