Ice, Rock, and Beauty

Ice, Rock, and Beauty is a book for anybody who lives in the solar neighborhood, and takes an interest in its significance to us as residents.

Human experience of the Solar System is changing rapidly. Techniques of observation from Earth-based telescopes continue to develop, while missions such as Voyager, Galileo, Cassini, and the Hubble Space Telescope have yielded many stunning images.

So although most people have some knowledge of the essential structure of the Solar System, relatively few are familiar with the amazing diversity of objects that travel with and amongst the planets in their journeys around the Sun.

The book gathers images from a rich pool, many from national and international organizations such as NASA and ESA, some directly from academic astronomers, and a few from private individuals. Together they tell a story of the Solar System, and of its beauty, that has not been told before.