Saturn: The Complete Guide (Hardcover)

This book is a complete guide to Saturn and our current understanding of it.

Saturn takes a path from the early history of the development of our understanding of the most distant planet seen by naked eye observations, and brings the reader to a position of being informed of the latest results and current understanding of this giant planet, its rings and satellites.

In the first part of this book, the authors provide a background for the Saturn systems, building on the initial activities of Cassini and Huygens, whose fundamental activities 350 years ago provided a firm basis for our current knowledge. These historical discussions set the scene of the issues of the time, and the fundamental matters that concerned them. They shaped our knowledge with their major discoveries using very basic instruments.

There follows an explanation of our understanding of Saturn, its rings, satellites and environment developed from centuries of ground-based – and now spacecraft – observations from Voyager, Cassini and space-borne telescope systems on Hubble. The penultimate part of the book looks at the current state of our understanding of the Saturn system and Titan (its largest moon), and identifies the many questions which still remain unresolved.

But that is not the end. We have still more to learn and understand about this beautiful and perplexing planet, so in the final chapter the authors discuss the future missions to Saturn, and to Titan, its most intriguing moon.

Professor Garry Hunt, BSc, PhD, DSc is a scientist, businessman, broadcaster and author, who has been an experimenter with several NASA missions; in particular the Voyager mission to the outer planets. After a distinguished academic career with senior positions at University College London, Imperial College London and many visiting Professorships in the US, he has maintained a major business career holding Directorships in more than 16 companies worldwide. In 1989 he was awarded by ITN/LWT the scientist of the decade award for his TV communication of space science to the public. Garry is a Freeman of the City of London; a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and in 2002 was awarded a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for Community Services. Garry currently writes regularly for the Sky at Night Magazine.

Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS has written over 60 books on astronomy. Since April 1957, he has presented every one of the monthly BBC TV Sky at Night programs. He is a distinguished astronomer who has made a significant contribution to the communication of astronomy to the public at large and his numerous books have been an inspiration for many professional and amateur astronomers. His unique contribution to astronomy and its communication to the public have been recognized by many honorary degrees, and in 2001 by a Knighthood, a Fellowship of the Royal Society and a BAFTA award for his services to television.