Solar System Dynamics

The Solar System is a complex and fascinating dynamical system. This is the first textbook to describe comprehensively the dynamical features of the Solar System and to provide students with all the necessary mathematical tools and physical models they need to understand how it works. Clearly written and well illustrated, Solar System Dynamics provides students with a complete introduction to understanding the intricate and often beautiful resonant structure of the Solar System. Step-by-step, it shows how a basic knowledge of the two- and three-body problems and perturbation theory can be combined to understand features as diverse as the tidal heating of Jupiter's moon Io, the unusual rotation of Saturn's moon Hyperion, the origin of the Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt, the radial structure of Saturn's A ring, and the long-term stability of the Solar System. Problems at the end of each chapter and a free Internet Mathematica(software package (that includes animations and computational tools) are provided to help students to test and develop their understanding. Solar System Dynamics provides students with a clear, comprehensive and authoritative textbook for courses on Solar System dynamics, planetary dynamics and celestial mechanics. It also provides the necessary mathematical tools for them tackle more general courses on dynamics, dynamical systems, applications of chaos theory and non-linear dynamics. This is a benchmark publication in the field of planetary dynamics and destined to become a classic.