EDITORIAL INFORMATION

If, on the occasion of the latest encounter with the comet Halley in 1986 and the recent collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy against Jupiter, comets have lost some of their mystery for the public, they do awake an even greater interest on the part of those who search for them in contrast. Being the latest vestiges of the origins of the Solar System, they constitute an exceptional natural laboratory where extreme conditions reign, from the point of view of the experts in physics.

As this work by Jacques Crovisier and Thérèse Encrenaz reveals in a clear, lively style, comets will never cease to astonish and fascinate us.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Sommaire.

-Préface. Roger Maurice Bonnet.

-1. Les Comètes, l'Histoire et la Science.

-2. Qu'est-ce qu'une Comète?

-3. Observations Visuelles.

-4. Spectroscopie: le Visible et l'Ultraviolet.

-5. Une Étape Essentielle.

-6. Les Techniques Nouvelles: l'Infrarouge et la Radio.

-7. Les Noyaux Cométaires et Leur Activité.

-8. La Collision de la Comète Shoemaker-Levy 9 et de Jupiter.

-9. La Nature des Comètes.

-10. Les Comètes et l'Histoire du Système Solaire.

-11. Le Devenir de la Recherche Cométaire.

-Annexes.

-Glossaire.

-Bibliographie.

-Table des Matières.

OUR REVIEW

In an astronomic field of study as the research of comets is, we must congratulate ourselves when such a work like this one appears in the market, in this case most specifically the French speaking market, to update us from time to time with respect to what we know on these fascinating bodies.

Here we will find a brief history of the discovery and the science of comets, a detailed description of their physical characteristics with respect to the latest data obtained so far, and of course, a detailed narrative of the two most important events of these last years, the visit of the comet Halley and the crash of Shoemaker-Levy-9 against gaseous Jupiter.

Profusely illustrated, this is a book that avoids excessive technicalities and introduces us into the matter step by step. Its authors don't forget the future in the study of comets, and also offer us a careful bibliography as well as very useful tables of data.