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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Two hundred years after the first asteroid was discovered, asteroids can no longer be considered mere points of light in the sky. Spacecraft missions, advanced Earth-based observation techniques, and state-of-the-art numerical models are continually revealing the detailed shapes, structures, geological properties, and orbital characteristics of these smaller denizens of our solar system. This volume brings together the latest information obtained by spacecraft, combined with astronomical observations and theoretical modeling, to present our best current understanding of asteroids and the clues they reveal for the origin and evolution of the solar system. This collective knowledge, prepared by a team of more than one hundred international authorities on asteroids, includes new insights into asteroid-meteorite connections, possible relationships with comets, and the hazards posed by asteroids colliding with Earth. The book's contents include reports on surveys based on remote observation and summaries of physical properties; results of in situ exploration; studies of dynamical, collisional, cosmochemical, and weathering evolutionary processes; and discussions of asteroid families and the relationships between asteroids and other solar system bodies. Two previous Space Science Series volumes have established standards for research into asteroids. Asteroids III carries that tradition forward in a book that will stand as the definitive source on its subject for the next decade.

(Extracted from the press release).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-PART 1: INTRODUCTION.
-An Overview of the Asteroids: The Asteroids III Perspective. W. F. Bottke Jr., A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, and R. P. Binzel.
-Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres. G. Foderà Serio, A. Manara, and P. Sicoli.

-PART II: REMOTE OBSERVATIONS.
2.1. Surveys: Numbers, Orbits, Biases, and Size Distributions.
-Asteroid Orbit Computation. E. Bowell, J. Virtanen, K. Muinonen, and A. Boattini.
-Near-Earth Asteroid Search Programs. G. H. Stokes, J. B. Evans, and S. M. Larson.
-Asteroid Close Approaches: Analysis and Potential Impact Detection. A. Milani, S. R. Chesley, P. W. Chodas, and G. B. Valsecchi.
-Observational Selection Effects in Asteroid Surveys. R. Jedicke, J. Larsen, and T. Spahr.
-The Comparison of Size-Frequency Distributions of Impact Craters and Asteroids and the Planetary Cratering Rate. B. A. Ivanov, G. Neukum, W. F. Bottke Jr., and W. K. Hartmann.
2.2. Physical Properties: Sizes, Shapes, Spins, and Composition.
-Asteroid Masses and Densities. J. L. Hilton.
-Asteroid Rotations. P. Pravec, A. W. Harris, and T. Michalowski.
-Asteroid Photometric and Polarimetric Phase Effects. K. Muinonen, J. Piironen, Yu. G. Shkuratov, A. Ovcharenko, and B. E. Clark.
-Asteroid Models from Disk-integrated Data. M. Kaasalainen, S. Mottola, and M. Fulchignoni.
-Asteroid Radar Astronomy. S. J. Ostro, R. S. Hudson, L. A. M. Benner, J. D. Giorgini, C. Magri, J. L. Margot, and M. C. Nolan.
-Visible-Wavelength Spectroscopy of Asteroids. S. J. Bus, F. Vilas, and M. A. Barucci.
-Mineralogy of Asteroids. M. J. Gaffey, E. A. Cloutis, M. S. Kelley, and K. L. Reed.
-Asteroids in the Thermal Infrared. A. W. Harris and J. S. V. Lagerros.
-Observations from Orbiting Platforms. E. Dotto, M. A. Barucci, T. G. Müller, A. D. Storrs, and P. Tanga.
-Hydrated Minerals on Asteroids: The Astronomical Record. A. S. Rivkin, E. S. Howell, F. Vilas, and L. A. Lebofsky.
-Physical Properties of Near-Earth Objects. R. P. Binzel, D. Lupishko, M. Di Martino, R. J. Whiteley, and G. J. Hahn.
-Physical Properties of Trojan and Centaur Asteroids. M. A. Barucci, D. P. Cruikshank, S. Mottola, and M. Lazzarin.
-Asteroids Do Have Satellites. W. J. Merline, S. J. Weidenschilling, D. D. Durda, J. L. Margot, P. Pravec, and A. D. Storrs.

-PART III: IN SITU EXPLORATION.
-Cratering on Asteroids from Galileo and NEAR Shoemaker. C. R. Chapman.
-Asteroid Geology from Galileo and NEAR Shoemaker Data. R. J. Sullivan, P. C. Thomas, S. L. Murchie, and M. S. Robinson.
-Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous: Mission Summary. A. F. Cheng.
-Spacecraft Exploration of Asteroids: The 2001 Perspective. R. Farquhar, J. Kawaguchi, C. Russell, G. Schwehm, J. Veverka, and D. Yeomans.

-PART IV: EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES.
4.1. Dynamical.
-Regular and Chaotic Dynamics in the Mean-Motion Resonances: Implications for the Structure and Evolution of the Asteroid Belt. D. Nesvorný, S. Ferraz-Mello, M. Holman, and A. Morbidelli.
-The Effect of Yarkovsky Thermal Forces on the Dynamical Evolution of Asteroids and Meteoroids. W. F. Bottke Jr., D. Vokrouhlický, D. P. Rubincam, and M. Broz.
-Origin and Evolution of Near-Earth Objects. A. Morbidelli, W. F. Bottke Jr., Ch. Froeschlé, and P. Michel.
4.2. Collisional.
-Asteroidal Dust. S. F. Dermott, D. D. Durda, K. Grogan, and T. J. J. Kehoe.
-Asteroid Impacts: Laboratory Experiments and Scaling Laws. K. Holsapple, I. Giblin, K. Housen, A. Nakamura, and E. Ryan.
-Asteroid Interiors. E. Asphaug, E. V. Ryan, and M. T. Zuber.
-Asteroid Density, Porosity, and Structure. D. T. Britt, D. Yeomans, K. Housen, and G. Consolmagno.
-Gravitational Aggregates: Evidence and Evolution. D. C. Richardson, Z. M. Leinhardt, H. J. Melosh, W. F. Bottke Jr., and E. Asphaug.
-Side Effects of Collisions: Spin Rate Changes, Tumbling Rotation States, and Binary Asteroids. P. Paolicchi, J. A. Burns, and S. J. Weidenschilling.
-The Fate of Asteroid Ejecta. D. J. Scheeres, D. D. Durda, and P. E. Geissler.
-Collisional Evolution of Small-Body Populations. D. R. Davis, D. D. Durda, F. Marzari, A. Campo Bagatin, and R. Gil-Hutton.
4.3. Cosmochemical.
-Thermal Evolution Models of Asteroids. H. Y. McSween Jr., A. Ghosh, R. E. Grimm, L. Wilson, and E. D. Young.
-Geological History of Asteroid 4 Vesta: The "Smallest Terrestrial Planet". K. Keil.
4.4. Space Weathering.
-Asteroid Space Weathering and Regolith Evolution. B. E. Clark, B. Hapke, C. Pieters, and D. Britt.

-PART V: HISTORY AND INTERRELATIONS WITH OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES.
5.1. Asteroid Families.
-The Determination of Asteroid Proper Elements. Z. Knezevic, A. Lemaître, and A. Milani.
-Asteroid Family Indentification. Ph. Bendjoya and V. Zappalà.
-Physical and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families. V. Zappalà, A. Cellino, A. Dell'Oro, and P. Paolicchi.
-Spectroscopic Properties of Asteroid Families. A. Cellino, S. J. Bus, A. Doressoundiram, and D. Lazzaro.
5.2. Relationships.
-Asteroid Meteoroid Streams. T. J. Jopek, G. B. Valsecchi, and Cl. Froeschlé.
-Meteoritic Parent Bodies: Their Number and Identification. T. H. Burbine, T. J. McCoy, A. Meibom, B. Gladman, and K. Keil.
-Evolution of Comets into Asteroids. P. R. Weissman, W. F. Bottke Jr., and H. F. Levison.
5.3. Origins.
-Chronology of Asteroid Accretion and Differentiation. A. Shukolyukov and G. W. Lugmair.
-Meteorite Evidence for the Accretion and Collisional Evolution of Asteroids. E. R. D. Scott.
-Primordial Excitation and Depletion of the Main Belt. J.-M. Petit, J. Chambers, F. Franklin, and M. Nagasawa.
-Origin and Evolution of Trojan Asteroids. F. Marzari, H. Scholl, C. Murray, and C. Lagerkvist.
5.4. The Impact Hazard.
-Dealing with the Impact Hazard. D. Morrison, A. W. Harris, G. Sommer, C. R. Chapman, and A. Carusi.

-PART VI: DATABASES.
-Asteroid Data Archiving in the Planetary Data System. C. L. Neese, E. J. Grayzeck, and M. V. Sykes.

-Color Section.
-Glossary.
-Index.