Could you eat a comet? Planetary geologist Harry McSween asks and answers such questions in his folksy, anecdotal introduction to planetary geology. McSween has a knack for imparting hard scientific fact with a light entertaining touch, as he takes the amateur astronomer or student on a tour of the solar system, exploring the geological forces at work on the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and the sun. The fundamental concepts of planetary geology - stratigraphy, volcanism, cratering, and crust formation - are illuminated through case studies of specific bodies where these traits are observed. Professor McSween takes the reader from the heavily impacted lunar surface past the newly understood comet Halley, to the "fire and ice" volcanoes of Io and Triton and beyond, with fascinating exploration of the possible links between the emergence of life on earth and the fierce bombardment of our planet by countless meteorites. Stardust to Planets features a great deal of recent research, which has never before been given popular treatment, serving as a thoroughly up-to-date and accessible introductory course on the makeup of the bodies in our solar system.

The Yellow Pages: Organizing the Solar System -- Watching the Man in the Moon: A Lunar Stratigraphic Time Scale -- Could You Eat a Comet? A Close Encounter with the Nucleus of Comet Halley -- Fire and Ice: Active Volcanism on Io and Triton -- Diamonds Are Forever: The Discovery of Stardust in Meteorites -- Bull's-Eye: Multiring Basins and Cataclysmic Impacts -- A Piece of the Red Planet: Meteorites from Mars? -- Hardened Hearts: Cores and Mantles of the Terrestrial Planets -- No Stone Left Unturned: Regoliths on the Moon, Asteroids, and Planets -- And Not a Drop to Drink: Water on Mars -- Keplerian Litter: The Mineralogy of Asteroids and Ring Particles -- From Sea to Shining Sea: Magma Oceans on the Moon and Planets -- A Goddess Unveiled: Magellan Reveals the Surface of Venus -- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Lump: Abundance of Elements in the Solar System -- Living in the Fast Lane: A Planetary Foothold for the Spark of Life.