Centaurs

Centaur research is entering a transformative era. Centaurs are small, icy bodies in the solar system's giant planet region. They spent 4.5 Gyr in cold storage in Trans-Neptunian populations before recently ( 10 Myr ago) moving onto giant-planet-crossing orbits. Studying them helps us understand thermal and cometary processes from the early solar system. This is the first book dedicated to Centaurs, featuring contributions from over 60 experts. It covers their discovery, current knowledge on observations, modeling, experiments, and mission concepts. Highlighting their significance, the book discusses exciting developments from the Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), JWST, and other observatories, offering recommendations for future studies and exploration.Key features: - First comprehensive reference text on Centaurs. - Fills the large gap in reference texts between TNOs and JFCs. - Centaurs have been highlighted in the two most recent National Academy of Sciences planetary science decadal releases, were the main targets and focus of at least two space missions proposed in the last few years, and have just been added to the target list for NASA's New Frontiers program. - The study and knowledge of Centaurs will be transformed by new facilities and assets coming online such as JWST and the Vera Rubin Observatory.