Contemporary Authors

• Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System - June 5, 2018 Bloomsbury Sigma,

• Natalie Starkey - https://www.nataliestarkey.com/

  About
  My book Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System is OUT NOW!

  Catching Stardust book cover
  Synopsis: Icy, rocky, sometimes dusty, always mysterious – comets and asteroids are among the Solar System’s very oldest inhabitants, formed within a swirling cloud of gas and dust in the area of space that eventually hosted the Sun and its planets. Locked within each of these extra-terrestrial objects is the 4.6-billion-year wisdom of Solar System events, and by studying them at close quarters using spacecraft we can coerce them into revealing their closely-guarded secrets. This offers us the chance to answer some fundamental questions about our planet and its inhabitants.

  Exploring comets and asteroids also allows us to shape the story of Earth’s future, enabling us to protect our precious planet from the threat of a catastrophic impact from space, and maybe to even recover valuable raw materials from them. This cosmic bounty could be as useful in space as it is on Earth, providing the necessary fuel and supplies for humans as they voyage into deep space to explore more distant locations within the Solar System.

  Catching Stardust tells the story of these enigmatic celestial objects, revealing how scientists are using them to help understand a crucial time in our history – the birth of the Solar System, and everything contained within it.

  Reviews for Catching Stardust:

  “Natalie Starkey has packed this book full of information on the minor bodies of our solar system, which are key to understanding how things got the way they are today – a must-have for anyone interested in where we came from.” – Matt Taylor, ESA Rosetta Project Scientist.

  “A fast-paced journey through time and space, under the enthusiastic guidance of space geologist Natalie Starkey. Highly recommended.” Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary Sciences, The Open University.

  “Catching Stardust describes humanity’s place in the universe, laying out the pivotal role asteroids and comets play in our origin. Dr. Starkey combines her breadth of knowledge and a keen ability to present and interconnect concepts including Earth’s geology, planetary exploration, and the compositional insights hidden in samples of small bodies. Catching Stardust builds a strong case why continuing to explore small bodies is so important to understanding our past and in shaping our future.” Jessica Sunshine, Professor of Astronomy, University of Maryland.

  “Kudos for Catching Stardust, an enjoyably engaging recount of the role that comets and asteroids play in teaching us how our Solar System formed and evolved over more than 4.5 billion years. The focus is on advances in the past 25 years and includes current thinking and unanswered questions that is both expertly and accurately written. It reads like an adventure tale.” Lucy McFadden, Emerita at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

  “Both highly informative and intriguing, Starkey successfully crafts an engaging narrative while delivering a bus-load of trivia in an engaging and accessible manner. This is definitely one for geologists and future spacefarers alike.” 5 star review, ‘How It Works’ Magazine.

  “What stands out about this book, however, are the chapters describing two recent missions to comets: Stardust and Rosetta. Natalie Starkey’s experience working on these missions has enabled her to provide clear and insightful descriptions of them and their results, with a few wonderfully random details thrown in.” 5 star review by Penny Wozniakiewicz for ‘The Sky at Night Magazine’.

  “This book tells you everything you could possibly want to know about comets and asteroids in a way which can be understood by someone without a scientific background. Catching Stardust is written with great zest and enthusiasm, and with a conversational, rather than an academic tone. Catching Stardust is a great read for anyone wishing to find out about asteroids and comets, and their place in space and on Earth.” AboutMiltonKeynes.co.uk

  “Starkey makes this dense subject readily accessible to all, while downplaying her own significant contributions. A top-rate popular-science title.” Dan Kaplan, Booklist Online

  “Geologist Starkey expertly details the current understanding of comets and asteroids, and how they function as snapshots of the universe at an earlier point in time, thereby providing insight into such areas as the formation of the solar system and the possibility of extraterrestrial life … The book provides an informative and valuable introduction to the field, from an author clearly knowledgeable and passionate about her work.” Publisher’s Weekly.

  “In an expert account, Starkey, a British geologist and space scientist who lives in California, argues that particles, rocks, asteroids, and comets deserve more attention. … A successful introduction to the hitherto neglected bits and pieces of our solar system.” Kirkus Reviews.

  “In her debut book “Catching Stardust,” space scientist Natalie Starkey breaks down misconceptions about comets and asteroids while delving into some of the reasons why it is so vital that we study them. … She doesn’t shy away from controversial topics, either — she tackles the topics of asteroid mining and asteroid collision with factuality, openness, and ease. And, while some of the terms and scientific concepts in the book might seem intimidating at first, Starkey does an expert job laying out explanations in a way that is uniquely accessible.” Chelsea Gohd, Space.com

  Photo credit: Elizabeth Mason
  Welcome to my website and blog. I’m currently based in California where I work as a science communicator and writer. My academic background is in geology, geochemistry and cosmochemistry. I’ve studied ancient volcanoes in the Arctic, active volcanoes in Iceland and the Caribbean, and more recently I’ve analysed specks of space dust from comets and asteroids to find out about the early days of the Solar System.
  I’ve also been lucky to work with NASA on samples collected by the Stardust mission to Comet Wild2, and with JAXA on asteroid samples returned by the Hayabusa mission to Itokawa. I was also involved with the Ptolemy instrument on the ESA Rosetta comet lander.

  My first book Catching Stardust was released in 2018 and I am currently researching my second popular science book: Fire & Ice: Space Volcanoes. At the same time, I write freelance articles for popular science magazines, having worked with BBC Focus, All About Space and New Scientist. I’m also a science host for Neil deGrasse Tyson’s popular StarTalk Radio podcast.

Print Marked Items
Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids, and the Birth of
the Solar System
Publishers Weekly.
265.18 (Apr. 30, 2018): p53.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids, and the Birth of the Solar System
Natalie Starkey. Bloomsbury, $27 (256p)
ISBN 978-1-4729-4400-9
Geologist Starkey expertly details the current understanding of comets and asteroids, and how they function as snapshots of the universe at an
earlier point in time, thereby providing insight into such areas as the formation of the solar system and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Starkey begins with an explanation of how these objects are formed, classified, and studied, and how scientists use the information obtained from
them. This background allows for a fuller appreciation of the ingenuity and value of the NASA Stardust, ESA (European Space Agency) Rosetta,
and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa space-probes, discussed at length. In addition to these recent fact-finding missions,
all of which Starkey was involved with, she discusses how a wide range of topics, from the motion of planets to the composition of cosmic dust,
relate to the study of comets and asteroids, and concludes with how these studies might aid humanity should Earth collide with an extraterrestrial
object. Throughout, Starkey's explanations of scientific terms and concepts are generally clear and understandable, aided by a useful glossary. The
book provides an informative and valuable introduction to the field, from an author clearly knowledgeable and passionate about her work. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids, and the Birth of the Solar System." Publishers Weekly, 30 Apr. 2018, p. 53. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537852294/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fc092e7a. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537852294

• Kirkus Reviews
  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/natalie-starkey/catching-stardust/
  Word count: 360

  CATCHING STARDUST
  Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
  by Natalie Starkey
  BUY NOW FROM

  GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
  Email Address
  Enter email

  Email this review
  KIRKUS REVIEW
  An exploration of “the small space objects such as the comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun.”

  Popular cosmology books usually focus on stars, the sun, and planets, giving short shrift to everything in between. In an expert account, Starkey, a British geologist and space scientist who lives in California, argues that particles, rocks, asteroids, and comets deserve more attention. The Earth has changed a great deal since the birth of the solar system over 4 billion years ago, but cosmic dust from the birth is still out there along with larger bodies. Comets and asteroids have their own histories, and some dust has existed since near the beginning of the universe, so studying them “means we can understand how our planets were put together and what they contain.” Readers will pay close attention when the author asks a significant question: Where did Earth acquire water and the carbon-containing organic compounds essential for life? She reminds us that scientists believe that planets formed from clumping dust grains that swirled around a hot central mass that became the sun. Pummeled by a rain of other small bodies (planetesimals) and heated by volcanism, the early Earth was too hot for water to condense and complex organic chemicals to form. Only beyond the orbit of Mars were temperatures low enough for volatiles (water, methane, ammonia) to solidify into lighter planetesimals, comets, which often migrated inward and fell upon Earth. Readers familiar with NASA’s robots’ landing on Mars and missions to the outer planets may be surprised at Starkey’s later chapters, which describe probes sent to comets that landed and scooped up samples to return to Earth to educate (and confuse) researchers.

  A successful introduction to the hitherto neglected bits and pieces of our solar system.

  Pub Date: June 5th, 2018
  ISBN: 978-1-4729-4400-9
  Page count: 256pp
  Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma

• Science
  http://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2018/06/04/catching-stardust/
  Word count: 514

  Books, Et Al.
  Book and media reviews from the journal Science, edited by Valerie Thompson.

  Valerie Thompson
  Valerie Thompson, Editor
  BOOK ASTRONOMY, GEOLOGY
  Catching Stardust
  By Charlotte Götz 4 June, 2018

  Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
  Natalie Starkey
  Bloomsbury Sigma
  2018
  256 pp.
  Purchase this item now
  Comets, with their glistening dust tails, have fascinated humanity from our earliest days. The comet Halley, for example, is depicted on the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry, where it represents a bad omen for an upcoming battle. But should these tiny Solar System objects be feared? Natalie Starkey’s answer is a resounding no. In her book Catching Stardust, comets—and their rockier counterparts, asteroids—are instead revered because they are key to understanding how the Solar System and its planets formed, evolved, and ultimately led to life on Earth. “Comets and asteroids can be viewed as visitors from a distant place, not only in space but also in time,” she writes. “[T]hey bring with them material collected up from the very beginning of the solar system.”

  Using her background in geology, Starkey breaks down the categories of small Solar System bodies. Meteorites, she explains, are the debris left over from asteroids after they have traveled through our atmosphere. This makes them the easiest asteroids to study, but easy access comes with a trade-off: Meteorites are heated and deformed during their descent; thus, drawing conclusions about some of an original asteroid’s properties (e.g., its “fluffiness”—the density of the comet compared to its volume—or its ice content) is not possible.

  Having described the limitations of studying meteorites, Starkey seamlessly transitions to a discussion of the European Rosetta mission, which spent 2 years orbiting the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and was able to capture data about some of these hard-to-measure properties.
  Comets, in particular, which have spent most of their existence far from the reaches of the Sun, offer insight into the birth of planets and the shifts in their orbits over time. After the Solar System had outgrown its infancy, comets may have altered Earth in another important way: bringing water or even the building blocks of life to our planet.

  Although the book could have benefited from a more detailed look into the results from the astonishing Rosetta mission, the overall story of comets and asteroids is well presented and bridges many gaps between different observational methods.

  But why should we care how fluffy cometary dust is or how much metal is in an asteroid? In the first chapter, we learn that comets and asteroids are the perfect “space lab” to study the conditions that prevailed in the solar nebula. “Without the invention of a time-travel machine,” she writes, “this is our best chance of understanding a crucial time in our history.”

  About the author

  The reviewer is at the Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.

• The Space Review
  http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3513/1
  Word count: 717

  book cover
  Review: Catching Stardust
  by Jeff Foust
  Monday, June 18, 2018
  Comments (1)
  Bookmark and Share
  Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
  by Natalie Starkey
  Bloomsbury Sigma, 2018
  hardcover, 256 pp., illus.
  ISBN 978-1-4729-4400-9
  US$27.00

  You could call this the summer of asteroids. The Japanese space agency JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is currently just a few hundred kilometers away from asteroid Ryugu, moving ever closer on a mission that will ultimately bring it in contact with the object to collect samples for return to Earth. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, meanwhile, will begin in August the “approach phase” of its mission as it comes within two million kilometers of the asteroid Bennu, arriving there in December to eventually collect samples as well for return to Earth.

  Why asteroids are important enough to merit such missions—and comets missions of their own—is the subject of Chasing Stardust by Natalie Starkey. A cosmochemist and science communicator, she offers a straightforward overview of the scientific interest in studying these small bodies, including why we go to so much effort to try and retrieve samples from them.

  That scientific importance is primarily linked to these small bodies being remnants from the formation of the solar system. “Without understanding the basic building blocks of the Solar System, the comets and asteroids, we can’t begin to comprehend how the planets, and everything they contain, were formed,” she argues early in the book. Much of the book examines science related to that, such as the roles those bodies may have played in delivering water to the early Earth.

  “Without understanding the basic building blocks of the Solar System, the comets and asteroids, we can’t begin to comprehend how the planets, and everything they contain, were formed,” she argues.
  Of course, when most people think of asteroids in particular, they’re less interested in their science than in their roles as either resources for humanity’s future or threats to its survival on Earth. Each topic gets a chapter of its own late in the book, although events in some cases have overtaken their contents: the chapter on space mining, for example, refers to the Google Lunar X PRIZE and NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission in the present tense, although the Google-funded prize has expired and ARM has been cancelled. The chapter on impact threats mentions ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission which was to fly with NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test mission to test asteroid deflection techniques; DART will be going it alone after ESA decided not to fund development of AIM.

  Starkey also profiles a couple of the missions that have contributed to our knowledge of comets and asteroids: NASA’s Stardust spacecraft that flew past a comet and collected dust samples for return to Earth, and ESA’s Rosetta mission to the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Surprisingly, JAXA’s original Hayabusa mission isn’t similarly profiled, and only mentioned in passing in several places in the book, despite being the first and, to date, only mission to return samples from an asteroid. (The fact that Hayabusa was able to do so despite a series of significant technical problems makes it all the more interesting, and dramatic enough to warrant several feature films in Japan.)

  Overall, Chasing Stardust is a basic, but detailed, account of the studies of asteroids and comets and why they’re important to understanding the solar system. The book isn’t a first-person account of her own research, or profiles of people involved in this field; she focuses on the science, not the people doing it. But if you’re wondering why there’s such interest in sending spacecraft to asteroids and comets—and in some cases coming back with samples of them—this book is a good place to start to learn more about the solar system’s small, but important, bodies.

  Jeff Foust (jeff@thespacereview.com) is the editor and publisher of The Space Review, and a senior staff writer with SpaceNews. He also operates the Spacetoday.net web site. Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone.