The Exoplanets Revolution

The Exoplanets Revolution PDF Author: James Lequeux
Publisher: EDP Sciences
ISBN: 2759822117
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
More than 4300 planets around nearby stars! Who could have imagined this extraordinary harvest only thirty years ago? As the vast majority of stars are surrounded by planets, we can surmise that there must be more than a hundred billion planets in our Galaxy. The Solar system is therefore very far from unique. However, it looks quite different from most of the external systems that we know today, but the variety of planetary systems is such that it is difficult to conclude that the Solar System is truly particular. Understanding how diverse planet systems were formed and how they evolved, studying the nature of exoplanets and their atmospheres, are challenges that hundreds of researchers around the world are working on. Does any of these planets harbor life? We do not yet have an answer, but the new means of observation and analysis that astronomers have and will soon have at their disposal are so powerful that they could give a first answer in a few decades, and perhaps even in a few years if we are lucky. This book gives a comprehensive vision of this complex and fascinating area of research, presented in a simple and lively way.

The Exoplanets Revolution

The Exoplanets Revolution PDF Author: James Lequeux
Publisher: EDP Sciences
ISBN: 2759822117
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
More than 4300 planets around nearby stars! Who could have imagined this extraordinary harvest only thirty years ago? As the vast majority of stars are surrounded by planets, we can surmise that there must be more than a hundred billion planets in our Galaxy. The Solar system is therefore very far from unique. However, it looks quite different from most of the external systems that we know today, but the variety of planetary systems is such that it is difficult to conclude that the Solar System is truly particular. Understanding how diverse planet systems were formed and how they evolved, studying the nature of exoplanets and their atmospheres, are challenges that hundreds of researchers around the world are working on. Does any of these planets harbor life? We do not yet have an answer, but the new means of observation and analysis that astronomers have and will soon have at their disposal are so powerful that they could give a first answer in a few decades, and perhaps even in a few years if we are lucky. This book gives a comprehensive vision of this complex and fascinating area of research, presented in a simple and lively way.

Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems

Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems PDF Author: Tahir Yaqoob
Publisher: New Earth Labs
ISBN: 0974168920
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
An unprecedented number of planets outside of the solar system have been found, with an explosion in the number of discoveries in recent years. Find out what has been happening in this rapidly advancing arena of human exploration, what these extrasolar planets are like, and why some traditional ideas face being thrown out.

How Do You Find an Exoplanet?

How Do You Find an Exoplanet? PDF Author: John Asher Johnson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691156816
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
An authoritative primer on the cutting-edge science of planet hunting Alien worlds have long been a staple of science fiction. But today, thanks to modern astronomical instrumentation and the achievements of many enterprising observational astronomers, the existence of planets outside our solar system—also known as exoplanets—has moved into the realm of science fact. With planet hunters finding ever smaller, more Earth-like worlds, our understanding of the cosmos is forever changed, yet the question of how astronomers make these discoveries often goes unanswered. How Do You Find an Exoplanet? is an authoritative primer on the four key techniques that today's planet hunters use to detect the feeble signals of planets orbiting distant stars. John Johnson provides you with an insider’s perspective on this exciting cutting-edge science, showing how astronomers detect the wobble of stars caused by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet, the slight diminution of light caused by a planet eclipsing its star, and the bending of space-time by stars and their planets, and how astronomers even directly take pictures of planets next to their bright central stars. Accessible to anyone with a basic foundation in college-level physics, How Do You Find an Exoplanet? sheds new light on the prospect of finding life outside our solar system, how surprising new observations suggest that we may not fully understand how planets form, and much more.

Envisioning Exoplanets

Envisioning Exoplanets PDF Author: Michael Carroll
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588346919
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Come along for the captivating hunt for planets like our own Envisioning Exoplanets traces the journey of astronomers and researchers on their quest to explore the universe for a planet like Earth. Exoplanets--worlds beyond our solar system--were once dismissed as science fiction. But now, with more than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, countless possibilities exist for what remains to be uncovered in the universe. This book follows the exhilarating progression of exoplanet research from its earliest stages operating on the fringes of scientific research to the newest developments of renowned agencies around the world searching for planets capable of hosting life. Featuring provocative questions about the universe and more than 200 remarkable illustrations from Michael Caroll, Ron Miller, and other key members of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, Envisioning Exoplanets is an intergalactic visual voyage.

The Exoplanet Handbook

The Exoplanet Handbook PDF Author: Michael Perryman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108419771
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 973

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Book Description
A complete and in-depth review of exoplanet research, covering the discovery methods, physics and theoretical background.

Exoplanet Science Strategy

Exoplanet Science Strategy PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030947941X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
The past decade has delivered remarkable discoveries in the study of exoplanets. Hand-in-hand with these advances, a theoretical understanding of the myriad of processes that dictate the formation and evolution of planets has matured, spurred on by the avalanche of unexpected discoveries. Appreciation of the factors that make a planet hospitable to life has grown in sophistication, as has understanding of the context for biosignatures, the remotely detectable aspects of a planet's atmosphere or surface that reveal the presence of life. Exoplanet Science Strategy highlights strategic priorities for large, coordinated efforts that will support the scientific goals of the broad exoplanet science community. This report outlines a strategic plan that will answer lingering questions through a combination of large, ambitious community-supported efforts and support for diverse, creative, community-driven investigator research.

Planet Hunters

Planet Hunters PDF Author: Lucas Ellerbroek
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780238789
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Astronomers are on the verge of answering one of our most profound questions: are we alone in the universe? The ability to detect life in remote solar systems is at last within sight, and its discovery—even if only in microbial form—would revolutionize our self-image. Planet Hunters is the rollicking tale of the search for extraterrestrial life and the history of an academic discipline. Astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek takes readers on a fantastic voyage through space, time, history, and even to the future as he describes the field of exoplanet research, from the early ideas of sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno to the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 to the invention of the Kepler Space Telescope. We join him on his travels as he meets with leading scientists in the field, including Michel Mayor, who discovered the first exoplanet, and Bill Borucki, principal investigator for NASA’s Kepler mission. Taken together, the experiences, passion, and perseverance of the scientists featured here make the book an exciting and compelling read. Presenting cutting-edge research in a dynamic and accessible way, Planet Hunters is a refreshing look into a field where new discoveries come every week and paradigms shift every year.

The Astronomy Revolution

The Astronomy Revolution PDF Author: Donald G. York
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1439836019
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
Some 400 years after the first known patent application for a telescope by Hans Lipperhey, The Astronomy Revolution: 400 Years of Exploring the Cosmos surveys the effects of this instrument and explores the questions that have arisen out of scientific research in astronomy and cosmology. Inspired by the international New Vision 400 conference held

The Life of Super-Earths

The Life of Super-Earths PDF Author: Dimitar Sasselov
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN: 046502193X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
An astronomy professor at Harvard University discusses the possibilities of finding other worlds that sustain alien life forms, citing recent breakthroughs in biology and exoplanetary astronomy, including the recent discovery of arsenic-based bacteria in a California lake.

The Little Book of Exoplanets

The Little Book of Exoplanets PDF Author: Joshua N. Winn
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691221170
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A concise and accessible introduction to exoplanets that explains the cutting-edge science behind recent discoveries For centuries, people have speculated about the possibility of planets orbiting distant stars, but only since the 1990s has technology allowed astronomers to detect them. At this point, more than five thousand such exoplanets have been identified, with the pace of discovery accelerating after the launch of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the Webb Space Telescope. In The Little Book of Exoplanets, Princeton astrophysicist Joshua Winn offers a brief and engaging introduction to the search for exoplanets and the cutting-edge science behind recent findings. In doing so, he chronicles the dawn of a new age of discovery—one that has rapidly transformed astronomy and our broader understanding of the universe. Scientists now know that many Sun-like stars host their own systems of planets, some of which may resemble our solar system and include planets similar to the Earth. But, Winn tells us, the most remarkable discoveries so far have been of planets with unexpected and decidedly un-Earth-like properties, which have upended what we thought we knew about the origins of planetary systems. Winn provides an inside view of the sophisticated detective work astronomers perform as they find and study exoplanets and describes the surprising—sometimes downright bizarre—planets and systems they have found. He explains how these discoveries are revolutionizing astronomy, and he explores the current status and possible future of the search for another Earth. Finally, drawing on his own and other scientists’ work, he considers how the discovery of exoplanets and their faraway solar systems changes our perspectives on the universe and our place in it.