Exoplanets

Beschreibung

Since 1992 there has been an explosion in the discovery of planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. There are now around 600 alien planets that we know about and that number is likely to break through the 1,000 ‘barrier’ within a couple of years. The recent launch of the Kepler space telescope specifically to look for new worlds opens the prospect of hundreds, maybe thousands, of further exoplanets being found. Many of these planets orbits stars that are not too different from the Sun, but they are so close in to their stars that their surfaces could be flooded with seas of molten lead – or even molten iron. Others orbit so far from their stars that they might as well be alone in interstellar space. A planet closely similar to the Earth has yet to be detected, but that (to us) epoch-making discovery is just a matter of time.Could these alien worlds could provide alternative homes for humankind, new supplies of mineral resources and might they might already be homes to alien life?Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds takes a look at these questions - examining what such planets are like, where they are, how we find them and whether we might ever be able to visit them. It is written for the non-specialist but also provides a comprehensive, accurate and balanced summary useful to researchers in the subject. Above all this book explores the excitement of how a new branch of science is born, develops and in less than two decades starts to become a mature part of our knowledge of the universe.

Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds probes the basis for possible answers to the fundamentals questions asked about these planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. This book examines what such planets might be like, where they are, and how we find them.

Until around ten years ago, the only planets that we knew about were within the Solar System. The first genuine planet beyond the confines of the Solar System was discovered only 1988. Since then another 350 or so exoplanets have been detected by various methods, and most of these haven been found in the last ten years. Although many more exoplanets discoveries may be expected to occur even as this book is being read, a large enough data set is now available to form the basis for an informed general account of exoplanets.

The topic hence is an extremely "hot" one - all the more so because the recently launched Kepler spacecraft should soon start uncovering many more exoplanets, some perhaps comparable with the Earth (and therefore possibly alternative homes for mankind, if we could ever reach them). Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Life gives a comprehensive, balances, and above all accurate account of exoplanets.

Autor*in

C. R. Kitchin

Themen in »Exoplanets«

Astrometry new planets Discovering new planets Earthlike planet Exoplanetary systems Extrasolar planets Future human planet Gravitational microlensing New exoplanets Planetary transits Pulsar timing Terraforming outside Solar System Terrestrial-type planet Transit method discovery

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From the reviews:

“The book opens with a retrospective of important events, discoveries, claims, and speculations from prehistory onward, followed by discovery methods and speculation about future discovery methodology. … Kitchin’s lucid prose and clear diagrams provide a balanced, comprehensive summary of this ever-changing field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers.” (M.-K. Hemenway, Choice, Vol. 49 (10), June, 2012)

“The bulk of this is given over to a review of the detection techniques employed by astronomers, with an estimate of their effectiveness. … Kitchin writes clearly and makes the information accessible to non-experts. … this book is ideal background for low-level undergraduate courses or motivated lay persons.” (Don Pollacco, The Observatory, Vol. 132 (1229), August, 2012)

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