Download or read book The Planet Factory written by Elizabeth Tasker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forget about rockets to Mars – the future of space science lies with the search for exoplanets Twenty years ago, the search for planets outside the Solar System was the preserve of science-fiction writers. Now it's one of the fastest-growing fields in astronomy, with thousands of exoplanets discovered to date, and the number rising fast. These new-found worlds are more alien than anything in fiction. Planets larger than Jupiter with years lasting a week; others with two suns lighting their skies, or with no sun at all. Planets with diamond mantles supporting oceans of tar; possible Earth-sized worlds with split hemispheres of perpetual day and night; waterworlds drowning under global oceans and volcanic lava planets awash with seas of magma. The discovery of this diversity is just the beginning. There is a whole galaxy of possibilities. The Planet Factory tells the story of these exoplanets. What can we learn about these faraway surface environments and planetary atmospheres? And do the results hint at the tantalising possibility of alien life?

Download or read book Envisioning Exoplanets written by Michael Carroll and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Life Beyond Earth written by Athena Coustenis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-12 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging account of our quest for habitable environments, recounting fascinating recent discoveries and providing insight into future space missions.

Download or read book 2005 written by Jos‚ Afonso and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2006 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume considers recent theoretical and observational developments in astronomy and astrophysics with contributions on solar system bodies, extrasolar planets, star formation, galaxy evolution and cosmology. A special section is dedicated to the history of astronomy including papers on the history of the Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon, time service and legal time, the 1870 solar eclipse expedition, and a comparison between Monteiro da Rocha and Wilhelm Olbers methods for the determination of the orbits of comets. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Evolution of the Spin of Mercury and its Capture into the 3/2 Spin-Orbit Resonance (157 KB). Contents: Modern Astrophysics: Evolution of the Spin of Mercury and Its Capture into the 3/2 Spin-Orbit Resonance (A C M Correia & J Laskar); Trans-Neptunian Objects and Associated Families: Confronting Colors, Correlations and Evolution Models (N Peixinho); Recent Results on Interstellar Turbulence (M A Avillez & D Breitschwerdt); Asteroseismology and Variability of Young Stars (F J G Pinheiro); On the Problem of Magnetic Braking (J M Ferreira et al.); A First Step for Automatic Stellar Parameter Determination (S G Sousa); Study of Three Galaxy Clusters at Intermediate Redshifts (C Lobo & M S Roos); Astrophysical Tests of Fundamental Physics (C J A P Martins); Gamma Ray Bursts as Cosmological Probes (O Bertolami & P T Silva); Braneworld Cosmology: Sneutrino Inflation and Leptogenesis (N M C Santos et al.); AMS OCo A Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station (L Arruda et al.); History of Astronomy: The Legacy of Sacrobosco: Tractatus de Sphaera (B Almeida); The 1870 Portuguese Solar Eclipse Expedition OCo A Preliminary Report (V H Bonificio et al.); The Science Palaces (J D C G Jorge); The Astronomer/Instrument Maker Campos Rodrigues and the Contribution of the Observatory of Lisbon for the 1900-1901 Solar Parallax Programme (P Raposo); The Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon (P M de Abreu); Time Service and Legal Time in Portugal (M Silva & R Agostinho); and other papers. Readership: Researchers in astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology, as well as historians of science in general, and of astronomy in particular."

Download or read book Chasing Venus written by Andrea Wulf and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “thrilling adventure story" (San Francisco Chronicle) that brings to life the astronomers who in the 1700s embarked upon a quest to calculate the size of the solar system, and paints a vivid portrait of the collaborations, rivalries, and volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. • From the author of Magnificent Rebels and New York Times bestseller The Invention of Nature. On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous occasion: the first transit of Venus between the Earth and the Sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system—but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in the remotest corners of the world, only to be thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in pairs; eight years later, they would have another opportunity to succeed. Thanks to these scientists, neither our conception of the universe nor the nature of scientific research would ever be the same.

Download or read book Exoplanets written by Michael E. Summers and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past few years have seen an incredible explosion in our knowledge of the universe. Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has discovered more than two thousand exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, and even more remarkable than the sheer number of exoplanets is their variety. In Exoplanets, astronomer Michael Summers and physicist James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness of space. This captivating book reveals the latest discoveries and argues that the incredible richness and complexity we are finding necessitates a change in our questions and mental paradigms. In short, we have to change how we think about the universe and our place in it, because it is stranger and more interesting than we could have imagined.

Download or read book The Search for Life s Origins written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1990-02-01 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of planetary biology and chemical evolution draws together experts in astronomy, paleobiology, biochemistry, and space science who work together to understand the evolution of living systems. This field has made exciting discoveries that shed light on how organic compounds came together to form self-replicating molecules-the origin of life. This volume updates that progress and offers recommendations on research programs-including an ambitious effort centered on Mars-to advance the field over the next 10 to 15 years. The book presents a wide range of data and research results on these and other issues: The biogenic elements and their interaction in the interstellar clouds and in solar nebulae. Early planetary environments and the conditions that lead to the origin of life. The evolution of cellular and multicellular life. The search for life outside the solar system. This volume will become required reading for anyone involved in the search for life's beginnings-including exobiologists, geoscientists, planetary scientists, and U.S. space and science policymakers.

Download or read book Popular Science written by and published by . This book was released on 2003-01 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular Science gives our readers the information and tools to improve their technology and their world. The core belief that Popular Science and our readers share: The future is going to be better, and science and technology are the driving forces that will help make it better.

Download or read book Strange New Worlds written by Ray Jayawardhana and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-21 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the science of planet hunters, the prospects for the discovery of alien life, and discusses the controversies surrounding extrasolar-planet research.

Download or read book The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2010 written by Freeman J. Dyson and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2010 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the publisher. The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.

Download or read book Bioastronomy The Next Steps written by George Marx and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1988-07-31 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings of the 99th Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union, held in Balaton, Hungary, June 22-27, 1987

Download or read book The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013 written by Siddhartha Mukherjee and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty-seven of America’s best science and nature essays of 2013, selected by the author of The Emperor of All Maladies and the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Gene. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee, a leading cancer physician and researcher, selects the year’s top science and nature writing from journalists who dive into their fields with curiosity and passion, delivering must-read articles from a wide array of fields. The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2013 includes: “The T-Cell Army” by Jerome Groopman “The Artificial Leaf” by David Owen “The Life of Pi, and Other Infinities” by Natalie Angier “Altered States” by Oliver Sacks “Recall of the Wild” by Elizabeth Kolbert “Super Humanity” by Robert M. Sapolsky “Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?” by Nathaniel Rich Contributors also include: J. B. Mackinnon · Benjamin Hale · Tim Zimmermann · David Deutsch and Artur Ekert · Michael Moyer · Sylvia A. Earle · John Pavlus · Michelle Nijhuis · Rick Bass · Michael Specter · Alan Lightman · David Quammen · Keith Gessen · Steven Weinberg · Gareth Cook · Katherine Harmon · Stephen Marche · Mark Bowden · Kevin Dutton

Download or read book Exoplanets written by Donald Goldsmith and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “How do alien, faraway worlds reveal their existence to Earthlings? Let Donald Goldsmith count the ways. As an experienced astronomer and a gifted storyteller, he is the perfect person to chronicle the ongoing hunt for planets of other stars.” —Dava Sobel Astronomers have recently discovered thousands of planets that orbit stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy. With his characteristic wit and style, Donald Goldsmith presents the science of exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life in a way that Earthlings with little background in astronomy or astrophysics can understand and enjoy. Much of what has captured the imagination of planetary scientists and the public is the unexpected strangeness of these distant worlds, which bear little resemblance to the planets in our solar system. The sizes, masses, and orbits of exoplanets detected so far raise new questions about how planets form and evolve. Still more tantalizing are the efforts to determine which exoplanets might support life. Astronomers are steadily improving their means of examining these planets’ atmospheres and surfaces, with the help of advanced spacecraft sent into orbits a million miles from Earth. These instruments will provide better observations of planetary systems in orbit around the dim red stars that throng the Milky Way. Previously spurned as too faint to support life, these cool stars turn out to possess myriad planets nestled close enough to maintain Earthlike temperatures. The quest to find other worlds brims with possibility. Exoplanets shows how astronomers have broadened our planetary horizons, and suggests what may come next, including the ultimate discovery: life beyond our home planet.

Download or read book The First Causes written by Fred L. Bond and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013-07-25 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compilation of science fiction stories all involve in some way First Causes. Everything has a starting point or first cause and I hope to show what might happen in our future. I have read all the great science fiction authors of the 50s and 60s and what was in their time pure science fiction has now become everyday fact. What was at first pure fiction has now evolved into fact. Changes are coming faster and faster as can be shown in the case of computer technology. In the 60s TV series Star Trek the concept of a keyboard and mouse did not exist so the actors talked to the ships computer to introduce their commands. Now the new computer programs will respond to verbal commands just as they did in Star Trek. The future is just ahead, let us go meet it.

Download or read book Searching for Evidence of Life Beyond Earth written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 2 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book 1973 NASA Authorization February 17 22 24 29 March 1 2 7 8 9 and 14 1972 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Astronautics and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Exoplanets written by Sara Seager and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2011-01-15 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time in human history, we know for certain the existence of planets around other stars. Now the fastest-growing field in space science, the time is right for this fundamental source book on the topic which will lay the foundation for its continued growth. Exoplanets serves as both an introduction for the non-specialist and a foundation for the techniques and equations used in exoplanet observation by those dedicated to the field.