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 Discovering New Planets written by Mae Jemison and published by Scholastic. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison made history by spending eight days in Earth's orbit, making her the first black woman ever to visit space. Twenty years later, Dr. Jemison is pushing space travel forward again with her 100 Year Starship Foundation. In this new True Book series, readers will join Dr. Jemison as she guides them on a tour of our solar system and explains how astronomers have used technology to discover new stars and planets. Key Features: Engaging text provides insights into space exploration from legendary astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison Timelines illustrate the ways our knowledge of space has changed over time Glossaries explain difficult scientific terms in a way that makes them easy to understand Eye-catching images give readers an up-close look at the far reaches of space Additional content for further learning on this subject available at www.factsfornow.scholastic.com

Download or read book Distant Wanderers written by Bruce Dorminey and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent discoveries of planet-like objects circling other sun-like stars have stirred enormous interest in what other planets may exist in the universe, and whether they could support intelligent life. This book takes us into the midst of this search for extrasolar planets. Unlike other books, it focuses on the people behind the searches -- many known personally by the author -- and the extraordinary technology that is currently on the drawing boards. The author is an experienced, award-winning science journalist who was previously technology correspondent for the Financial Times of London. He has written on many topics in astronomy and astrobiology in over 35 different newspapers and magazines worldwide.

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 Exoplanet Science Strategy written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-01-17 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

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 Mirror Earth written by Michael D. Lemonick and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-1990s, astronomers made history when they began to find planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way. More than eight hundred planets have been found since then, yet none of them is anything like Earth and none could support life. Now, armed with more powerful technology, planet hunters are racing to find a true twin of Earth. Science writer Michael Lemonick has unique access to these exoplaneteers, as they call themselves, and Mirror Earth unveils their passionate quest. Unlike competitors in other races, Geoff Marcy, Bill Borucki, David Charbonneau, Sara Seager, and others actually consult and cooperate with one another. But only one will be the first to find Earth's twin. Mirror Earth tells the story of their competition.

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 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider's look at the cutting-edge science of today's planet hunters In Strange New Worlds, renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana brings news from the front lines of the epic quest to find planets—and alien life—beyond our solar system. Only in the past two decades, after millennia of speculation, have astronomers begun to discover planets around other stars—thousands in fact. Now they are closer than ever to unraveling distant twins of the Earth. In this book, Jayawardhana vividly recounts the stories of the scientists and the remarkable breakthroughs that have ushered in this extraordinary age of exploration. He describes the latest findings--including his own—that are challenging our view of the cosmos and casting new light on the origins and evolution of planets and planetary systems. He reveals how technology is rapidly advancing to support direct observations of Jupiter-like gas giants and super-Earths—rocky planets with several times the mass of our own planet—and how astronomers use biomarkers to seek possible life on other worlds. Strange New Worlds provides an insider's look at the cutting-edge science of today's planet hunters, our prospects for discovering alien life, and the debates and controversies at the forefront of extrasolar-planet research. In a new afterword, Jayawardhana explains some of the most recent developments as we search for the first clues of life on other planets.

Download or read book Earth 2 0 written by The New York Times Editorial Staff and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2018-12-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popular imagination has seen a resurgence of interest in space research. It is fueled by the discovery of over 1,000 exoplanets, promising discoveries on Mars, and recent successes in commercial space exploration. Though space exploration remains a high cost, speculative enterprise, scientists and pundits argue we are closer than ever to answering key questions about life in the universe and human prospects of living off-world. The New York Times articles collected in this volume will reveal how concerns about planet Earth and space research development contribute to the quest for space colonization.

Download or read book Planets and Life written by Thérèse Encrenaz and published by EDP Sciences. This book was released on 2021-06-10 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Earth is the only planet in the Solar System where liquid water is present on the surface, a condition that seems necessary for the development of life. Its sisters Venus and Mars are extremely different. Why did these three planets, born under fairly comparable conditions, evolve to the conditions we observe today? Understanding the physical or chemical factors that are at the origin of such divergent evolutions is a first step in an approach to the problem of the origin of life on Earth.

Download or read book Pluto and the Search for New Planets written by Gregory Vogt and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series unravels the mysteries of space in an easy-to-read style. It allows readers to investigate worlds beyond our won, exploring an array of facts and ideas about the objects in the night sky and their origins. Learn how planets, moons and other celestial bodies are formed and their chemical composition. Discuss the different types of space exploration such as rockets, telescopes and space stations. Each book contains: - reputable web sites and addresses of institutions for further research - amazing full-colour photographs

Download or read book Discovering Pluto written by Dale P. Cruikshank and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Pluto and its largest moon, from discovery through the New Horizons flyby--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Planetary Astrobiology written by Victoria Meadows and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we alone in the universe? How did life arise on our planet? How do we search for life beyond Earth? These profound questions excite and intrigue broad cross sections of science and society. Answering these questions is the province of the emerging, strongly interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. Life is inextricably tied to the formation, chemistry, and evolution of its host world, and multidisciplinary studies of solar system worlds can provide key insights into processes that govern planetary habitability, informing the search for life in our solar system and beyond. Planetary Astrobiology brings together current knowledge across astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry, and related fields, and considers the synergies between studies of solar systems and exoplanets to identify the path needed to advance the exploration of these profound questions. Planetary Astrobiology represents the combined efforts of more than seventy-five international experts consolidated into twenty chapters and provides an accessible, interdisciplinary gateway for new students and seasoned researchers who wish to learn more about this expanding field. Readers are brought to the frontiers of knowledge in astrobiology via results from the exploration of our own solar system and exoplanetary systems. The overarching goal of Planetary Astrobiology is to enhance and broaden the development of an interdisciplinary approach across the astrobiology, planetary science, and exoplanet communities, enabling a new era of comparative planetology that encompasses conditions and processes for the emergence, evolution, and detection of life.

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 The Search for New Planets written by Gail Terp and published by Bolt!. This book was released on 2019 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follow the search for new planets through engaging text, vibrant photography, and powerful infographics.

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 The Search for Exoplanets written by Charles River and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2023-07-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While modern technology has helped astronomers view the furthest reaches of the Solar System, it has also allowed scientists to start discovering planets orbiting distant stars. To make it easier to assess the relative mass and size of the new planets being discovered, scientists give these measurements as multiples of those properties for either Jupiter or Earth. In other words, if the planet is the same mass as Jupiter, then this measure would be listed as 1.0 MJ. If it were three times the mass of Earth, then it would be listed as 3.0 MEarth. The sizes of exoplanets are frequently given by expressing their radii as multiples of Jupiter's radius or as multiples of Earth's radius, RJ and REarth, respectively. Of course, given the immense distances involved, detecting exoplanets has always been hard, even to this day. The variations of light that might be evidence of an exoplanet can be caused by other phenomena, and separating the false positives from the actual detections is part of the rigor required by modern planet hunters. For example, in July 1988, a Canadian team led by astronomers Bruce Campbell, Gordon Walker, and Stephenson Yang discovered persistent indications that a planet orbited the primary star in the Gamma Cephei system, 44.98 light-years (13.79 parsecs) from the Earth. Though the technique they used was successfully employed in many subsequent discoveries, the quality of their data was insufficient for others to verify as unequivocally the result of an extrasolar planet. For reasons of poor data quality, the claimed discovery of Gamma Cephei Ab was retracted in 1992. The first confirmed discovery of an exoplanet involved a system that surprised most planet hunters. While most astronomers had been looking to find planets orbiting stars in the main sequence (between infancy and old age) or in their old age (giant phase), the first confirmed planets were found to orbit a dead star, the burnt-out core of a former giant star now broadcasting a rapid series of pulses to the rest of the universe. The first planet confirmed to be orbiting a sun-like star made the news in 1995, discovered by two Swiss scientists, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, using the radial velocity method. The planet was given the technical designation of 51 Pegasi b, and the more palatable name, Dimidium. Since the inclination of the planet's orbit to our line of sight remains unknown, we can only know the minimum estimated mass calculated to be 0.472 MJ (slightly less than half the mass of Jupiter).Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the discovery was the distance of this gas giant from its parent star. This planet, 51 Pegasi b, is so close to its sun that it only takes 4.23 days for it to complete one orbit, and since it is so close to its star, the planet is an estimated 1,011° Celsius. Though the color of the star, 51 Pegasi, is like that of our Sun, the exoplanet's parent is slightly larger and more massive. With a spectral type of G2IV, 51 Pegasi has evolved off the main sequence into the beginnings of stellar old age as a subgiant. This is consistent with its estimated age of 6.1 billion years: about 1.6 billion years older than the Solar System. Of course, given the way that exoplanets can seemingly be found anywhere, the revelations brought a new level of excitement - and interest - in finding other exoplanets, particularly ones most like Earth.