Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems

Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems

There is a quiet revolution going on. An unprecedented number of planets outside of our solar system (exoplanets, or extrasolar planets) have been found, with an explosion in the number of discoveries in recent years. The collective human consciousness has arrived at a place that was inaccessible not long ago. Once upon a time, humanity had not even conceived questions such as, "Are there planets beyond our solar system?" or "Is there intelligent life on other planets?" 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. Get up to speed on the new science with "Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems." The book is aimed at the layperson, offering translations of astrophysics into plain language, yet it has enough depth in annotated reference notes to the original scientific literature that it will also be useful for those with a greater science background, including teachers and professional scientists. The book will help educators to begin to incorporate the study of extrasolar planets into the curriculum at all academic levels. It is being said by experts in the field that astronomy books will have to be rewritten because of new and unexpected discoveries about the alien worlds. The rewriting has already begun with "Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems." In particular, the book addresses the problems faced by current planet formation and migration theories head on instead of marginalizing the difficulties, and discusses some new lines of investigation. [Note: the print version of the book has 252 pages.]

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Stepping Out
-Connecting with a Conversation Through History
-Exoplanets Reveal Themselves
-Jupiter's Compelling Attraction

Chapter 2: A Sketch of the New Science

-Chapter Overview
-Near and Far
-Solar System Overview
-Why Are Some Objects Known As "Candidate" Planets?
-How Many Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems Have Been Found?
-Why Don't Exoplanets Have Names?
-What Do We Want to Know About Exoplanets and Why?
-How Far Away Are the Discovered Planets?
-How Many Alien Moons Have Been Discovered?
-Are There Exoplanets That Are Not Associated with a Star?
-How Can I Get the Latest Updates on Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems?

Chapter 3: How It's Done

-The Host Stars
-How are Exoplanets Discovered?
--Timing Method
--Doppler Shift Method
--Astrometry
--Transit Method
--Gravitational Microlensing Method
--Direct Imaging
-What Can We Actually Measure?
-Oblique, Retrograde, and Eccentric Orbits
-Chemical Composition
-Groundbased versus Spacebased Observations
-The CoRoT Mission
-The Kepler Mission
-When Was the First Exoplanet Discovered?

Chapter 4: The Discoveries

-Exoplanet Types
-Demographics
-The Alien Solar Systems
-Masses of the Exoplanets
-Exoplanet Sizes
-Living Close to a Star
-Orbital Period and Size
-Exoplanet Eccentricities
-Is Our Solar System Typical?
-Planet Formation and Migration
-Multiplanet Systems
-A Summary of the Important Findings So Far
-Tentative Results From the Kepler Candidates Sample

Chapter 5: Where Is Everyone?

-What Is Life?
-The Origin of Life
-Challenges for the Origin of Life on Earth
-Chemistry for Life: What's the Deal with Arsenic?
-Water In the Moon
-The Problem of Volatile Delivery
-Exoplanet Climatology and Habitable Zones
-The Host Star, Tidal Locking, and System Stability
-Temperature and Albedo
-Exoplanet Atmospheres
-Climate Solutions
-The Faint Young Sun Problem
-Circumstellar Habitable Zone
-Galactic Habitable Zone
-Is There a New Answer to the Old Question?
-How Long Would it Take to Get to the Nearest Exoplanet?
-Ant School

Appendix A: What Is a Planet?
Appendix B: Selected Websites
Notes
Country USA
Manufacturer New Earth Labs (Education and Outreach)
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2011-10-17
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	New Earth Labs (Education and Outreach)
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2011-10-17
Format	Kindle eBook

Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems

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