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OverviewForget about rockets to Mars – the future of space science lies with the search for exoplanets. Fifteen years ago, the search for planets – and life – outside the Solar System was a job restricted to science-fiction writers. Now it’s one of the fastest-growing fields in astronomy; more than 4,600 of these ‘exoplanets’ have been discovered to date. There have been some truly stunning recent discoveries, predominantly through the findings of the Kepler Space Telescope, not least the fact that there seem to be planetary systems around pretty much every star. So what are these worlds like? Some of them are mind-boggling – planets that orbit binary stars, giant ‘hot’ jupiters that orbit closer to their stars than Mercury is to the sun, earth-like planets that orbit dying, purple-coloured stars, shrinking planets with tails like a giant comet. The diversity is incredible, and growing. And then of course, there’s the ultimate prize – an earth-sized planet in what's known as the 'goldilocks' zone, the right distance from its star for water to be liquid and, perhaps, for life to occur. Such a planet hasn't been found so far, but it is probably a matter of time. The Planet Factory tells the story of exoplanets and exoplanetary research. It discusses their way planets form, what their structure is and what features they exhibit, and describes in detail the detection techniques used to find them, before looking at what we can learn about surface environments and planetary atmospheres, and whether this hints at the tantalising possibility of life. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Elizabeth TaskerPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Imprint: Bloomsbury Sigma Weight: 0.244kg ISBN: 9781472917744ISBN 10: 147291774 Pages: 352 Publication Date: 21 February 2019 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: The Blind Planet Hunters PART 1: THE FACTORY FLOOR Chapter 1: The Factory Floor2 Chapter 2: The Record-breaking Building Project Chapter 3: The Problem with Gas Chapter 4: Air and Sea PART 2: DANGEROUS PLANETS Chapter 5: The Impossible Planet Chapter 6: We Are Not Normal Chapter 7: Water, Diamonds or Lava? The Planet Recipe Nobody Knew Chapter 8: Worlds Around Dead Stars Chapter 9: The Lands of Two Suns Chapter 10: The Planetary Crime Scene Chapter 11: Going Rogue PART 3: GOLDILOCKS WORLDS Chapter 12: The Goldilocks Criteria Chapter 13: The Search for Another Earth Chapter 14: Alien Vistas Chapter 15: Beyond the Goldilocks Zone Chapter 16: The Moon Factory Chapter 17: The Search for Life Author’s note Glossary Further Reading Acknowledgements IndexReviewsA precious compendium on what we can say about the formation of planets, and how much our knowledge has progressed in recent years. * Nature * Packed with interesting insights and scientific content that capably captures the current state of exoplanet research. * Sky at Night * If you've always been intrigued by extrasolar planets - or even if you haven't! - you'll want to move this book to the top of your reading list. * Sky & Telescope * Engaging and informative ... a great introduction to a relatively new and fast-changing aspect of scientific endeavour. * Engineering and Technology * Brilliantly written ... Tasker highlights how difficult the hunt for planets is. I highly recommend this book. * Physics World * This splendidly readable and authoritative book succeeds at the near-impossible task of explaining all you need to know about the revolutionary and fast-moving scientific field that's seeking out these new worlds and what may be lurking on them. -- Caleb Scharf, Directory of Astrobiology, Columbia University Elizabeth Tasker is the perfect guide in this astronomical adventure story; she brings the world's leading planet hunters vividly to life and demystifies the crucial technical details of the research with impressive clarity and a light, engaging touch. -- Michael D. Lemonick, Chief Opinion Editor at Scientific American and the author of Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet's Twin In a lively science narrative spiced with a sly humour, Elizabeth Tasker makes learning about the planets of our Solar System and beyond into a rich and rewarding pleasure. -- Marc Kaufman, author of First Contact and Mars Up Close, and founder of NASA'S online column `Many Worlds' Elizabeth Tasker's book is a surprisingly complete description of the current state of astronomy of extrasolar planets, presented in a way that is extremely entertaining and accessible. I highly recommend it to everyone who would like to get acquainted with this still-new, fascinating field of science. -- Aleksander Wolszczan, discoverer of the first exoplanet A precious compendium on what we can say about the formation of planets, and how much our knowledge has progressed in recent years. * Nature * Packed with interesting insights and scientific content that capably captures the current state of exoplanet research. * Sky at Night * If you’ve always been intrigued by extrasolar planets — or even if you haven’t! — you’ll want to move this book to the top of your reading list. * Sky & Telescope * Engaging and informative ... a great introduction to a relatively new and fast-changing aspect of scientific endeavour. * Engineering and Technology * Brilliantly written ... Tasker highlights how difficult the hunt for planets is. I highly recommend this book. * Physics World * This splendidly readable and authoritative book succeeds at the near-impossible task of explaining all you need to know about the revolutionary and fast-moving scientific field that's seeking out these new worlds and what may be lurking on them. -- Caleb Scharf, Directory of Astrobiology, Columbia University Elizabeth Tasker is the perfect guide in this astronomical adventure story; she brings the world’s leading planet hunters vividly to life and demystifies the crucial technical details of the research with impressive clarity and a light, engaging touch. -- Michael D. Lemonick, Chief Opinion Editor at Scientific American and the author of Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet’s Twin In a lively science narrative spiced with a sly humour, Elizabeth Tasker makes learning about the planets of our Solar System and beyond into a rich and rewarding pleasure. -- Marc Kaufman, author of First Contact and Mars Up Close, and founder of NASA’S online column ‘Many Worlds’ Elizabeth Tasker’s book is a surprisingly complete description of the current state of astronomy of extrasolar planets, presented in a way that is extremely entertaining and accessible. I highly recommend it to everyone who would like to get acquainted with this still-new, fascinating field of science. -- Aleksander Wolszczan, discoverer of the first exoplanet Author InformationElizabeth Tasker is an astrophysicist specialising in computational simulations of star formation in galaxies. After a degree in theoretical physics, she went on to complete her doctorate at Oxford before post-doctoral research at Columbia University and the University of Florida in the United States, and McMaster University in Canada. In 2011 she became an assistant professor at Hokkaido University, Japan. Elizabeth has been a keen science communicator for many years, dating back to winning the Daily Telegraph Young Science Writers Award in 1999. Since then she has written blogs for Scientific American and Physics Focus, and currently writes Hokkaido University’s research blog. @girlandkat Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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