Athena Coustenis, Thérèse Encrenaz

Life Beyond Earth

The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

What is life and where can it exist? What searches are being made to identify conditions for life on other worlds? If extraterrestrial inhabited worlds are found, how can we explore them? In this book, two leading astrophysicists provide an engaging account of where we stand in our quest for habitable environments, in the Solar System and beyond. Starting from basic concepts, the narrative builds scientifically, including more in-depth material as boxed additions to the main text. The authors recount fascinating recent discoveries from space missions and observations using ground-based telescopes, of possible life-related artefacts in Martian meteorites, extrasolar planets, and subsurface oceans on Europa, Titan and Enceladus. They also provide a forward look to future missions. This is an exciting, informative read for anyone interested in the search for habitable and inhabited planets, and an excellent primer for students in astrobiology, habitability, planetary science and astronomy.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 296
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. Oktober 2013
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 236mm x 154mm x 25mm
• Gewicht: 670g
• ISBN-13: 9781107026179
• ISBN-10: 1107026172
• Artikelnr.: 38611498

Autorenporträt

Athena Coustenis is Director of Research at the French National Research Center (CNRS) and an astrophysicist at the Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA) of Paris Observatory. She is Co-Investigator of three of the instruments (CIRS, HASI, DISR) aboard the Cassini/Huygens mission. Her expertise in space missions has allowed her to Chair and to contribute in several advisory groups within ESA and NASA. Dr Coustenis is currently President of the EGU Planetary Sciences Division and President of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, as well as Secretary of the Executive committee of the Division for Planetary Sciences. She is a member of several editorial boards and has been awarded several NASA and ESA achievement awards. She is also winner of the American Astonomical Society's 2014 Harold Masursky Award for outstanding service to planetary science and exploration.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. What is life and where can it exist?; 3. Terrestrial planets and their diverging evolutions; 4. Searching for habitable sites in the outer Solar System; 5. A revolution in astronomy: the exploration of extrasolar planets; 6. Extraterrestrial inhabited sites in the future; Further reading; References; Index.

Rezensionen

'A thorough tour of the possible abodes of life elsewhere in the cosmos, Life Beyond Earth unifies the study of planets in a way that should be more common but is still rare. Coustenis and Encrenaz provide a clear and engaging exposition of planetary habitability, giving an authoritative picture of the wealth of information that we have on planets and the engaging mysteries that remain unsolved.' Jonathan I. Lunine, Director, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, and author of Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet