This review emerged from several interdisciplinary meetings and schools gathering a group of astronomers, geologists, biologists, and chemists, attempting to share their specialized knowledge around a common question: how did life emerge on Earth? Their ultimate goal was to provide some kind of answer as a prerequisite to an even more demanding question: is life universal? The resulting state-of-the-art articles were written by twenty-five scientists telling a not-so linear story, but on the contrary, highlighting problems, gaps, and controversies. Needless to say, this approach yielded no definitive answers to both questions. However, by adopting a chronological approach to the question of the emergence of life on Earth, the only place where we know for sure that life exists; it was possible to break down this question into several sub-topics that can be addressed by the different disciplines.

The main chapters of this review present the formation and evolution of the solar system (3); the building of a habitable planet (4); prebiotic chemistry, biochemistry, and the emergence of life (5); the environmental context of the early Earth (6); and the ancient fossil record and early evolution (7). The concluding chapter (9) provides the highlights of the review and presents the different points of view about the universality of life. Two pedagogical chapters are included; one on chronometers (2), another in the form of a "frieze" (8) which summarizes in graphical form the present state of knowledge about the chronology of the emergence of life on Earth, before the Cambrian explosion.

This book describes the status quo of space science in China, details the scientific questions to be addressed by the Chinese space science community in 2016-2030, and proposes key strategic goals, space science programs and missions, the roadmap and implementation approaches. Further, it explores the supporting technologies needed and provides an outlook of space science beyond the year 2030. "Taikong" means "outer space" in Chinese, and space science is one of the most important areas China plans to develop in the near future. This book is authored by Ji Wu, a leader of China's space science program, together with National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a leading institute responsible for planning and managing most of China's space science missions. It also embodies the viewpoints shared by many space scientists and experts on future space science development. Through this book, general readers and researchers alike will gain essential insights into the current developments and future prospects of space science in China. Government decision-makers will also find the book a useful reference for strategies and planning in the field of space science.

This Is Mars offers a thrilling visual experience of the surface of the red planet. The multi-award-winning French editor and designer Xavier Barral has chosen and composed photographic frames, drawn from the comprehensive photographic map of Mars made by the U.S. observation satellite MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), to revel in the wonder of Mars. What Yann Arthus-Bertrand did with a light aircraft for The Earth from the Air , Barral does for Mars-by scouring tens of thousands of gigabytes of satellite photographs available from NASA, seeking out the most distinct images of the planet's surface. The result is visionary-a great science book, a unique artist's book, and a stunning object. The photographs are accompanied by an introduction from research scientist Alfred S. McEwen, principle investigator of the HiRISE telescope; an essay by astrophysicist Francis Rocard, who explains the story of Mars's origins and its evolution; and a timeline by geophysicist Nicolas Mangold, who demystifies some of Mars's geological history. Now available as a mid-sized, accessibly priced edition, This Is Mars will excite lovers of great photobooks, and everyone curious about the universe and beyond.

Today many scientists recognize plasma as the key element in understanding new observations in interplanetary and interstellar space, in stars, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies, and throughout the observable universe. Plasma astrophysics and cosmology, as a unified discipline, cover topics such as the large-scale structure and filamentation of the universe; the microwave background; the formation of galaxies and magnetic fields; active galactic nuclei and quasars; the origin and abundance of light elements; star formation and the evolution of solar systems; redshift periodicities and anomalous redshifts; general relativity; electric fields; the acceleration of charged particles to high energies; and cosmic rays. This text provides an update on the observations made in radio, optical and high-energy astrophysics, especially since 1985, and addresses the paradigm changing discoveries made by the planetary probes and satellites, radio telescopes, and the Hubble space telescope. Over 20 contributors, all distinguished plasma scientists, present a picture of the nature of our plasma universe with articles ranging from the popular level to advanced topics in plasma cosmology.

The book summarizes the results of the experimental studies of phase relations in the chemical systems relevant to Earth, carried out by the author in a time period of over 20 years between 1979 and 2001. It is based on 1000 piston-cylinder experiments at pressures up to 4 GPa, and close to 700 experiments carried out with a multi-anvil apparatus at pressures up to 24 GPA. This is the largest published collection of calculated phase diagrams for the chemical systems relevant to Earth. This is also the first time that the phase relations at the relatively low pressures of the lithospheric mantle, mainly applicable to the experimental thermobarometry of metamorphic rocks and mantle xenoliths, are seamlessly integrated with the phase relations of the sublithospheric upper mantle and the uppermost lower mantle, primarily applicable to inclusions in diamond and schocked meteorites. "Tibor Gasparik has devoted his career to determining the high-pressure, high-temperature phase relations of the geologically important Sodium-Calcium-Magnesium-Aluminium-Silicon (NCMAS) oxide system. This book is his opus magnum, summarizing more than 1700 experiments in over 120 figures. ... I have found Phase Diagrams for Geoscientists to be a useful first port-of-call for finding the P-T stability fields ... and I can recommend the book as a reference for geoscientists requiring an overview of the stable phase assemblages in the top 700 km of the Earth." (David Dobson, Geological Magazine, Vol. 142 (2), 2005)

Predicted long ago to be present on the surface of planetary bodies by theoreticians and recently shown by interplanetary spacecraft and ground- based instruments to be ubiquitous in the Solar System, ices in a broad sense have become an extremely important subject in planetary research. Ices found on objects formed in the remote parts of the Solar System contain a message about the composition and mode of formation of our planetary system. There are also objects that contain icy materials that bear signatures of past events on a geological timescale. Their study is one of the best means of inquiring about the origins, accessing the past and anticipating the future of our Solar System. The reviews in this book collect together a series of papers covering the physics and chemistry of ices, as well as the geology of icy surfaces. They present an extensive summary of their chemical and physical properties relevant to planetary astronomy. They also provide an overview of planetary bodies that contain ices and the outstanding problems of the field. Audience: The book is intended to become a reference for researchers and graduate students. It is accessible to senior graduate students with a background in planetary science.

"An Introduction to Waves and Oscillations in the Sun" is intended for students and researchers who work in the area of solar and astrophysics. This book contains an introduction to the Sun, basics of electrodynamics, magneto-hydrodynamics for force-free and current-free fields. It deals with waves in uniform media with relevance to sound waves and Alfven waves, and with waves in non-uniform media like surface waves or waves in a slab and cylindrical geometry. It also touches on instabilities in fluids and observational signatures of oscillations. Finally, there is an introduction to the area of helio-seismology, which deals with the internal structure of the Sun.

Veteran comet hunter and eloquent popular astronomy writer David H. Levy takes amateur sky-watchers on a fascinating journey into deep space in this enthusiastic and informative survey of the many far distant yet observable objects in the night sky. Light years beyond our solar system, deep sky objects include such intriguing phenomena as double and triple stars, nebulae, galaxies, and quasars. Designed to be accessible for even beginners, Levy's clear, elegant descriptions will guide astronomy buffs in any hemisphere and locale (light-polluted cities as well as dark countryside) to the wonders of our enormous universe. As the discoverer or codiscoverer of twenty-one comets, including the famous Shoemaker-Levy 9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994, Levy has devoted many decades of experience to observing the night sky. Over the years he has located over 300 deep sky objects, of which more than 100 "best and brightest" are featured in this book. Levy offers a physical description and a discussion of each object's history and beauty, as well as a star atlas to aid in finding the objects. Proceeding from objects closest to our solar system to those farthest away, Levy gives readers an awe-inspiring glimpse into the structure of the cosmos. Complete with both color and black-and-white photos, plus many helpful illustrations, Deep Sky Objects is the ideal guide to the wonders of the universe for both experienced and novice star gazers.

Moons come, quite literally, in all shapes and sizes. Our Moon is just one of more than 200 moons in the Solar System that we've identified so far. Scientists have discovered moons made of rock, others of ice. There are moons with atmospheres or with oceans hidden beneath their surfaces, and even some with active volcanoes. Others could perhaps be suitable for life! Astronomer Anna Gammon-Ross of Royal Observatory Greenwich travels through the Solar System, hopping from one moon to the next, to discover not only what these natural satellites have in common, but also what makes each one unique. Learn about the moons that can be found in and around Saturn's rings (and the many others we suspect there could be), the objects orbiting the distant dwarf planets and the curious theory of moon-moons.

"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.

This book offers an overview of solar physics with a focus on solar activity, particularly the activity cycle. It is known that solar activity varies periodically, but there are also phases of intermittency, such as the Maunder minimum, during which solar activity is very low or high over several decades. The book provides a brief introduction to chaos theory and investigates solar activity in terms of its chaotic behavior. It also discusses how intermittent phases of solar activity have affected and can affect Earth's climate and long-term space weather, and reviews the underlying theories relating to the solar dynamo mechanism. Furthermore, each chapter includes references to scientific literature (review articles and papers) so that readers can delve deeper into the subjects covered. This richly illustrated book will appeal to a wide readership, and is also useful as a textbook for courses in solar physics and astrophysics.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Institute on Physics of the Solar Corona, held in Cavouri-Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 6-17 September 1970

Winner of the AAS 2019 Donald E. Osterbrock Book Prize for Historical Astronomy Grabbing the attention of poets, politicians and the general public alike, a series of spectacular astronomical events in the late 1800s galvanized Americans to take a greater interest in astronomy than ever before. At a time when the sciences were not yet as well established in the United States as they were in Europe, this public interest and support provided the growing scientific community in the United States with the platform they needed to advance the field of astronomy in the United States. Earlier in the 19th century comets, meteors and the discovery of the planet Neptune were all sources of inspiration to the general public. The specific events to be considered here are the total solar eclipses of 1868, 1869 and 1878 and the transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882. The available media responded to public interest as well as generating more interest. These events laid the groundwork that led to today's thriving network of American amateur astronomers and provide a fascinating look at earlier conceptions of the stars.

The discovery of a gradual acceleration in the moon's mean motion by Edmond Halley in the last decade of the seventeenth century led to a revival of interest in reports of astronomical observations from antiquity. These observations provided the only means to study the moon's 'secular acceleration', as this newly-discovered acceleration became known. This book contains the first detailed study of the use of ancient and medieval astronomical observations in order to investigate the moon's secular acceleration from its discovery by Halley to the establishment of the magnitude of the acceleration by Richard Dunthorne, Tobias Mayer and Jerome Lalande in the 1740s and 1750s. Making extensive use of previously unstudied manuscripts, this work shows how different astronomers used the same small body of preserved ancient observations in different ways in their work on the secular acceleration. In addition, this work looks at the wider context of the study of the moon's secular acceleration, including its use in debates of biblical chronology, whether the heavens were made up of aether, and the use of astronomy in determining geographical longitude. It also discusses wider issues of the perceptions and knowledge of ancient and medieval astronomy in the early-modern period. This book will be of interest to historians of astronomy, astronomers and historians of the ancient world."

Astrophysical research has led to the detection of thousands of planets outside the Solar System. About one-tenth of the extrasolar planets discovered so far reside in binary- or multi-stellar systems, and some of the closest known rocky exoplanets populate these multiple-star systems. While such environments seem good places to look for a second Earth, can Earth-like planets with two or more suns be habitable? And do solar system-like configurations have to be detected to find a habitable exo-Earth?This book addresses these questions. Starting with a brief overview of the various types of double star-planet configurations that have been observed so far, the book discusses the intriguing variety of planetary motion in such environments, taking into account the stellar type, evolution, and activity, and elaborates on how the presence of an additional stellar companion affects planet formation, system architectures and the habitability of planets in binary star systems. New methodologies developed in this area of research are explained and demonstrated for systems such as Alpha-Centauri, HD41004, Kepler-35, and many others. This monograph provides a grand entry to the exciting results that we expect from new missions like TESS, CHEOPS and Plato.

This book describes numerical simulations of collisions between asteroids, based on a unique numerical code developed by the author. The code accurately solves the elastic dynamic equations and describes the effects of fracture and friction, which makes it possible to investigate the shapes of impact outcomes produced by asteroid collisions and subsequent gravitational accumulation of fragments. The author parallelizes the code with high parallelization efficiency; accordingly, it can be used to conduct high-resolution simulations with the aid of supercomputers and clarify the shapes of small remnants produced through the catastrophic destruction of asteroids. The author demonstrates that flat asteroids can only be produced by impacts involving objects with similar mass and low velocity, which suggests that the flat asteroids in our solar system were created in the planet formation era and have kept their shapes until today. The author also shows that asteroid collisions under certain conditions can produce the extremely elongated shape of an interstellar minor body, 1I/'Oumuamua. In brief, the book offers a comprehensive investigation of asteroid impacts and shapes, making it a uniquely valuable resource.

The SECCHI A and B instrument suites (Howard et al. , 2006) onboard the two STEREO mission spacecraft (Kaiser, 2005) are each composed of: one Extreme Ultra-Violet Imager (EUVI), two white-light coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), and two wide-angle heliospheric imagers (HI1 and HI2). Technical descriptions of EUVI, COR1 and the HIs can be found in Wuelser et al. (2004), Thompson et al. (2003), and De?se et al. (2003), respectively. The images produced by SECCHI represent a data visualization challenge: i) the images are 2048x2048 pixels (except for the HIs, which are usually binned onboard 2x2), thus the vast majority of computer displays are not able to display them at full frame and full r- olution, and ii) more importantly, the ?ve instruments of SECCHI A and B were designed to be able to track Coronal Mass Ejections from their onset (with EUVI) to their pro- gation in the heliosphere (with the HIs), which implies that a set of SECCHI images that covers the propagation of a CME from its initiation site to the Earth is composed of im- ?1 ages with very different spatial resolutions - from 1. 7 arcsecondspixel for EUVI to 2. 15 ?1 arcminutespixel for HI2, i. e. 75 times larger. A similar situation exists with the angular scales of the physical objects, since the size of a CME varies by orders of magnitude as it expands in the heliosphere.

The first edition of The Sun From Space, completed in 1999, focused on the early accomplishments of three solar spacecraft, SOHO, Ulysses and Yohkoh, primarily during a minimum in the Sun's 11-year cycle of magnetic activity. This comprehensive Second Edition includes the main findings of these three spacecraft over an entire activity cycle, including two minima and a maximum, and discusses the significant results of six further solar missions. It contains the relevant discoveries of the past decade, integrated into chapters completely rewritten for the purposes of this book. This provides a fresh perspective on the major topics of solar enquiry, written in an enjoyable, easily understood text accessible to all readers, from the interested layperson to the student or professional.

After describing the scientific objectives of the nine solar missions and a historical perspective on studies of the Sun and heliosphere, the author presents key advances in our understanding of the solar interior, the heating of the million-degree outer atmosphere of the Sun, known as the solar corona, the origin and nature of the solar winds, the cause, prediction and propagation of explosive solar flares and coronal mass ejections, and all aspects of space-weather interactions of the Sun with the Earth, with unprotected astronauts on the Moon or Mars, and with spacecraft in outer space.

The author is known also for his famous books "Astrophysical Formulae," "Sun, Earth and Sky," and the prize-winning "Wanderers in Space," he has succeeded once again in addressing a complex scientific topic in a very approachable way. Hence, this generously illustrated book, whilst primarily addressing students, will also be of interest to a broader readership covering all levels from the amateur to the expert.

The rather specialized field of solar and infrared radiation measurement has become more and more important in the face of growing demands by the renewable energy and climate change research communities for data that are more accurate and have increased temporal and spatial resolution. Updating decades of acquired knowledge in the field, Solar and Infrared Radiation Measurements details the strengths and weaknesses of instruments used to conduct such solar and infrared radiation measurements. Topics covered include: Radiometer design and performance Equipment calibration, installation, operation, and maintenance Data quality assessment Methods to use measured data to estimate irradiance for any surface With a broad range of content that will benefit students and more experienced readers alike, this resource serves as a primer and technical reference that presents the basic terminology and fundamentals for resource assessment. It explores the history of solar radiation instruments and addresses direct normal, global, diffuse, and tilted measurements, as well as the characteristics of instruments used for these measurements. The authors consider methods of assessing the uncertainty of solar measurements and then cover albedo, infrared, net, and spectral irradiance measurements and instrumentation. The book devotes a section to other meteorological instruments, and another to the basics for installing and operating a solar monitoring station. Appendices include information on solar resource assessment modeling and satellite-derived irradiance, along with other useful material. This book's authors are experts who each have more than 30 years of experience developing and operating multiple measurement stations, working with industry to improve radiometry, and conducting various research projects.

Much of what is known about the universe came from the study of celestial shadows. This book looks in detail at the way eclipses and other celestial shadows have given us amazing insights into the nature of the objects in our solar system and how they are even helping us discover and analyze planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. A variety of eclipses, transits, and occultations of the mooons of Jupiter and Saturn, Pluto and its satellite Charon, asteroids and stars have helped astronomers to work out their dimensions, structures, and shapes - even the existence of atmospheres and structures of exoplanets. Long before Columbus set out to reach the Far East by sailing West, the curved shadow of the Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse revealed that we inhabit a round world, a globe. More recently, comparisons of the sunlit and Earthlit parts of the Moon have been used to determine changes in the Earth's brightness as a way of monitoring possible effects in cloud coverage which may be related to global warming. Shadows were used by the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes to work out the first estimate of the circumference of the Earth, by Galileo to measure the heights of the lunar mountains and by eighteenth century astronomers to determine the scale of the Solar System itself. Some of the rarest and most wonderful shadows of all are those cast onto Earth by the lovely "Evening Star" Venus as it goes between the Earth and the Sun. These majestic transits of Venus occur at most two in a century; after the 2012 transit, there is not a chance to observe this phenomenon until 2117, while the more common sweep of a total solar eclipse creates one of the most dramatic and awe-inspiring events of nature. Though it may have once been a source of consternation or dread, solar eclipses now lead thousands of amateur astronomers and "eclipse-chasers" to travel the globe in order to experience the dramatic view under "totality." These phenomena are among the most spectacular available to observers and are given their full due in Westfall and Sheehan's comprehensive study.

over to nominal operations and began making our groundbreaking science observations. Remarkably, the IBEX project was able to do all this work including developing an entirely new launch capability, building and ying a unique and highly specialized spacecraft and instrument suite, and maintaining full funding for our Education and Public Outreach and Phase E science activities, while still under-running our original cost cap (as modi ed by NASA-directed changes), by roughly three-quarters of a million dollars. This book comprises a set of papers that describe the IBEX science, instruments, and mission and put these in the context of the existing knowledge of the interstellar interaction at the time of the launch. The book sets the stage for research that will be based on data from the IBEX mission. We sincerely hope that future researchers, authors and students will use this information to help in their studies. Chapter 1 [McComas et al. ] provides an overview of the entire IBEX program including the IBEX science, hardware, and mission. Chapter 2 describes the IBEX spacecraft and ight system [Scherrer et al. ]. Chapters 3-4 provide the details of the IBEX-Hi instrument [Funsten et al. ] and background monitor that is built into it [Allegrini et al. ], while Chapters 5-7 describe the IBEX-Lo instrument [Fuselier et al. ], how IBEX-Lo can measure the interstellar neutrals directly entering the heliosphere [Moebius et al.

The proceedings of the 2nd SOHO Workshop published in this volume provide a concise overview of the most relevant aspects of mass supply and flows in the solar corona, focusing on: fine scale structures; loops and prominences; streamers; and coronal holes and solar wind. Each topic is introduced by three reviews - the first giving a summary of the status of relevant observations, the second illustrating the status of related theoretical work, and the third summarizing advances in the field to be expected as a result of future SOHO observations. The book also includes a number of specialized contributions. This volume aims to create a general awareness of the opportunities offered by SOHO, in addition to providing a basis for developing collaborative projects. It should also provide scientists already active in the field with easy access to information about future SOHO activities, while young researchers can learn about those topics which are currently regarded as being most relevant in this rapidly evolving discipline.

In June of 1996, at the seaside resort of Guaruja, Brazil, a renowned group of researchers in space and astrophysical plasmas met to provide a forum on advanced topics on astrophysical and space plasmas at a school consisting of some 60 students and teachers, mainly from Brazil and Argentina, but also from all the other parts of the globe. The purpose was to provide an update on the latest theories, observations, and simulations of space-astrophysical plasma phenomena. The topics covered included: space plasma mechanisms for particle acceleration, nonthermal emission in cosmic plasma, magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in solar, interstellar, and other cosmic objects, magnetic field line reconnection and merging, the nonlinear and often chaotic structure of astrophysical plasmas, and the advances in high performance supercomputing resources to replicate the observed phenomena. The lectures were presented by Professor Mark Birkinshaw of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the University of Bristol; Dr Anthony Peratt, Los Alamos National Laboratory Scientific Advisor to the United States Department of Energy; Dr Dieter Biskamp of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching, Germany; Professor Donald Melrose, Director, Centre for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Sydney, Australia; Professor Abraham Chian of the National Institute for Space Research, Brazil; and Professor Nelson Fiedler-Ferrara of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. As summarized by Professor Reuven Opher, Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, University of Sao Paulo, the advanced or interested student of space and astrophysical plasmas will find reference to nearly all modern aspects in the field of Plasma Astrophysics and Cosmology in the presented lectures.