Is the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence a genuine scientific research programme? David Lamb evaluates claims and counter-claims, and examines recent attempts to establish contact with other intelligent life forms. He considers the benefits and drawbacks of this communication, how we should communicate and whether we actually can. He also assesses competing theories on the origin of life on Earth, discoveries of former solar planets, proposals for space colonies and the consequent technical and ethical issues.

Related link: The SETI Institute
Related link: The SETI@Home project
eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415243416

Ever wondered how it all began? How it will all end? And while we're waiting, what's been going on in the meantime? From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch, dark matter to antimatter, The Universe is your pocket guide to everything that ever was and ever will be - a statement that places no undue pressure on the author whatsoever.

This annual publication gives the longitudes of all the planets for each day and their latitudes and declinations for every other day and includes tables of houses for London, Liverpool and New York. It contains lunar and planetary aspectarians and all the necessary data for casting horoscopes. Each individual year of Raphael's Ephemeris from 1832 is also available.

Integrating both scientific and philosophical perspectives, this book provides an informed analysis of the challenges of formulating a universal theory of life. Among the issues discussed are crucial differences between definitions and scientific theories and, in the context of examples from the history of science, how successful general theories develop. The central problem discussed is two-fold: first, our understanding of life is still tacitly wedded to an antiquated Aristotelian framework for biology; and second, there are compelling reasons for considering that familiar Earth life, which descends from a last universal common ancestor, is unrepresentative. What is needed are examples of life as we don't know it. Potential sources are evaluated, including artificial life, extraterrestrial life, and a shadow biosphere right here on Earth, and a novel strategy for searching for unfamiliar life in the absence of a definition or general theory is developed. The book is a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers studying the nature, origins, and extent of life in the universe.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the chemistry of CO2 in relation to surface interactions and photocatalytic transformation by UV radiation. The first part deals with the modelling of an anatase surface, its interaction with CO2, and the spontaneous exchange of oxygen atoms between the gas and solid phases. The book then naturally transitions to the photocatalytic reduction of CO2, achieved by adding UV radiation and traces of water to the experimental system, to produce methane and CO. This photocatalytic reduction is explained in detail and the implications for planetary chemistry (specifically concerning Mars), as well as Earth's atmospheric chemistry and global warming, are discussed.

In this approachable and fascinating biography of the galaxy, an astrophysicist and folklorist details everything humans have discovered—from the Milky Way's formation to its eventual death, and what else there is to learn about the universe we call home.

After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it.

It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love.

After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world.

This book addresses the problems of Geocosmos and provides a snapshot of the current research in a broad area of Earth Sciences carried out in Russia and elsewhere. The themes covered include solar physics, physics of magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere, solar-terrestrial coupling links, seismology, geoelectricity, paleomagnetism and rock magnetism, as well as cross-disciplinary studies. The proceedings are carefully edited, providing a panoramic outlook of a broad area of Earth Sciences. The readership includes colleague researchers, students and early career scientists. The proceedings will help the readers to look at their research fields from various points of view. Problems of Geocosmos conferences are held by Earth Physics Department, St. Petersburg University bi-annually since 1994. It is the largest forum of this kind in Russia/former Soviet Union attracting up to 200 researchers in Earth and magnetospheric physics.

Julius Schmidt was one of the finest astronomical observers of his time, and his detailed map of the Moon surpassed anything that had come before. Today, the German astronomer and geophysicist has remained a largely neglected figure, despite being one of the most important players in the history of lunar studies. This book at last makes accessible Schmidt's highly regarded German work, Der Mond. Considered an astronomical classic of the nineteenth century, Der Mond remained without a proper English counterpart for the last century and a half, until now. The author's faithful English translation provides readers with much-needed access into Schmidt's original publication, with the aim of showing the community just how vital his work and legacy have been in the international field of selenography.

The second edition of Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar System provides new insights into the burgeoning field of planetary astronomy. As in the first edition, this volume begins with a rigorous treatment of coordinate frames, basic positional astronomy, and the celestial mechanics of two and restricted three body system problems. Perturbations are treated in the same way, with clear step-by-step derivations. Then the Earth's gravitational potential field and the Earth-Moon system are discussed, and the exposition turns to radiation properties with a chapter on the Sun. The exposition of the physical properties of the Moon and the terrestrial planets are greatly expanded, with much new information highlighted on the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. All of the material is presented within a framework of historical importance. This book and its sister volume, Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar system, are pedagogically well written, providing clearly illustrated explanations, for example, of such topics as the numerical integration of the Adams-Williamson equation, the equations of state in planetary interiors and atmospheres, Maxwell's equations as applied to planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, and the physics and chemistry of the Habitable Zone in planetary systems. Together, the volumes form a comprehensive text for any university course that aims to deal with all aspects of solar and extra-solar planetary systems. They will appeal separately to the intellectually curious who would like to know how just how far our knowledge of the solar system has progressed in recent years.

This thesis describes the essential features of Moon-plasma interactions with a particular emphasis on the Earth's magnetotail plasma regime from both observational and theoretical standpoints. The Moon lacks a dense atmosphere as well as a strong intrinsic magnetic field. As a result, its interactions with the ambient plasma are drastically different from solar-wind interactions with magnetized planets such as Earth. The Moon encounters a wide range of plasma regime from the relatively dense, cold, supersonic solar-wind plasma to the low-density, hot, subsonic plasma in the geomagnetic tail. In this book, the author presents a series of new observations from recent lunar missions (i.e., Kaguya, ARTEMIS, and Chandrayaan-1), demonstrating the importance of the electron gyro-scale dynamics, plasma of lunar origin, and hot plasma interactions with lunar magnetic anomalies. The similarity and difference between the Moon-plasma interactions in the geomagnetic tail and those in the solar wind are discussed throughout the thesis. The basic knowledge presented in this book can be applied to plasma interactions with airless bodies throughout the solar system and beyond.

A new and detailed picture of Mercury is emerging thanks to NASA's MESSENGER mission that spent four years in orbit about the Sun's innermost planet. Comprehensively illustrated by close-up images and other data, the author describes Mercury's landscapes from a geological perspective: from sublimation hollows, to volcanic vents, to lava plains, to giant thrust faults. He considers what its giant core, internal structure and weird composition have to tell us about the formation and evolution of a planet so close to the Sun. This is of special significance in view of the discovery of so many exoplanets in similarly close orbits about their stars. Mercury generates its own magnetic field, like the Earth (but unlike Venus, Mars and the Moon), and the interplay between Mercury's and the Sun's magnetic field affects many processes on its surface and in the rich and diverse exosphere of neutral and charged particles surrounding the planet. There is much about Mercury that we still don't understand. Accessible to the amateur, but also a handy state-of-the-art digest for students and researchers, the book shows how our knowledge of Mercury developed over the past century of ground-based, fly-by and orbital observations, and looks ahead at the mysteries remaining for future missions to explore.

This brief book provides an overview of the gravitational orbital evolution of few-body systems, in particular those consisting of three bodies. The authors present the historical context that begins with the origin of the problem as defined by Newton, which was followed up by Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, and many others. Additionally, they consider the modern works from the 20th and 21st centuries that describe the development of powerful analytical methods by Poincare and others. The development of numerical tools, including modern symplectic methods, are presented as they pertain to the identification of short-term chaos and long term integrations of the orbits of many astronomical architectures such as stellar triples, planets in binaries, and single stars that host multiple exoplanets. The book includes some of the latest discoveries from the Kepler and now K2 missions, as well as applications to exoplanets discovered via the radial velocity method. Specifically, the authors give a unique perspective in relation to the discovery of planets in binary star systems and the current search for extrasolar moons.

This book explains how it came to be that Venus and Earth, while very similar in chemical composition, zonation, size and heliocentric distance from the Sun, are very different in surface environmental conditions. It is argued here that these differences can be accounted for by planetoid capture processes and the subsequent evolution of the planet-satellite system. Venus captured a one-half moon-mass planetoid early in its history in the retrograde direction and underwent its "fatal attraction scenario" with its satellite (Adonis). Earth, on the other hand, captured a moon-mass planetoid (Luna) early in its history in prograde orbit and underwent a benign estrangement scenario with its captured satellite.

This combination of text and reference book describes the physical, plasma and chemical processes controlling the behavior of ionospheres, upper atmospheres and exospheres. It summarizes the structure, chemistry, dynamics and energetics of the terrestrial ionosphere and other solar system bodies, and discusses the processes, mechanisms and transport equations for solving fundamental research problems. This second edition incorporates new results, model developments and interpretations from the last 10 years. It includes the latest material on neutral atmospheres; the terrestrial ionosphere at low, middle and high latitudes; and planetary atmospheres and ionospheres, where results from recent space missions have yielded fresh data. Appendices outline physical constants, mathematical formulas, transport coefficients, and other important parameters for ionospheric calculations. This is an essential resource for researchers studying ionospheres, upper atmospheres, aeronomy and plasma physics. It is also an ideal textbook for graduate-level courses, with supplementary problem sets, and solutions for instructors at www.cambridge.org/9780521877060.

The second edition of Solar System Astrophysics: Planetary Atmospheres and the Outer Solar System provides a timely update of our knowledge of planetary atmospheres and of the bodies of the outer solar system and their analogs in other planetary systems. This volume begins with an expanded treatment of the physics, chemistry, and meteorology of the atmospheres of the Earth, Venus, and Mars, moving on to their magnetospheres and then to a full discussion of the gas and ice giants and their properties. From here, attention switches to the small bodies of the solar system, beginning with the natural satellites. The comets, meteors, meteorites, and asteroids are discussed in order, and the volume concludes with the origin and evolution of our solar system. Finally, a fully revised section on extrasolar planetary systems puts the development of our system in a wider and increasingly well understood galactic context. All of the material is presented within a framework of historical importance. This book and its sister volume, Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar system, are pedagogically well written, providing clearly illustrated explanations, for example, of such topics as the numerical integration of the Adams-Williamson equation, the equations of state in planetary interiors and atmospheres, Maxwell's equations as applied to planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, and the physics and chemistry of the Habitable Zone in planetary systems. Together, the volumes form a comprehensive text for any university course that aims to deal with all aspects of solar and extra-solar planetary systems. They will appeal separately to the intellectually curious who would like to know how just how far our knowledge of the solar system has progressed in recent years.

This thesis presents accurate analyses of the spin-orbit angle for many remarkable transiting exoplanetary systems, including the first measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for a multiple transiting system. The author presents the observational methods needed to probe the spin-orbit angle, the relation between the stellar spin axis and planetary orbital axis. Measurements of the spin-orbit angle provide us a unique and valuable opportunity to understand the origin of close-in giant exoplanets, called "hot Jupiters". The first method introduced involves observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect (RM effect). The author points out the issues with the previous theoretical modeling of the RM effect and derives a new and improved theory. Applications of the new theory to observational data are also presented for a number of remarkable systems, and the author shows that the new theory minimizes the systematic errors by applying it to the observational data. The author also describes another method for constraining the spin-orbit angle: by combining the measurements of stellar flux variations due to dark spots on the stellar surface, with the projected stellar rotational velocity measured via spectroscopy, the spin-orbit angles "along the line-of-sight" are constrained for the transiting exoplanetary systems reported by the Kepler space telescope.

In this book an international group of specialists discusses studies of exoplanets subjected to extreme stellar radiation and plasma conditions. It is shown that such studies will help us to understand how terrestrial planets and their atmospheres, including the early Venus, Earth and Mars, evolved during the host star’s active early phase. The book presents an analysis of findings from Hubble Space Telescope observations of transiting exoplanets, as well as applications of advanced numerical models for characterizing the upper atmosphere structure and stellar environments of exoplanets. The authors also address detections of atoms and molecules in the atmosphere of “hot Jupiters” by NASA’s Spitzer telescope. The observational and theoretical investigations and discoveries presented are both timely and important in the context of the next generation of space telescopes. The book is divided into four main parts, grouping chapters on exoplanet host star radiation and plasma environments, exoplanet upper atmosphere and environment observations, exoplanet and stellar magnetospheres, and exoplanet observation and characterization. The book closes with an outlook on the future of this research field.

The purpose of this Gazetteer and Atlas of Astronomy (GAA) is to list, define and illustrate, for the first time, every named (as opposed to merely catalogued) object in the sky within a single reference work for use by the general reader, writers and editors dealing with astronomical themes, and those astronomers concerned with any aspect of astronomical nomenclature. Each part of the GAA will contain: * An introduction to the nomenclature of the body or group of bodies in question * A glossary of terminology used * A gazetteer listing in strict alphanumerical sequence essential information defining the body or feature concerned * An alphanumerically arranged classified index of all the headwords in the gazetteer * An atlas comprising maps and images with coordinate grids and labels identifying features listed in the gazetteer * Appendix material on the IAU nomenclature system and the transcription systems used for non-roman alphabets

The outer Solar System is rich in resources and may be the best region in which to search for life beyond Earth. In fact, it may ultimately be the best place for Earthlings to set up permanent abodes. This book surveys the feasibility of that prospect, covering the fascinating history of exploration that kicks off our adventure into the outer Solar System. Although other books provide surveys of the outer planets, Carroll approaches it from the perspective of potential future human exploration, exploitation and settlement, using insights from today's leading scientists in the field. These experts take us to targets such as the moons Titan, Triton, Enceladus, Iapetus and Europa, and within the atmospheres of the gas and ice giants. In these pages you will experience the thrill of discovery awaiting those who journey through the giant worlds and their moons. All the latest research is included, as are numerous illustrations, among them original paintings by the author, a renowned prize-winning space artist.

Dynamic compression is an experimental technique with interdisciplinary uses, ranging from enabling the creation of ultracondensed matter under previously impossible conditions to understanding the likely cause of unusual planetary magnetic fields. Readers can now gain an intuitive understanding of dynamic compression; clear and authoritative chapters examine its history and experimental method, as well as key topics including dynamic compression of liquid hydrogen, rare gas fluids and shock-induced opacity. Through an up-to-date history of dynamic compression research, Nellis also clearly shows how dynamic compression addresses and will continue to address major unanswered questions across the scientific disciplines. The past and future role of dynamic compression in studying and making materials at extreme conditions of pressure, density and temperature is made clear, and the means of doing so are explained in practical language perfectly suited for researchers and graduate students alike.

This book explores the relations between physical parameters of extrasolar planets and their respective parent stars. Planetary parameters are often directly dependent upon their stellar counterparts. In addition, the star is almost always the only visible component of the system and contains most of the system mass. Consequently, the parent star heavily influences every aspect of planetary physics and astrophysics. Drs. Kaspar von Braun and Tabetha Boyajian use direct methods to characterize exoplanet host starts that minimize the number of assumptions needed to be made in the process. The book provides a background on interferometric techniques for stellar diameter measurements, illustrates the authors' approach on using additional data to fully characterize the stars, provides a comprehensive update on the current state of the field, and examines in detail a number of historically significant and well-studied exoplanetary systems.

Two models for the origin of the Solar System, the Nebula Theory and the Capture Theory, are discussed by protagonists, Simon and Steven respectively, in the presence of Solomon, who oversees the discussions. Modelled on Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, this book provides new insight into different theories of cosmogony.The Nebula Theory, at present the standard model of planet formation, proposes that a star and planets are derived from a single spinning nebula. Woolfson here introduces an alternative, the Capture Theory, in which planets are produced from a protostar tidally disrupted by a condensed star which 'captures' most of the formed planets into orbits. These complex ideas are simplified and presented in an easily understandable, accessible way for all students of physics, astronomy, cosmology and those interested in the beginning of our world as we know it.

Ken M. Harrison's latest book is a complete guide for amateur astronomers who want to obtain detailed narrowband images of the Sun using a digital spectroheliograph (SHG). The SHG allows the safe imaging of the Sun without the expense of commercial 'etalon' solar filters. As the supporting software continues to be refined, the use of the digital spectroheliograph will become more and more mainstream and has the potential to replace the expensive solar filters currently in use. The early chapters briefly explain the concept of the SHG and how it can produce an image from the solar spectrum. A comparison of the currently available narrow band solar filters is followed by a detailed analysis of the critical design, construction and assembly features of the SHG. The design and optimum layout of the instrument is discussed to allow evaluation of performance. This information explains how to assemble a fully functional SHG using readily available components. The software required to process the images is explained and step by step examples provided, with various digital instruments around the world highlighted based on input from many experienced amateurs who have shared their experience in building and using their spectroheliographs. The final chapters provide a historical overview of the traditional spectroheliograph and the later spectrohelioscope, from the initial G.E.Hale and Deslandres concepts of the 1890's through to the later work by Veio and others. The construction and performance of various instruments is covered in detail, and provides a unique opportunity to record and appreciate the groundbreaking researches carried out by amateurs in the 20th century. This is an absolutely up to date book which fully addresses the watershed, game changing influence of the digital imaging revolution on the traditional spectroheliograph.

This volume presents the latest research results on solar prominences, including new developments on e.g. chirality, fine structure, magnetism, diagnostic tools and relevant solar plasma physics. In 1875 solar prominences, as seen out of the solar limb, were described by P.A. Secchi in his book Le Soleil as "gigantic pink or peach-flower coloured flames". The development of spectroscopy, coronagraphy and polarimetry brought tremendous observational advances in the twentieth century. The authors present and discuss exciting new challenges (resulting from observations made by space and ground-based telescopes in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century) concerning the diagnostics of prominences, their formation, their life time and their eruption along with their impact in the heliosphere (including the Earth). The book starts with a general introduction of the prominence "object" with some historical background on observations and instrumentation. In the next chapter, the various forms of prominences are described with a thorough attempt of classification. Their thermodynamic (and velocity) properties are then derived with emphasis on the methods (and their limits) used. This goes from the simplest optically thin case to the heavy radiative treatment of plasmas out of local thermodynamic equilibrium. The following chapters are devoted to the magnetic field measurements and indirect derivation. A new branch of diagnostic tools, the seismology, is presented along with some MHD basics. This allows to better understand the propagation of waves, the energy and force equilibria. Both small-scale and large-scale studies and their relationship are presented. The importance of the newly discovered cavities is stressed in the context of prominence destabilization. The issues of prominence formation and eruption, their connection with flares and Coronal Mass Ejections and their impact on the Earth are addressed on the basis of the latest results. Finally, an exciting new area of research is unveiled with the newly discovered evidence of similar manifestations in the Universe and their possible impact on the habitability of exoplanets. References to the basic physics (where necessary) are provided and the proposed web sites addresses will allow the reader to load exciting movies. The book is aimed at advanced students in astrophysics, post-graduates, solar physicists and more generally astrophysicists. Amateurs will enjoy the many new images which go with the text.

Processes governing the evolution of planetesimals are critical to understanding how rocky planets are formed, how water is delivered to them, the origin of planetary atmospheres, how cores and magnetic dynamos develop, and ultimately, which planets have the potential to be habitable. Theoretical advances and new data from asteroid and meteorite observations, coupled with spacecraft missions such as Rosetta and Dawn, have led to major advances in this field over the last decade. This transdisciplinary volume presents an authoritative overview of the latest in our understanding of the processes of planet formation. Combining meteorite, asteroid and icy body observations with theory and modelling of accretion and orbital dynamics, this text also provides insights into the exoplanetary system and the search for habitable worlds. This is an essential reference for those interested in planetary formation, solar system dynamics, exoplanets and planetary habitability.