How to Find a Habitable Planet / / James F. Kasting.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Kasting, James F.,
• TeilnehmendeR: Kasting, James F.
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2021]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Science Essentials ; 17
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.) :; 16 color illus. 57 halftones. 15 line illus. 4 tables.
• Other title: Frontmatter --; Contents --; Preface --; Part I: Introduction --; Chapter 1. Past Th inking about Earth-Like Planets and Life --; Part II: Our Habitable Planet Earth --; Chapter 2. Critical Updates on How Planets Are Built --; Chapter 3. Long-Term Climate Stability --; Chapter 4. More Wrinkles in Earth’s Climate History --; Chapter 5. Runaway Glaciation and “Snowball Earth” --; Part III: Limits to Planetary Habitability --; Chapter 6. Runaway Greenhouses and the Evolution of Venus’ Atmosphere --; Chapter 7. The Future Evolution of Earth --; Chapter 8. The Martian Climate Puzzle --; Chapter 9. Is the Earth Rare? --; Chapter 10. Habitable Zones around Stars --; Part IV: How to Find Another Earth --; Chapter 11. Indirect Detection of Planets around Other Stars --; Chapter 12. Finding and Characterizing Planets by Using Transits --; Chapter 13. Direct Detection of Extrasolar Planets --; Chapter 14. The Spectroscopic Search for Life --; Chapter 15. Prospects for the More Distant Future --; Afterword to the Paperback Edition --; Notes --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9781400845088; 9783110442502; 9783110784237
• DOI: 10.1515/9781400845088?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: James F. Kasting.

The amazing science behind the search for Earth-like planetsEver since Carl Sagan first predicted that extraterrestrial civilizations must number in the millions, the search for life on other planets has gripped our imagination. Is Earth so rare that advanced life forms like us—or even the simplest biological organisms—are unique to the universe? How to Find a Habitable Planet describes how scientists are testing Sagan's prediction, and demonstrates why Earth may not be so rare after all.James Kasting has worked closely with NASA in its mission to detect habitable worlds outside our solar system, and in this book he introduces readers to the advanced methodologies being used in this extraordinary quest. He addresses the compelling questions that planetary scientists grapple with today: What exactly makes a planet habitable? What are the signatures of life astronomers should look for when they scan the heavens for habitable worlds? In providing answers, Kasting explains why Earth has remained habitable despite a substantial rise in solar luminosity over time, and why our neighbors, Venus and Mars, haven't. If other Earth-sized planets endowed with enough water and carbon are out there, he argues, chances are good that some of those planets sustain life. Kasting describes the efforts under way to find them, and predicts that future discoveries will profoundly alter our view of the universe and our place in it.This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of finding other planets like ours—and perhaps even life like ours—in the cosmos. In a new afterword, Kasting presents some recent breakthroughs in the search for exoplanets and discusses the challenges facing space programs in the near future.