Planetary Systems: A Very Short Introduction

Planetary Systems: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Raymond T. Pierrehumbert
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2021-12-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0192577948

Not long ago, the Solar System was the only example of a planetary system - a star and the bodies orbiting it - that we knew. Now, we know thousands of planetary systems, and have even been able to observe planetary systems at the moment of their birth. This Very Short Introduction explores this new frontier, incorporating the latest research. The book takes the reader on a journey through the grand sweep of time, from the moment galaxies begin to form after the Big Bang to trillions of years in the future when the Universe will be a dilute soup of dim galaxies populated mostly by red dwarf stars. Throughout, Raymond T. Pierrehumbert introduces the latest insights gained from a new generation of telescopes that catch planetary systems at the moment of formation, and to the theoretical advances that attempt to make sense of these observations. He explains how the elements that make up life and the planets on which life can live are forged in the interiors of dying stars, and make their way into rocky planets. He also explores the vast array of newly discovered planets orbiting stars other than our own, and explains the factors that determine their climates. Finally, he reveals what determines how long planetary systems can live, and what happens in their end-times. Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

From Dust to Life

From Dust to Life
Author: John Chambers
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2017-05-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1400885566

The remarkable story of how our solar system came to be The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

A History of the Solar System

A History of the Solar System
Author: Claudio Vita-Finzi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2016
Genre: Solar system
ISBN: 9781786846716

The book is intended for a general readership at a time when human and robotic exploration of space is often in the news and should also appeal to students at all levels. It covers the essentials but refers to a large literature which can be accessed via the internet.

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System
Author: Kent C. Condie
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2011-08-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0123852285

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System, Second Edition, explores key topics and questions relating to the evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle over the last four billion years. This updated edition features exciting new information on Earth and planetary evolution and examines how all subsystems in our planet—crust, mantle, core, atmosphere, oceans and life—have worked together and changed over time. It synthesizes data from the fields of oceanography, geophysics, planetology, and geochemistry to address Earth's evolution. This volume consists of 10 chapters, including two new ones that deal with the Supercontinent Cycle and on Great Events in Earth history. There are also new and updated sections on Earth's thermal history, planetary volcanism, planetary crusts, the onset of plate tectonics, changing composition of the oceans and atmosphere, and paleoclimatic regimes. In addition, the book now includes new tomographic data tracking plume tails into the deep mantle. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, with a basic knowledge of geology, biology, chemistry, and physics. It also may serve as a reference tool for structural geologists and professionals in related disciplines who want to look at the Earth in a broader perspective. - Kent Condie's corresponding interactive CD, Plate Tectonics and How the Earth Works, can be purchased from Tasa Graphic Arts here: http://www.tasagraphicarts.com/progptearth.html - Two new chapters on the Supercontinent Cycle and on Great Events in Earth history - New and updated sections on Earth's thermal history, planetary volcanism, planetary crusts, the onset of plate tectonics, changing composition of the oceans and atmosphere, and paleoclimatic regimes - Also new in this Second Edition: the lower mantle and the role of the post-perovskite transition, the role of water in the mantle, new tomographic data tracking plume tails into the deep mantle, Euxinia in Proterozoic oceans, The Hadean, A crustal age gap at 2.4-2.2 Ga, and continental growth

Formation Of The Solar System, The: Theories Old And New (2nd Edition)

Formation Of The Solar System, The: Theories Old And New (2nd Edition)
Author: Michael Mark Woolfson
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2014-09-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1783265248

This fully-updated second edition remains the only truly detailed exploration of the origins of our Solar System, written by an authority in the field. Unlike other authors, Michael Woolfson focuses on the formation of the solar system, engaging the reader in an intelligent yet accessible discussion of the development of ideas about how the Solar System formed from ancient times to the present.Within the last five decades new observations and new theoretical advances have transformed the way scientists think about the problem of finding a plausible theory. Spacecraft and landers have explored the planets of the Solar System, observations have been made of Solar-System bodies outside the region of the planets and planets have been detected and observed around many solar-type stars. This new edition brings in the most recent discoveries, including the establishment of dwarf planets and challenges to the ‘standard model’ of planet formation — the Solar Nebula Theory.While presenting the most up-to-date material and the underlying science of the theories described, the book avoids technical jargon and terminology. It thus remains a digestible read for the non-expert interested reader, whilst being detailed and comprehensive enough to be used as an undergraduate physics and astronomy textbook, where the formation of the solar system is a key part of the course.Michael Woolfson is Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at University of York and is an award-winning crystallographer and astronomer.

Planetary Ring Systems

Planetary Ring Systems
Author: Matthew S. Tiscareno
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2018-03-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1108548288

Planetary rings are among the most intriguing structures of our solar system and have fascinated generations of astronomers. Collating emerging knowledge in the field, this volume reviews our current understanding of ring systems with reference to the rings of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and more. Written by leading experts, the history of ring research and the basics of ring–particle orbits is followed by a review of the known planetary ring systems. All aspects of ring system science are described in detail, including specific dynamical processes, types of structures, thermal properties and their origins, and investigations using computer simulations and laboratory experiments. The concluding chapters discuss the prospects of future missions to planetary rings, the ways in which ring science informs and is informed by the study of other astrophysical disks, and a perspective on the field's future. Researchers of all levels will benefit from this thorough and engaging presentation.

Gerard P. Kuiper and the Rise of Modern Planetary Science

Gerard P. Kuiper and the Rise of Modern Planetary Science
Author: Derek W. G. Sears
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2019-03-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0816539006

Astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper ignored the traditional boundaries of his subject. Using telescopes and the laboratory, he made the solar system a familiar, intriguing place. “It is not astronomy,” complained his colleagues, and they were right. Kuiper had created a new discipline we now call planetary science. Kuiper was an acclaimed astronomer of binary stars and white dwarfs when he accidentally discovered that Titan, the massive moon of Saturn, had an atmosphere. This turned our understanding of planetary atmospheres on its head, and it set Kuiper on a path of staggering discoveries: Pluto was not a planet, planets around other stars were common, some asteroids were primary while some were just fragments of bigger asteroids, some moons were primary and some were captured asteroids or comets, the atmosphere of Mars was carbon dioxide, and there were two new moons in the sky, one orbiting Uranus and one orbiting Neptune. He produced a monumental photographic atlas of the Moon at a time when men were landing on our nearest neighbor, and he played an important part in that effort. He also created some of the world’s major observatories in Hawai‘i and Chile. However, most remarkable was that the keys to his success sprang from his wartime activities, which led him to new techniques. This would change everything. Sears shows a brilliant but at times unpopular man who attracted as much dislike as acclaim. This in-depth history includes some of the twentieth century’s most intriguing scientists, from Harold Urey to Carl Sagan, who worked with—and sometimes against—the father of modern planetary science. Now, as NASA and other space agencies explore the solar system, they take with them many of the ideas and concepts first described by Gerard P. Kuiper.

Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks to Kepler

Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks to Kepler
Author: Theodor S. Jacobsen
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2018-03-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0295997591

In Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks, Theodor S. Kepler seeks to present a bird’s-eye view of the astronomical nature of the work of Newton’s predecessors. Rather than dwelling only on the influence of each thinker’s great ideas, Jacobsen tracks the actual details of their development by investigating the various systems involved and how they were used. As such, this book is an attempt to describe the specific processes through which (pre-Newtonian) astronomers derived a knowledge of the cosmos by observing the heavens and trying out detailed models to account for their observations. Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks contributes to scholarship on historical astronomy by offering an approach between that of popular, exact astronomical information and formal, fully referenced scholarly investigation. Each chapter is organized around a key astronomer (Eudoxus, Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler) and offers relevant biographical introduction, exposition of the astronomical system, and assessment of their contributions. As Jacobsen suggests, the present elementary study of these historical astronomical systems also yields valuable insights for visualizing the salient facts of general astronomy.