Planets Outside the Solar System: Theory and Obser

ISBN 10: 0792357086 / ISBN 13: 9780792357087

Published by Springer, 1999

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Synopsis:

The question of the existence of other worlds and other living beings has been present in the human quest for knowledge since as far as Epicurus. For centuries this question belonged to the fields of philosophy and theology. The theoretical problem of the formation of the Solar System, and hence of other planetary systems, was tackled only during the 18th century, while the first observational attempts for a detection started less than one hundred years ago. Direct observation of an extra-solar planetary system is an extraordinarily difficult problem: extra-solar planets are at huge distances, are incredibly faint and are overwhelmed by the bright light of their own stars. With virtually no observational insight to test their models, theoreticians have remained for decades in a difficult position to make substantial progress. Yet, the field of stellar formation has provided since the 1980s both the the­ oretical and observational evidences for the formation of discs at the stage of star birth and for debris materials orbiting the very young stellar systems. It was tempting to consider that these left-overs might indeed later agglomerate into planetary systems more or less similar to ours. Then came observational evidences for planets outside the Solar System.

Synopsis: The observation and understanding of extra-solar planetary systems has become a very exciting topic that poses challenges to many fields of human knowledge. A few years after the first observational evidence of planets outside the Solar System, this field of research has experienced spectacular developments. One of the characteristics of the field is that it draws together researchers from a variety of fields: astrophysics, geophysics, biochemistry, etc, and opens up new areas for their interactions. This book sets out a synthesis of the advances and points of view of this adventure. Young students, researchers, engineers involved or about to become involved in this challenging quest for extra-solar planets will benefit by reading such a synthetic review.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Planets Outside the Solar System: Theory and...
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Brand New