How to find a habitable planet / James F. Kasting.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kasting, James F., author.

Series:

Science Essentials

Science Essentials ; v.17

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exobiology--Congresses.

Exobiology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (350 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2010]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover Page

Half-title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication Page

Contents

Preface

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: Past Thinking about Earth-Like Planets and Life

The Habitable Zone and the Importance of Liquid Water

Carl Sagan and the Drake Equation

Other Perspectives on Planetary Habitability: Rare Earth and Gaia

Part II: Our Habitable Planet Earth

Chapter 2: Critical Updates on How Planets Are Built

The Conventional Wisdom regarding Planet Formation

Where Did Earth's Water Come From?

New Models for Planetary Accretion and Delivery of Water

Could Earth's Water Have Come from Comets?

An Up-to-Date Simulation of Planetary Accretion

Chapter 3: Long-Term Climate Stability

Solar Evolution Theory

Solar Mass Loss?

Electromagnetic Radiation and the Greenhouse Effect

Planetary Energy Balance

The Faint Young Sun Problem

Possible Solutions to the Problem

The Carbonate- Silicate Cycle and Controls on Atmospheric CO2

The CO2-Climate Feedback Loop

Chapter 4: More Wrinkles in Earth's Climate History

The Phanerozoic Climate Record

Precambrian Climate

Geologic Evidence for the Rise of Atmospheric O2

Cause of the O2 Rise: Cyanobacteria

Methane, Methanogens, and the Universal Tree of Life

The Archean Methane Greenhouse

The Paleoproterozoic Glaciation

Chapter 5: Runaway Glaciation and "Snowball Earth"

Milankovitch Cycles and the Recent Ice Ages

Ice Albedo Feedback and Climatic Instability

Evidence for Low- Latitude Glaciation

Mechanisms for Explaining Low- Latitude Glaciation

Snowball Earth

Part III: Limits to Planetary Habitability

Chapter 6: Runaway Greenhouses and the Evolution of Venus' Atmosphere

The History of Water on Venus.

The Classical Runaway Greenhouse Effect

An Alternative Runaway Greenhouse Model

Evolution of Venus' Atmosphere

Chapter 7: The Future Evolution of Earth

High- CO2 Atmospheres and Temperature Limits for Life

Future Solar Evolution and Lifetime of the Biosphere

A Geoengineering Solution to Solar Luminosity Increases

Chapter 8: The Martian Climate Puzzle

Evidence for Liquid Water near Mars' Surface

CH4 in Mars' Atmosphere?

Evidence That Water Flowed in Mars' Distant Past

When Did the Martian Valleys Form?

How Warm Was Early Mars?

Mechanisms for Warming Early Mars

Where Are the Carbonates?

Chapter 9: Is the Earth Rare?

Planetary Size / Magnetic Fields

Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation

Availability of Nitrogen and the Importance of N2

Is Plate Tectonics Common?

A Planet's Impact Environment

Stabilization of Earth's Obliquity by the Moon

Chapter 10: Habitable Zones around Stars

Historical Attempts to Define the Habitable Zone

A More Modern Model for the Habitable Zone around the Sun

Hertzsprung- Russell Diagrams and Main Sequence Stars

Habitable Zones around Other Stars

Problems for Planets Orbiting Early- Type Stars

Problems for Planets Orbiting Late- Type Stars

Further Extensions of the Habitable Zone Concept

The Galactic Habitable Zone

Part IV: How to Find Another Earth

Chapter 11: Indirect Detection of Planets around Other Stars

Barnard's Star

The Astrometric Method

Pulsar Planets

The Doppler Effect

The Radial Velocity Method

Gravitational Microlensing

Chapter 12: Finding and Characterizing Planets by Using Transits

Transits of Mercury and Venus

Transits of Extrasolar "Hot Jupiters"

Space- Based Transit Searches: CoRoT and Kepler.

Observing Exoplanet Atmospheres during Transits

Secondary Transit Spectroscopy

Characterizing Earth-Like Planets around M Stars

Chapter 13: Direct Detection of Extrasolar Planets

What Wavelength Region Should We Choose?

Infrared Interferometers: TPF-I and Darwin

Searching for Planets at Visible Wavelengths: TPF- C

The Visible Occulter: TPF- O

Nearby Target Stars

Chapter 14: The Spectroscopic Search for Life

Spectral Resolution

The Visible /Near- IR Region: TPF- C or -O

The Thermal- IR Region: TPF- I or Darwin

Looking for Life on Early Earth- Type Planets

Possible False Positives for Life

Polarization Measurements: Looking for the Glint of Surface Water

The Holy Grail: Simultaneous Detection of O2 and Reduced Gases

Chapter 15: Prospects for the More Distant Future

NASA's Life Finder Mission

Using the Sun as a Gravitational Lens

The Drake Equation Revisited: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Afterword to the Paperback Edition

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781400845088

1400845084

OCLC:

1287132363