The Quest For Alien Planets: Exploring Worlds Outside The Solar System

by Paul Halpern

Overview

An amazing journey throughout the universe in a search for other planets and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738208909
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	06/20/2003
Series:	Exploring Worlds Outside the Solar System
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1270L (what's this?)

About the Author

Paul Halpern is Professor of Physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and the author of many trade science books, including The Cyclical Serpent, Countdown to the Apocalypse, and The Pursuit of Destiny. He lives in Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

	Comment About Terminology	xxv
	Introduction: The Lure of Unknown Worlds	1
Chapter 1	Red Neighbor	23
	Invaders from Mars?	23
	The Canal Controversy	26
	Mariners and Vikings	33
	Rocky Revelations	39
	Earth's Other Neighbor	44
Chapter 2	The Far Reaches of the Solar System	47
	Galileo's Scope	47
	Requisites to Motion	52
	Eyes in Space	57
	Realm of the Giants	61
	Planet X	72
Chapter 3	The Great Wobble Hunt	79
	A Matter of Distance	79
	Bright Lights	83
	Stellar Menagerie	86
	Sirius Disturbances	89
	Barnard's Star Search	94
	The Skeptic of Sproul	102
	Wobble Watchers	106
Chapter 4	Riddle of the Pulsar Planets	113
	Duelling Announcements	113
	The Pulsar Planet that Almost Was	116
	The Mystery of Pulsars	120
	In a Flash	125
	Second-Hand Worlds	128
	The Confirmation Challenge	132
Chapter 5	By Jupiter! Giant Worlds Around Alien Stars	137
	Planet-Hunting Season	137
	Doppler Detection	141
	Bellerophon, the Horseman of Pegasus	148
	Temperate New Territories	157
	Novel and Eccentric Worlds	159
	Seeing the Invisible	165
Chapter 6	Hidden Worlds: Planets as Dark Matter	169
	The Hidden Majority	169
	Strange Rotations	171
	Spacetime's Wrinkled Fabric	182
	Gavity's Rainbow	189
	Macho Detectives	193
	Planet Sleuths	195
	The Other Side of Matter	198
	Our Cosmic Fate	202
Chapter 7	Signs of Life	207
	Questing Other Earths	207
	Vital Ingredients	211
	Seeking Suitable Suns	213
	How Close for Comfort?	216
	The Right Slant	221
	The Elusive Blue Sky	225
	Competing with Darwin	230
	Planetary Disk Pursuit	234
Chapter 8	Making Contact	239
	Ear to the Stars	239
	The Wizard of Ozma	243
	Greeting the Aliens	248
	Lonely Silence	250
	Phoenix Rising	258
	Preparing for Contact	263
	Conclusion: Pushing the Light Barrier	267
	References	273
	Related Reading	277
	Planet-Related Computer Sites on the World Wide Web	285
	Index	287