Life in the Solar System and Beyond

Springer Praxis Books

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By: Barrie William Jones

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Published: 11th February 2004

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From the reviews:

"Bulging with concise explanations and 142 clarifying diagrams and photos, the book probably represents some of the best pedagogy in the solar system on these topics. ... just the right level for most undergraduates. ... Open-minded scientists looking for an authoritative tour of astrobiology will enjoy the book ... . The author's summary of exoplanet detection techniques is excellent ... . Jones keeps us interested with simple explanations ... . His approach is quite an achievement ... . " (Charley Lineweaver, Physics Today, February, 2005).

"This is a textbook suitable for university use. ... this is one of the best. ... includes excellent recent images of Mars, Europa and elsewhere, and is richly illustrated with explanatory diagrams. ... There is a useful index, a glossary and a list of 'resources' (websites and books)." (Malcolm Walter, Australian Physics, Vol. 42 (3) July/August 2005)

"What is required for life, and where might it have evolved? ... These are the questions that are addressed in this wide ranging, well written and thought provoking book. ... But for anyone wishing to follow ... Jones' book is an excellent start." (Dr. C.M.Linton, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 46 (3), 2005)

"This book centres on the search for life in the Solar System and beyond. It includes an overview of many of the disciplines involved in this field of research, which include astronomy, biology and geology. ... It was good to see that the astronomy has been kept fairly descriptive and not too mathematical. This keeps the flow of the book. ... As an overview of the key subjects involved in astrobiology for a university course, I think this book is successful." (James Silvester, Astronomy Now, March, 2005)

Although, at present there is no firm evidence for extraterrestrial life, enormous progress has been made in recent years, both in our understanding of life on Earth and of the potential for life existing elsewhere in the universe. Life in the Solar System and Beyond embaces aspects form all the osre related fields (astronomy, planetary science, chemistry, biology, and Physics). This excellent and thought-provoking introduction:

Addresses the important question of what is life, and discusses the origins and evolution of life on Earth, as well as its probable fate
Looks at places within our Solar System, beyond Earth, especially where life might exist, such as Mars and Europa
Includes the very latest data on searches for planets around other stars, the results of these searches, and discusses what conditions might be like
Speculates on possible life elsewhere in the Universe beyond our Solar system, and assesses our chances of making contact, if there is intelligent life out there
Includes end of chapter summaries to help the reader grasp the main concepts to carry forward
Provides a list of resources, including useful websites at the end of the book which will enable the reader to keep up to date in this rapidly moving field

From the reviews:

"This book ... provides a comprehensive overview of astrobiology. It is a course textbook, suited for a first year undergraduate course ... . The book is supported by a glossary, a bibliography of similar textbooks on similar and related areas, and a list of useful websites. The textbook has a strong emphasis on astronomy ... making this suitable as a course text in this subject with an emphasis on astrobiology. ... highly appropriate for courses in UK first year undergraduate programmes." (Alex Ellery, International Journal of Astrobiology, Vol. 3 (1), 2004)

"Bulging with concise explanations and 142 clarifying diagrams and photos, the book probably represents some of the best pedagogy in the solar system on these topics. ... Jones's book ... just the right level for most undergraduates. ... Open-minded scientists looking for an authoritative tour of astrobiology will enjoy the book ... . The author's summary of exoplanet detection techniques is excellent ... . Jones keeps us interested with simple explanations ... . His approach is quite an achievement ... . " (Charley Lineweaver, Physics Today, February, 2005).

"This is a textbook suitable for university use. ... this is one of the best. ... includes excellent recent images of Mars, Europa and elsewhere, and is richly illustrated with explanatory diagrams. ... There is a useful index, a glossary and a list of `resources' (websites and books)." (Malcolm Walter, Australian Physics, Vol. 42 (3) July/August 2005)

"The author of this book ... has definitively influenced the content and the presentation of this book. ... The public to which this book is directed is very diverse ... . The prerequisite knowledge is minimal ... . this book reveals some very fascinating observations. ... Reviewers found it very interesting to read that the earliest undisputed evidence for life ... . The book is nicely illustrated ... . this book can be highly recommended to all those interested in the scientific origins of life." (Fernande Grandjean, Gary J. Long, Physicalia, Vol. 57 (3), 2005)

"What is required for life, and where might it have evolved? ... These are the questions that are addressed in this wide ranging, well written and thought provoking book. ... memory is not overly taxed due to the inclusion of helpful summaries at the end of each chapter which identify the key points. ... It draws on all sorts of scientific knowledge ... . No great demands of the reader are made in terms of prior knowledge ... . But for anyone wishing to follow ... Jones' book is an excellent start." (Dr. C.M.Linton, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 46 (3), 2005)

"Can life exist anywhere other than on Earth? Jones (Open Univ., UK) works with well-defined parameters in the search for possible alien life forms, developing these parameters from a study of Earthly evolution of life and geological forms, and the evolution of the solar system as it is presently understood. He includes what data are available from studies on Earth, through telescopes, and from data available at the time of writing on space flights to the planets. He then searches data on solar system planets and the planetary satellites, trying to find conditions similar enough to those on Earth to support some form of life, before going beyond the solar system to search for nonsolar star systems that could contain such conditions. Jones set himself an imposing task that demands either a very large volume or concise writing; although written very well, his book does require some background in science to be completely understood. It contains much detail, including some mathematical derivations, together with excellent diagrams and photographs, references to pertinent Web sites, and summaries and questions at chapter-ends. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduate through graduate students; two-year technical program students. -- P. R. Douville, emeritus, Central Connecticut State University

"Certainly, Barrie Jones covers a lot of ground in this concise summary of our state of knowledge with regard to extraterrestrial life. ... The book is generally very readable and easy to follow ... . each chapter includes a final summary and questions/answers that would be of value for students. ... as a one-stop reference on exobiology it is hard to beat." (Peter Bond, The Observatory, Vol. 125 (1188), 2005)

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Abbreviations	p. xv
List of figures	p. xvii
List of tables	p. xxiii
List of plates	p. xxv
The cosmos	p. 1
The Solar System	p. 1
The orbits of the planets	p. 1
The Sun as a body	p. 5
The planets as bodies	p. 8
The large satellites	p. 11
The origin of the Solar System	p. 13
The nebular theory	p. 13
Pluto, comets, and satellites	p. 16
The acquisition of volatile substances by the terrestrial planets	p. 17
The origin of the heavy elements	p. 17
Beyond the Solar System	p. 18
The stars	p. 18
The Galaxy (and others)	p. 20
Summary	p. 22
Questions	p. 23
Life on Earth	p. 25
The Earth	p. 25
The Earth's interior	p. 25
The Earth's crust, lithosphere, and plate tectonics	p. 26
Atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere	p. 27
The chemicals of life	p. 29
Proteins and nucleic acids	p. 29
Polysaccharides, lipids, and small molecules	p. 32
The cell	p. 32
The fundamental processes of life	p. 34
Chemical energy	p. 34
Energy for the cell	p. 35
Protein synthesis	p. 38
Reproduction and evolution	p. 40
Diversity of habitats	p. 43
Non-extreme habitats	p. 43
Extreme habitats	p. 44
The tree of life	p. 49
Summary	p. 50
Questions	p. 51
The evolution and origin of life on Earth	p. 53
The process of evolution	p. 53
Life on Earth since the last common ancestor	p. 55
The major events and their timing	p. 55
The causes of mass extinctions	p. 61
The effect of the biosphere on the Earth's atmosphere	p. 62
Radiometric dating	p. 65
The origin of life on Earth	p. 66
RNA world	p. 67
The origin of cells	p. 68
The role of minerals	p. 68
Chirality in biomolecules	p. 71
Where did life originate?	p. 73
When did life originate?	p. 74
Conclusions	p. 74
Summary	p. 75
Questions	p. 76
Where to look for life elsewhere in the Solar System	p. 77
What sort of life are we searching for?	p. 77
Potential habitats for carbon-liquid water life	p. 78
The habitable zone (HZ)	p. 79
The HZ in the Solar System	p. 82
Further considerations	p. 85
Potential habitats beyond the HZ	p. 86
Planetary interiors	p. 86
Tidal heating	p. 87
Tidally heated bodies	p. 89
Titan	p. 95
Summary	p. 96
Questions	p. 97
Life on Mars?	p. 99
The planet Mars today	p. 99
Mars in space	p. 99
The martian interior	p. 101
The martian atmosphere	p. 102
The martian surface from space	p. 104
Features that indicate the presence of liquid water	p. 108
The martian surface from landers	p. 112
Mars in the past	p. 114
The three epochs of martian history	p. 114
Atmospheric change on Mars	p. 114
The search for life on Mars	p. 116
Before the space age	p. 116
The Viking Landers	p. 118
Martian meteorites and fossils	p. 120
Prospects for the future	p. 122
Summary	p. 123
Questions	p. 124
Life on Europa?	p. 127
Europa	p. 127
Is there an ocean on Europa?	p. 128
The potential of Europa as a habitat	p. 133
Current knowledge	p. 133
The future exploration of Europa	p. 134
Summary	p. 136
Questions	p. 136
The fate of life in the Solar System	p. 137
The evolution of the Sun	p. 139
The main sequence phase and the transition to the giant phase	p. 139
The giant phase and after	p. 140
The effect of solar evolution on Solar System habitability	p. 143
Planetary orbits	p. 143
The habitable zone (HZ)	p. 143
Summary	p. 146
Questions	p. 147
Potential habitats beyond the Solar System	p. 149
The variety of stars	p. 150
The Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram	p. 150
Stellar populations	p. 154
Suitable stars for life	p. 155
Main sequence lifetime and life detectable from afar	p. 156
Metallicity and other considerations	p. 156
Main sequence M stars (M dwarfs)	p. 157
The galactic HZ	p. 161
Summary	p. 162
Questions	p. 163
Searching for planets: direct methods	p. 165
The challenge of direct detection	p. 165
Coronagraphy	p. 168
Signal-to-noise ratio (snr) in a telescope image	p. 169
The effect of one type of coronagraph	p. 170
Atmospheric effects and their reduction	p. 171
Atmospheric 'seeing' and its effects	p. 173
Adaptive optics	p. 173
Large optical telescopes	p. 175
Ground-based telescopes	p. 175
Telescopes in space	p. 176
Interferometers	p. 177
The basic principle of interferometry	p. 177
Imaging interferometers	p. 180
Summary	p. 183
Questions	p. 184
Searching for planets: indirect methods	p. 185
Detecting a planet through the motion of its star	p. 185
The effect of a planet on its star's motion	p. 185
Astrometry: principles	p. 186
Astrometry: practice	p. 190
Doppler spectroscopy: principles	p. 194
Doppler spectroscopy: practice	p. 200
Transit photometry	p. 203
Gravitational microlensing	p. 205
Observations of circumstellar discs and rings	p. 208
Summary	p. 209
Questions	p. 209
Exoplanetary systems	p. 211
The discovery of exoplanetary systems	p. 211
The known (non-pulsar) exoplanetary systems	p. 214
The stars that host the known exoplanetary systems	p. 214
Exoplanet masses	p. 216
Exoplanet composition	p. 217
Exoplanet orbits	p. 219
Migration of giant exoplanets and its consequences	p. 221
Migration mechanisms and consequences for giants	p. 221
Giant planet migration and the formation of Earth-mass planets in HZs	p. 225
Earth-mass planets in HZs	p. 226
The undiscovered exoplanets	p. 228
The known exoplanetary systems - a summary	p. 228
What planets await discovery and when might we discover them?	p. 229
A note on evidence from circumstellar discs	p. 232
Stars, planets, and life forms	p. 233
Summary	p. 233
Questions	p. 234
How to find life on exoplanets	p. 237
Planets with habitable surfaces	p. 238
Detecting biospheres from a distance	p. 239
Is there life on Earth?	p. 239
The infrared spectrum of the Earth	p. 243
The infrared spectrum of Mars	p. 247
The infrared spectra of exoplanets	p. 247
Exoplanet spectra at visible and near-infrared wavelengths	p. 249
Interstellar probes	p. 252
Summary	p. 254
Questions	p. 254
Extraterrestrial intelligence	p. 257
The number of technological intelligences in the Galaxy	p. 257
Searching for ETI	p. 259
Microwave and optical searches	p. 261
Microwave searches	p. 261
What a microwave signal from ETI might be like	p. 264
The outcome of microwave searches and their future	p. 267
Searches at optical wavelengths (OSETI)	p. 268
Spacecraft and other artefacts from ETI	p. 270
Interstellar travel	p. 270
Galactic exploration	p. 272
Technological modifications by ETI of their cosmic environment	p. 273
The Fermi paradox	p. 274
Communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI)	p. 275
Summary	p. 278
Questions	p. 279
Glossary	p. 281
Answers to questions	p. 287
Resources	p. 303
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9781852331016
ISBN-10: 1852331011
Series: Springer Praxis Books
Audience: Tertiary; University or College
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 317
Published: 11th February 2004
Publisher: Springer London Ltd
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 24.4 x 17.0 x 2.03
Weight (kg): 0.62