Overview

A new era in the exploration of the universe has begun. In 1995, after decades of intense scientific investigation. planet hunters discovered the first alien solar system around a star like our own Sun. Since then, armed with new insight and technology, astronomers have been discovering planets at an exhilarating pace. Every day seems to bring us closer to finding an Earthlike planet, perhaps harbouring life, and the resolution to the grandest human mystery of all: are we alone? Now astronomer and internationally acclaimed author Ken Croswell has written the definitive guide to the culmination of the scientific revolution that began with Copernicus. Weaving together the personal travails of the scientists who made the key discoveries, Croswell marshals extensive research and acute interviews to bring to life this epic of scientific adventure-in language so clear that anyone can understand. He shows around other stars to sighting more than half a dozen outposts of the final frontier. For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that the universe at large does in fact possess the four basic astronomical ingredients for life. Moreover, Croswell describes how space-based observatories could provide direct images of our new neighbours. Perhaps someone, or something, will be waving back.

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9780198501985

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A lively, timely history of the search for extrasolar planets - today's hottest astronomical game. Croswell, an astronomer and journalist (The Alchemy of the Heavens, 1995), relates how, beginning with William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, the search for new planets became a holy grail for astronomers; Neptune, Pluto, and the asteroids followed in due course. ( Planet X, believed by some astronomers to account for perturbations in the orbit of Uranus, remains undiscovered.) But planets beyond our own system seemed too remote for even the best telescopes to spot - the nearest star system being 25 trillion miles away, and others millions of times farther than that. At that distance, only indirect methods can apply, in particular, measuring minute fluctuations in the motions of stars, which a sufficiently large planet would cause. Such fluctuations have been reported, and ascribed to distant planets, since the 1940s. But until very recently, better observations have usually deflated the discoverers' claims. (One prominent astronomer's claim of periodic motions of Barnard's Star was finally explained by a periodic wobble in his telescope.) The space age made newer techniques available. A large planet would be expected to emit large amounts of infrared light, and when the bright star Vega was found to be unexpectedly energetic in the infrared, it was taken by some as evidence of planets. (A ring of dust is the more likely answer.) These and other false alarms were the entire story until 1995, when two Swiss astronomers reported a large object in orbit around 51 Pegasi, now considered the first observation of an extrasolar planet. Croswell provides engaging portraits of the astronomers (from Giordano Bruno through Geoffrey Marcy, one of those who discovered 51 Pegasi's planet) as well as a clear, lively summary of the scientific material. A thoroughly readable addition to the astronomy bookshelf. (Kirkus Reviews)

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