Overview

Is the Earth the right model and the only universal key to understand habitability, the origin and maintenance of life? Are we able to detect life elsewhere in the universe by the existing techniques and by the upcoming space missions? This book tries to give answers by focusing on environmental properties, which are playing a major role in influencing planetary surfaces or the interior of planets and satellites. The book gives insights into the nature of planets or satellites and their potential to harbor life. Different scientific disciplines are searching for the clues to classify planetary bodies as a habitable object and what kind of instruments and what kind of space exploration missions are necessary to detect life. Results from model calculations, field studies and from laboratory studies in planetary simulation facilities will help to elucidate if some of the planets and satellites in our solar system as well as in extra-solar systems are potentially habitable for life.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jean-Pierre de Vera ,  Joseph Seckbach
Publisher:   Springer
Imprint:   Springer
Edition:   Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2013
Volume:   28
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   6.788kg
ISBN:  

9789400792166

ISBN 10:   9400792166
Pages:   419
Publication Date:   07 August 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Foreword; Joseph Seckbach Preface; Hagai Netzer Introduction; Jean-Pierre de Vera List of Authors and Their Addresses Acknowledgements; Jean-Pierre de Vera and Joseph Seckbach Part 1: PARAMETERS FOR HABITABILITY, HABITABLE ZONES AND LIFE: ENERGY, LIQUID SOLVENT, INFORMATION The Habitable Zone: Basic Concepts; Stephen Kane Exoplanets: Criteria for Their Habitability and Possible Biospheres; John Lee Grenfell, Heike Rauer and Philip von Paris The Habitable Zone and The Generalized Greenhouse Effect; Giora Shaviv and Smadar Bressler, Nir J. Shaviv The Influence of UV Radiation on Exoplanets’ Habitability; Orion Talmi and Giora Shaviv Factors of Planetary Habitability; Rob Hengeveld Bio-relevant microscopic liquid subsurface water in planetary surfaces?; Dirk Möhlmann Part 2: IMPACT CRATERS AND THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE Organic molecules in lunar ice: a window to the early evolution of life on Earth; Dirk Schulze-Makuch Part 3: FIELD STUDIES IN PLANETARY ANALOGS, SIMULATIONS AND SPACE EXPERIMENTS WITH RELEVANCE TO HABITABILITY Experimental simulation of possible origins of life (Conceptual and Practical Issues); Henry Strasdeit and Stefan Fox Simulation and measurement of extraterrestrial conditions for experiments on habitability with respect to Mars; Andreas Lorek and Alexander Koncz The Role of Terrestrial Analogs in the Exploration of The Habitability of Martian Evaporitic Environments; Roberto Barbieri Part 4: SEARCH FOR HABITABLE WORLDS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND Microbial scale habitability on Mars; Frances Westall Interior and surface dynamics of terrestrial bodies and their implications for the habitability; Lena Noack and Doris Breuer Exoplanets and habitability; Stephen Kane Part 5: ALTERNATIVES TO EARTH-LIKE LIFE Extremophiles on Alien Worlds: What Types of Organismic Adaptations are Feasible on Other Planetary Bodies; Dirk Schulze-Makuch Brown Dwarfs and Black Smokers. The Potential for Photosynthesis using Radiation from Low-Temperature Black Bodies; John A. Raven and Sean Donnelly Part 6: APPLICATION OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DETECTION OF HABITABLE PLANETS AND THE SEARCH FOR LIFE Detection of Habitable Planets and The Search for Life; Heike Rauer, Juan Cabrera, Stefanie Gebauer, John Lee Grenfell Raman Spectral Signatures in the Biogeological Record: An Astrobiological Challenge; Howell G. M. Edwards, Ian B. Hutchinson, Richard Ingley Application of Raman Spectroscopy as In Situ Technology for the Search for Life; Ute Böttger and Antje Hermelink  and Jean-Pierre de Vera and Jörg Fritz and Iris Weber and Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers Part 7: FUTURE SPACE MISSIONS FOR LIFE DETECTION Habitability on Kepler worlds: Are Moons Relevant?; Julian Chela-Flores Clean In-Situ Subsurface Exploration of Icy Environments in the Solar System; B. Dachwald, S. Ulamec and J. Biele Part 8: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Theoretically possible habitable Worlds – but soon will we get answers by observations?; Jean-Pierre de Vera and Joseph Seckbach Subject Index Author Index

Reviews

From the reviews: This edited collection of short papers covers a range of topics relevant to questions of habitability on planetary bodies other than Earth. the book is perhaps suitable as a primer in aspects of astrobiology associated with questions of habitability of other planets and moons. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. (P. K. Strother, Choice, Vol. 51 (7), March, 2014)

From the reviews:   “This edited collection of short papers covers a range of topics relevant to questions of habitability on planetary bodies other than Earth. … the book is perhaps suitable as a primer in aspects of astrobiology associated with questions of habitability of other planets and moons. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” (P. K. Strother, Choice, Vol. 51 (7), March, 2014)

From the reviews: This edited collection of short papers covers a range of topics relevant to questions of habitability on planetary bodies other than Earth. ... the book is perhaps suitable as a primer in aspects of astrobiology associated with questions of habitability of other planets and moons. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. (P. K. Strother, Choice, Vol. 51 (7), March, 2014)

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