Exoplanets

Hidden Worlds and the Quest for Extraterrestrial Life

De: Donald Goldsmith

Narrado por: Peter Noble

Duración: 7 h y 52 m

Resumen del Editor

Astronomers have recently discovered thousands of planets that orbit stars throughout the Milky Way. Much of what has captured the imagination of planetary scientists and the public is the unexpected strangeness of these distant worlds. The sizes, masses, and orbits of exoplanets detected so far raise new questions about how planets form and evolve. Still more tantalizing are the efforts to determine which exoplanets might support life.

Astronomers are steadily improving their means of examining these planets, using advanced spacecraft sent into orbits a million miles from Earth. These instruments will provide better observations of these planetary systems, which are nestled close enough to their dim red stars to maintain Earth-like temperatures.

The quest to find other worlds brims with possibility, and Donald Goldsmith presents the science of exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life in a way that even Earthlings with little to no background in astronomy or astrophysics can understand and enjoy.

©2018 Donald Goldsmith (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Worth the read

Great content and learned a lot. However, the narrator’s intonation was, at times, disjointed from this somewhat dense topic such that it required careful attention to follow. To that, it was was borderline monotonous. Still - very informative book and would recommend.

For those interested in how Exoplanets were found

This is esoteric information on the history and methods of exoplanet detection - detecting planets around other stars. This book is best for amateur astronomers interested in exoplanets. It may also be a good read (listen) for those interested in science and discovery.

The first exoplanet was only detected in 1992. Since then, new methods have been found, earth and space based telescopes have been used and now thousands of exoplanets have been detected. Amateur astronomers can even do follow up detection to verify exoplanets with only modest (but quality) equipment.

This book gives a good history and explanation of exoplanets.