Exoplanets (eBook)

Chris Kitchin has written or contributed to over two dozen books, and has published more than 500 articles in the astronomical journals and magazines. He also appears regularly on television, including many appearances on BBC TV's Sky at Night. His works for Springer includes, A Photo Guide to the Constellations: A Self-Teaching Guide to Finding Your Way Around the Heavens (1997), Solar Observing Techniques (2001), Illustrated Dictionary of Practical Astronomy (2002), and most recently Galaxies in Turmoil (2007). In his 'day job' Chris is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at the University of Hertfordshire, where until recently he was also Head of Physics and Astronomy, and Director of the University Observatory. Like many other astronomers Chris's interest in the subject started early. At the age of fourteen, he constructed an 8-inch Newtonian after spending hundreds of hours grinding and polishing the main mirror from scratch. Despite using some of the largest telescopes in the world since then, Chris still enjoys just 'gazing at the heavens' - though nowadays it's through a German-made Zeiss Maksutov telescope.

Exoplanets 3
Preface 7
About the Author 11
Acknowledgements 13
Contents 15
1. : Because We Live on One! – or – Why Planets and Exoplanets Are Important 17
2. : A Quick Tour of the Exoplanet Menagerie 23
Hot Jupiters 23
Hot Neptunes 24
Cold Jupiters 24
Super Jupiters 25
Super Earths 26
Exo-Earths, Goldilocks Planets, Twin Earths and Little Blue Dots 26
Free-Floating Planets 27
Just How Many Exoplanets Are There? 28
3. : An Exoplanet Retrospective 30
4. : In the Beginning – The First Exoplanet Discoveries 59
Introduction 59
Box 4.1 The First Astrophysicist – Sir William Huggins (1824–1910) 62
The Real Thing – 51 Peg b 65
Box 4.2 Professors Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz 66
Box 4.3 Prof. Geoff Marcy and Dr. Paul Butler 69
Near Misses – g Cep A, e Eri and b Gem 73
The Very First Exoplanets – PSR 1257±12 B and PSR 1257±12 C 76
Box 4.4 Professors Aleksander (Alex) Wolszczan and Dale Frail 78
Methuselah – The Oldest of Them All – PSR B1620-26 b 82
5. : On the Track of Alien Planets – The Radial Velocity or Doppler Method (~70% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries) 85
6. : On the Track of Alien Planets – The Transit Method (~23% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries) 90
7. : On the Track of Alien Planets – Direct Imaging and Observation (~2.9% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries or ~6% if Free Floating Planets are Included) 118
8. : On the Track of Alien Planets – Gravitational Microlensing (~2.3% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries) 131
9. : On the Track of Alien Planets – Timing (~1.9% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries) 139
10. : On the Track of Alien Planets – Other Approaches (0% of All Exoplanet Primary Discoveries) 144
Astrometry 144
Polarimetry 147
Circumstellar Disks 149
White Dwarf Atmospheres 151
Radio-Based Methods 152
11. : Where Do We Go from Here? – Future Approaches to Exoplanet Detection and Study 154
Innovative and Different Approaches Based Upon New Physical Principles 154
More of the Same, but Better/Faster/ More Precise/More Detailed/More Stars and Planets/etc. 158
12. : Exoplanets Revealed – What They Are Really Like 167
Introduction 167
Hot Jupiters 169
Super-Jupiters 177
Warm and Cold Jupiters and Super-Jupiters 178
Eccentric Jupiters 179
Hot and Cold Neptunes 180
Super-Earths 180
Free-Floating Exoplanets 182
Exoplanetary Systems 183
Exoplanets in Binary or Multiple Star Systems 186
Host Stars and Their Effects upon Their Exoplanets 189
Gas and Dust Disks 194
What else Might Be Out There? 197
13. : Exoplanets and Exoplanetary Systems: Pasts and Futures 201
14. : Future Homes for Humankind? 213
Introduction 213
Could We (or Un-manned Probes) Ever Travel to an Exoplanet? 214
A Beginner’s Guide to Gardening on Mars: or Could We Really Live on Another Planet? 229
Terra-forming 232
No Vacancies: The ETs Got There First 236
Appendix I Nomenclature – or – What’s in a Name? 243
Planets, Dwarf Planets and Exoplanets 243
Exoplanet Names and Labels 245
Greek Alphabet 247
Appendix II Note on Distances, Sizes and Masses, etc. 248
Distance 248
Mass 249
Size 249
Angle 250
Wavelength and Frequency 250
Appendix III Further Reading 252
Web Sites 252
Magazines and Journals 253
Books 253
Exoplanets and Alien Life 253
Introductory Astronomy Books 254
Practical Astronomy Books 255
Reference Books 255
Appendix IV Technical Background – Some of the Mathematics and Physics Involved in the Study of Exoplanets 256
The Spectral and Luminosity Classification of Stars 256
Stellar Luminosity Classes 257
Exoplanet Mass Determination from Radial Velocity Measurements 258
Data from Exoplanet Transits 259
Adaptive Optics 261
Coronagraphs 262
Gravitational Lensing and Microlensing 264
Gravitational Lensing 264
Gravitational Microlensing 267
Gravitational Microlensing – Sorting out the Data 268
The Jeans’ Mass 269
Population Growth – or Malthus Will Be Right (Eventually) 271
The Greenhouse Effect 276
Appendix V Names, Acronyms and Abbreviations 277
Index 281