Rejuvenating the Sun and Avoiding Other Global Catastrophes (eBook)

Associate professor of astronomy, and Head of the Astronomy Department at Campion College, The University of Regina. My main research interests during the past decade have focused on the smaller objects within the solar system (comets, asteroids and meteoroids), but concomitant to this I have continued to perform research related to the structure and evolution of stars (the area of my doctoral studies). The book being proposed here is partly based upon a series of research papers that I have published over the years and on material used in a solar system studies class. The topic of asteroengineering was recently the focus of an ‘opinion article’ I wrote for the May 2006 issue of Astronomy Now magazine, and an editorial piece in the May 2006 issue of Smithsonian Air and Space magazine. Home web page: http://hyperion.cc.uregina.ca/~astro/mbeech.html

About the Author 7
Table of Contents 8
Introduction 11
Comments on Units and Notation 13
1. A Universal Problem 15
Dealing with Fermi 16
The Drake Equation 19
“Hey! Over Here!" 21
Caveat 23
Types of Civilizations 24
Moving Forward 25
Notes and References 26
2. It’s a Matter of Time 32
Time and Transformation 33
The Deadly Earth 35
The Deadly Solar System 37
The Deadly Stars 42
Deadly Novae 47
GRBs and Hypernovae 53
The Embrace of Andromeda 56
Deep Time 58
The Doomsday Event 58
The Long and the Short of It 59
Making the Best of It 60
Dyson Spheres 61
Terraforming 62
Space Structures 66
Thinking Long-Term 67
Notes and References 69
3. The Sun, Inside and Out 80
Star Basics 81
The Dynamical Timescale 82
Hydrostatic Equilibrium 84
The Pressure Law 85
The Central Temperature 87
Photon Diffusion Time 87
Energy Transport 89
The Surface Temperature of a Star 91
Stellar Luminosity 92
Energy Generation 92
Nuclear Fusion 94
The Mass Luminosity Law 96
A Journey Through the HR Diagram 97
The Journey of the Canonical Sun 99
The Reasons for Gigantism 104
A Negative Feedback System 106
Fundamental Constants 108
The Quantum World of the Electron 110
Collapsing Gas Clouds 111
Why Stars Are Massive 112
A Constraint on Planet Building 114
Notes and References 115
4. The Price of Doing Nothing 121
The Habitability Zone 121
The Ocean on Europa 123
A Brief Aside: Utilizing Europa 125
Moon Life 125
Synchronization and the Moon Effect 126
The Upper Limit 127
A Moving Habitability Zone 128
The Beginning of the End 130
The Fate of Venus and Earth 131
The Outer Planets 133
Orbital Engineering 135
Waving the Flag 138
End Games and Exotic Worlds 139
A Moving Imperative 142
Notes and References 145
5. Rejuvenating the Sun 154
The Engineering Options 154
Mixing and Mass Loss 155
Adding to the Pressure 157
The Opacity Effect 159
The Tools of the Trade 160
A Homogeneous Star Model 161
Introducing Mass-Loss 162
The Fate of the Ejected Material 163
An Outline Scenario for Rejuvenating the Sun 164
The UV Problem 166
The Extended Solar System Lifetime 167
Mixing It Up 169
Black Hole Mixing 170
A Steady Stellar Diet 172
Brave New Worlds 176
An Alien Beast Within 178
Solar Wrap Control 180
What the Future Holds 182
Notes and References 183
6. Stars Transformed 187
Revisiting Carter 187
An Exoplanet Review 187
The Case of the Blue Stragglers 190
The Time of Their Lives 195
Under Construction 196
On the Threshold 197
Notes and References 199
7. Between Now and Then 203
Do We Have a Near-Term Future? 203
What Price the Future? 204
Thinking Long-Term 207
Taking the Next Step 208
Future Earth 211
Notes and References 212
Epilogue 215
Notes and References 217
Glossary of Terms 218
Appendix A 222
Notes and References 224
Appendix B 226
Index 228