Extrasolar Planets: The Search for New Worlds

by Stuart Clark

Extrasolar Planets The Search for New Worlds Stuart Clark There have recently been many exciting developments in the search for planetary-sized bodies orbiting Sun-like stars. This book provides a timely, readable, yet comprehensive overview of this fast moving field. It presents the very latest discoveries and ideas, and covers the wealth of new and important observational data. An increasing number of suspected planets outside our own Solar System are now being found, and many objects have been independently confirmed. Surprisingly, the extrasolar planets discovered so far display orbital properties more diverse than those found in the Solar System. The implication of these discoveries for theories of planet formation and the possibilities of life elsewhere makes this an exciting and important field. In Extrasolar Planets, Stuart Clark discusses the formation and evolution of stars, and the processes leading to the formation of protoplanetary discs, planetesimals, embryonic planets and complete planetary systems. He describes in detail the various techniques currently being employed for the detection of extrasolar planets, and the results of searches to date. The author reviews the evidence for all suspected extrasolar planets, and discusses the theoretical problems posed by giant planets with small orbital radii and those in highly eccentric orbits. Brown dwarfs and possible planets around pulsars are also explored. The 'habitable zone' is described in the context of extrasolar planets which might support life, and the book discusses future planned searches for extrasolar planets, including those designed to detect Earth-sized worlds. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students of astronomy, astrophysics, planetary sciences, life sciences, space science, physics, biophysics and theoretical physics, and professional researchers in these fields. Amateur astronomers and non-specialists having an interest in planetary science in general and extrasolar planets in particular.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Journalist, award-winning author and broadcaster, Stuart Clark is a brilliant storyteller. Fiction or non-fiction, his work is written with conviction and with passion. In recent years, he has devoted his career to presenting the complex and dynamic world of astronomy to the general public.

His latest work is the pioneering trilogy The Sky's Dark Labyrinth. In the way that CJ Sansom's hugely successful Shardlake series marries crime writing with popular history, so The Sky's Dark Labyrinth trilogy blends gripping, original historical fiction with popular science.

Stuart holds a first-class honours degree and a phd in astrophysics. A Visiting Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, he is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a former Vice Chair of the Association of British Science Writers. But it was his first work of narrative nonfiction, The Sun Kings, that established him as a popular science writer par excellence. Without fail the reviews, ranging from Nature to Bookslut.com, remarked on his exceptional storytelling ability and sheer verve of his writing. It was shortlisted by the Royal Society for their 2008 general science book prize, it won Italy's 2009 Montselice Prize for best scientific translation, and the Association of American Publishers 2007 Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for Excellence in the Cosmology and Astronomy category.

Stuart is a regular contributor to national and international radio and television programmes and dvd productions. He frequently lectures throughout the UK and, increasingly, throughout the world.