ALPHA CENTAURI UNVEILING THE SECRETS OF OUR NEAREST STELLAR NEIGHBOR

by Martin Beech

As our closest stellar companion and composed of two Sun-like stars and a third small dwarf star, Alpha Centauri is an ideal testing ground of astrophysical models and has played a central role in the history and development of modern astronomy―from the first guesses at stellar distances to understanding how our own star, the Sun, might have evolved. It is also the host of the nearest known exoplanet, an ultra-hot, Earth-like planet recently discovered. Just 4.4 light years away Alpha Centauri is also the most obvious target for humanity’s first directed interstellar space probe. Such a mission could reveal the small-scale structure of a new planetary system and also represent the first step in what must surely be humanity’s greatest future adventure―exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy itself. For all of its closeness, α Centauri continues to tantalize astronomers with many unresolved mysteries, such as how did it form, how many planets does it contain and where are they, and how might we view its extensive panorama directly? In this book we move from the study of individual stars to the study of our Solar System and our nearby galactic neighborhood. On the way we will review the rapidly developing fields of exoplanet formation and detection.

Paperback

First published November 2, 2014

Reviews

[Kadri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice and well thought out - you find out a lot about the stars and possible planets in Alpha Centauri system as well about our Sun. It contains a lovely amount of mathematics and you can check the numbers the author gives you by doing all the calculation yourself. It's quite fascinating and as the book progresses it gets more into more popular science and also such topics as the possibility of interstellar travel.