Life Beyond Earth : the Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe.
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| Author / Creator: | Coustenis, Athena. |
|---|---|
| Imprint: | Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013. |
| Description: | 1 online resource (332 pages) |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | E-Resource Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11832050 |
Table of Contents:
- Cover; Contents; Preface; 1 Introduction; 1.1 The quest for life; 1.2 The formation of planets; 1.2.1 Formation of the Solar System; 1.2.2 Migration in the Solar System; 1.2.3 Elemental and isotopic abundances as insights to the formation of the Solar System; 1.3 Looking for water; 2 What is life and where can it exist?; 2.1 The concept and conditions of life; 2.1.1 The building blocks of life; 2.1.2 Cells; 2.1.3 Origin of life on Earth; 2.1.4 Experiments on life: laboratory synthesis of amino acids; 2.1.5 Chirality and the specificities of human life.
- 2.1.6 Another diagnostic for recognizing living matter: isotopic ratios of carbon2.2 Definition of life and how to look for it outside its usual environment; 2.2.1 Can we completely define life?; 2.2.2 Extreme conditions on Earth today; 2.2.3 Other possible forms of life; 2.3 What is a habitable zone (a habitat)?; 2.3.1 Classical concept of the habitability zone; 2.3.2 Extension of the habitable zone; 2.3.3 Prebiotic chemistry; 2.4 Searching for extraterrestrial life: from habitats to civilizations; 2.4.1 Could there be extraterrestrial civilizations?; 2.4.2 Searching for habitats.
- 2.4.3 Searching with what?3 Terrestrial planets and their diverging evolutions; 3.1 Looking out from Mercury's desert; 3.2 A past ocean on Venus?; 3.3 Life on Mars? An old quest and a modern challenge; 3.3.1 Schiaparelli's canali; 3.3.2 The Viking mission, or the search for life; 3.3.3 'Follow the water!'; 3.3.4 The mystery of ALH84001; 3.4 Between Venus and Mars, the Earth. . .; 3.5 Water on Earth: where did it come from?; 3.6 Earth's companion, the Moon; 3.7 Between terrestrial and giant planets, the asteroids; 4 Searching for habitable sites in the outer Solar System.
- 4.1 The outer Solar System: a huge reservoir of frozen water4.2 Jupiter's satellites; 4.2.1 Europa; 4.2.2 Ganymede; 4.2.3 Future exploration of Jovian satellites; 4.3 Saturn's satellites; 4.3.1 Titan: organic factory and habitat; 4.3.1.1 Titan's organic chemistry throughout the atmosphere; 4.3.1.2 Methane-based biology and the lakes; 4.3.1.3 Subsurface ocean on Titan; 4.3.1.4 Titan and the primitive Earth; 4.3.2 Enceladus: water pockets far from the Sun; 4.3.3 Future exploration of Kronian satellites; 4.4 Comets; 4.4.1 Comets: back to the origins.
- 4.4.2 Origin of comets: two distinct reservoirs4.4.3 What are comets made of?; 4.4.4 Isotopic ratios and ortho/para ratios; 4.4.5 Comets and the origin of life; 4.5 At the orbit of Neptune and beyond; 4.5.1 Cryovolcanic Triton; 4.5.2 Trans-Neptunian objects; 5 A revolution in astronomy: the exploration of extrasolar planets; 5.1 From dream to reality; 5.1.1 The key to success: velocimetry; 5.1.2 Giant exoplanets close to their stars; 5.1.3 Formation and migration in planetary systems; 5.1.4 How to detect exoplanets from planetary transits; 5.1.5 Gravitational microlensing.