Strange new worlds : the search for alien planets and life beyond our solar system / Ray Jayawardhana.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Quest for other worlds : the exciting times we live in -- Planets from dust : unraveling the birth of solar systems -- A wobbly start : false starts and death star planets -- Planet bounty : hot Jupiters and other surprises -- Flickers and shadows : more ways to find planets -- Blurring boundaries : neither stars nor planets -- A picture's worth : images of distant worlds -- Alien earths : in search of wet, rocky habitats -- Signs of life : how will we find E.T.?

Soon astronomers expect to find alien Earths by the dozens in orbit around distant suns. Before the decade is out, telltale signs that they harbor life may be found. If they are, the ramifications for all areas of human thought and endeavor--from religion and philosophy to art and biology--will be breathtaking. In Strange New Worlds, renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana brings news from the front lines of the epic quest to find planets--and alien life--beyond our solar system. Only in the past fifteen years, after millennia of speculation, have astronomers begun to discover planets around othe.

English.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide