Looking for Earths: The Race to Find New Solar Systems
Are we alone in the unfathomable vastness of the universe? Or are there other planets capable of generating and sustaining life in an atmosphere similar to Earth’s? Fifty years of intensive searching for other solar systems produced no credible claim for an extrasolar planet. Then, in the last two exciting years, several teams of astronomers around the globe caught the first glimpses of a rich crop of giant, Jupiter-sized gas planets—the first compelling evidence that not only are there other Earth-like planets, but that they may well be more plentiful than ever imagined.
With an insider’s perspective, prominent planetary scientist Alan Boss takes you to the front lines of this ongoing race for discovery, revealing the behind-the-scenes story of scientific determination, frustration, and triumph. He leads readers to the mountaintop observatories that house the world’s most powerful telescopes, and into the tension-filled scientific meetings where new results are announced and old results overturned, bringing the process of discovery vividly alive. Share in the roller-coaster ride as intricate observations of miniscule stellar wobbles raise hopes high that at last a true planet has been found, only to be shattered almost immediately by more powerful observations. Follow the checkered course as competing theories of planetary formation collide and what were thought to be planets dissolve into brown dwarfs, pulsars, and binary stars.
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