Planet Hunters

Astronomers are on the verge of answering one of our most profound questions: are we alone in the universe? The ability to detect life in remote solar systems is at last within sight, and its discovery—even if only in microbial form—would revolutionize our self-image. Planet Hunters is the rollicking tale of the search for extraterrestrial life and the history of an academic discipline. Astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek takes readers on a fantastic voyage through space, time, history, and even to the future as he describes the field of exoplanet research, from the early ideas of sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno to the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 to the invention of the Kepler Space Telescope. We join him on his travels as he meets with leading scientists in the field, including Michel Mayor, who discovered the first exoplanet, and Bill Borucki, principal investigator for NASA’s Kepler mission. Taken together, the experiences, passion, and perseverance of the scientists featured here make the book an exciting and compelling read. Presenting cutting-edge research in a dynamic and accessible way, Planet Hunters is a refreshing look into a field where new discoveries come every week and paradigms shift every year.

He has discovered more planets than anyone in history. In this inspiring true story, winner of the American Institute of Physics Award, Geoff Marcy's love of space helped him overcome struggles in his studies until finally he became an astronomer. But he was not on track to make major discoveries. Eventually, he went back to the questions that thrilled him as a boy: Are we alone? Do Earth-like planets orbit the stars in the night sky? It would not be easy to find a planet outside our solarsystem. Others had tried and failed. But Marcy never gave up. Since 1995, he and his colleagues have discovered nearly half of the 380 known "extrasolar" planets. Stunning paintings transport the reader to the exotic worlds that he and others have found.

Ever since the serendipitous discovery of planet Uranus in 1871, astronomers have been hunting for new worlds in the outer regions of our solar system. This exciting and ongoing quest culminated recently in the discovery of hundreds of ice dwarfs in the Kuiper belt, robbed Pluto from its ‘planet’ status, and led to a better understanding of the origin of the solar system. This timely book reads like a scientific ‘who done it’, going from the heights of discovery to the depths of disappointment in the hunt for ‘Planet X’. Based on many personal interviews with astronomers, the well-known science writer Govert Schilling introduces the heroes in the race to be the first in finding another world, bigger than Pluto.

A complete and in-depth review of exoplanet research, covering the discovery methods, physics and theoretical background.

A fascinating account of the pioneering astronomer who claimed (erroneously) to have discovered a planet outside the solar system. There are innumerable planets revolving around innumerable stars across our galaxy. Between 2009 and 2018, NASA's Kepler space telescope discovered thousands of them. But exoplanets—planets outside the solar system—appeared in science fiction before they appeared in telescopes. Astronomers in the early decades of the twentieth century spent entire careers searching for planets in other stellar systems. In The Lost Planets, John Wenz offers an account of the pioneering astronomer Peter van de Kamp, who was one of the first to claim discovery of exoplanets. Van de Kamp, working at Swarthmore College's observatory, announced in 1963 that he had identified a planet around Barnard's Star, the second-closest star system to the Sun. He cited the deviations in Barnard's star's path—“wobbles” that suggested a large object was lurching around the star. Van de Kamp became something of a celebrity (appearing on a television show with “Mr. Wizard,” Don Henry), but subsequent research did not support his claims. Wenz describes van de Kamp's stubborn refusal to accept that he was wrong, discusses the evidence found by other researchers, and explains recent advances in exoplanet detection, including transit, radial velocity, direct imaging, and microlensing. Van de Kamp retired from Swarthmore in 1972, and died in 1995 at 93. In 2009, Swarthmore named its new observatory the Peter van de Kamp Observatory. In the 1990s, astronomers discovered and confirmed the first planet outside our solar system. In 2018, an exoplanet was detected around Barnard's Star—not, however, the one van de Kamp thought he had discovered in 1963.

An award-winning science writer presents a captivating collection of cosmological essays for the armchair astronomer The galaxy, the multiverse, and the history of astronomy are explored in this engaging compilation of cosmological tales by multiple-award-winning science writer Marcia Bartusiak. In thirty-two concise and engrossing essays, the author provides a deeper understanding of the nature of the universe and those who strive to uncover its mysteries. Bartusiak shares the back stories for many momentous astronomical discoveries, including the contributions of such pioneers as Beatrice Tinsley, with her groundbreaking research in galactic evolution, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the scientist who first discovered radio pulsars. An endlessly fascinating collection that you can dip into in any order, these pieces will transport you to ancient Mars, when water flowed freely across its surface; to the collision of two black holes, a cosmological event that released fifty times more energy than was radiating from every star in the universe; and to the beginning of time itself.

This book examines the increasing popularity of online citizen science projects arising from developments in ICT and rapid improvements in data storage and generation. As these new technologies allow for much higher levels of participation, collaboration and interaction, the author explores what online citizen science projects reveal about the ‘democratisation’ of science and distributed engagement with authentic research. Analysing the wider appeal of these projects as well as their potential for informal science learning and creating communities of practice, this book asks whether ‘citizen’ and ‘researcher’ will ever be on equal footing. Drawn from years of mixed-methods research, this volume sheds light on this under-researched subject area despite its recent growth and enormous potential. It is sure to be of interest to students and scholars of democratised knowledge, citizen science and online learning, as well as those already involved in citizen science.

“Splendidly satisfying reading, designed for a nonspecialist audience.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review Evalyn Gates, a talented astrophysicist, transports readers to the edge of contemporary science to explore the revolutionary tool—”Einstein’s telescope”—that is unlocking the secrets of the Universe. Einstein’s telescope, or gravitational lensing, is so-called for the way gravity causes space to distort and allow massive objects to act like “lenses,” amplifying and distorting the images of objects behind them. By allowing for the detection of mass where no light is found, scientists can map out the distribution of dark matter and come a step closer to teasing out the effects of dark energy on the Universe—which may forever upend long-held notions about where the Universe came from and where it is going.