Planetary systems: detection, formation and habitability of extrasolar planets

Over the past ten years, the discovery of extrasolar planets has opened a newfield of astronomy, and this area of research is rapidly growing, from both the observational and theoretical point of view. The presence of many giant exoplanets in the close vicinity of their star shows that these newly discovered planetary systems are very different from the solar system. New theoretical models are being developed in order to understand their formation scenarios, andnew observational methods are being implemented to increase the sensitivity of exoplanet detections. In the present book, the authors address the question of planetary systems from all aspects. Starting from the facts (the detection of more than 240 extraterrestrial planets), they first describe the various methods used for these discoveries and propose a synthetic analysis of their global properties. Addresses students and researchers entering the field of planetary systems astronomy Discusses both observational and theoretical aspects offormation, detection and habitabilty of extrasolar planets, as well as the search for extra-terrestrial life With an appendix reviewing basic astronomical knowledge relevant for the book INDICE: 1. Introduction.- 2. Detection methods.- 3. Extrasolar planets, 12years after the first discovery.- 4. What we learn from the Solar System.- 5.Stellar formation and protoplanetary disks.- 6. The dynamics of planetary systems.- 7. Structure and evolution of an exoplanet.- 8. Present and future instrumental projects.- 9. The search for life in planetary systems.- 10. Appendices.- 11. Bibliography.

• ISBN: 978-3-540-75747-4
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 250
• Fecha Publicación: 01/10/2008
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés