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  • Published: 14 March 2017
  • ISBN: 9781588345950
  • Imprint: RH US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 224

Exoplanets

Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets, and the New Search for Life beyondOur Solar System





The past few years have seen an incredible explosion in our knowledge of the universe. Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has discovered more than two thousand exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, and even more remarkable than the sheer number of exoplanets is their variety. In Exoplanets, astronomer Michael Summers and physicist James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness of space. This captivating book reveals the latest discoveries and argues that the incredible richness and complexity we are finding necessitates a change in our questions and mental paradigms. In short, we have to change how we think about the universe and our place in it, because it is stranger and more interesting than we could have imagined.

  • Published: 14 March 2017
  • ISBN: 9781588345950
  • Imprint: RH US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 224

About the authors

Michael E. Summers

MICHAEL SUMMERS is a planetary scientist and professor of physics and astronomy at George Mason University. Since 1989, he has served on the mission teams of several NASA space probes in the role of science planning and interpretation of spacecraft observations. He is currently a coinvestigator on the NASA New Horizons mission to the Pluto-Charon double planet, where he serves as the deputy lead of the Atmospheres Theme Team.

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