The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth
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Overview
Forget about rockets to Mars – the future of space science lies with the search for exoplanets
Twenty years ago, the search for planets outside the Solar System was the preserve of science-fiction writers. Now it’s one of the fastest-growing fields in astronomy, with thousands of exoplanets discovered to date, and the number rising fast.
These new-found worlds are more alien than anything in fiction. Planets larger than Jupiter with years lasting a week; others with two suns lighting their skies, or with no sun at all. Planets with diamond mantles supporting oceans of tar; possible Earth-sized worlds with split hemispheres of perpetual day and night; waterworlds drowning under global oceans and volcanic lava planets awash with seas of magma. The discovery of this diversity is just the beginning. There is a whole galaxy of possibilities.
The Planet Factory tells the story of these exoplanets. What can we learn about these faraway surface environments and planetary atmospheres? And do the results hint at the tantalising possibility of alien life?
Forget about rockets to Mars – the future of space science lies with the search for exoplanets
The story of our search for exoplanets, and how they and planets in our own solar system form
Written by one of the world’s leading astrophysicists
Truly cutting edge, and the first popular book on the subject
Preface
Introduction: The Blind Planet Hunters
PART 1: THE FACTORY FLOOR
Chapter 1: The Factory Floor2
Chapter 2: The Record-breaking Building Project
Chapter 3: The Problem with Gas
Chapter 4: Air and Sea
PART 2: DANGEROUS PLANETS
Chapter 5: The Impossible Planet
Chapter 6: We Are Not Normal
Chapter 7: Water, Diamonds or Lava? The Planet Recipe Nobody Knew
Chapter 8: Worlds Around Dead Stars
Chapter 9: The Lands of Two Suns
Chapter 10: The Planetary Crime Scene
Chapter 11: Going Rogue
PART 3: GOLDILOCKS WORLDS
Chapter 12: The Goldilocks Criteria
Chapter 13: The Search for Another Earth
Chapter 14: Alien Vistas
Chapter 15: Beyond the Goldilocks Zone
Chapter 16: The Moon Factory
Chapter 17: The Search for Life
Author’s note
Glossary
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index
A precious compendium on what we can say about the formation of planets, and how much our knowledge has progressed in recent years.
Packed with interesting insights and scientific content that capably captures the current state of exoplanet research.
If you’ve always been intrigued by extrasolar planets - or even if you haven’t! - you’ll want to move this book to the top of your reading list.
Engaging and informative ... a great introduction to a relatively new and fast-changing aspect of scientific endeavour.
Brilliantly written ... Tasker highlights how difficult the hunt for planets is. I highly recommend this book.
This splendidly readable and authoritative book succeeds at the near-impossible task of explaining all you need to know about the revolutionary and fast-moving scientific field that’s seeking out these new worlds and what may be lurking on them.
Elizabeth Tasker is the perfect guide in this astronomical adventure story; she brings the world’s leading planet hunters vividly to life and demystifies the crucial technical details of the research with impressive clarity and a light, engaging touch.
In a lively science narrative spiced with a sly humour, Elizabeth Tasker makes learning about the planets of our Solar System and beyond into a rich and rewarding pleasure.
Elizabeth Tasker’s book is a surprisingly complete description of the current state of astronomy of extrasolar planets, presented in a way that is extremely entertaining and accessible. I highly recommend it to everyone who would like to get acquainted with this still-new, fascinating field of science.
- Title: The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth
- Author: Elizabeth Tasker
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 288
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781472917751, 9781472917744, 147291774X, 1472917758
- Resource ID: LLS:9781472917751
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T12:01:45Z
Elizabeth Tasker is an astrophysicist who spends her time building fake universes inside a computer. After a degree in theoretical physics, she went on to complete her doctorate at Oxford before moving to the United States and Canada to build stars on any computer she was given access to. She later crossed the globe again to Japan, and is now an associate professor at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Elizabeth has been a keen science communicator for many years and has written for Scientific American and Astronomy Magazine, as well as articles for sites that include Nautilus, the Conversation and space.com.
@girlandkat / girlandkat.com