Potentially Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around stars discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope (as of May 2016).
The Kepler and ground-based data allow for the size, mass and orbital parameters of the planets to be measured, which can be used to estimate their density and temperature and gives a guide to their composition. To go further, starlight that has interacted with the planetary atmosphere itself must be analysed directly, and this can be done.
The first atmospheric analysis of a large rocky planet was reported in February 2016 by a team from University College London, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope.² The planet, called 55 Cancri e, is one of five known worlds that orbit around the yellow dwarf star 55 Cancri A, only 40 light years from Earth. The star also has a smaller red dwarf companion, 55 Cancri B. The planet is around 8 times the mass of the Earth, and has an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. No water vapour was detected, but there were hints of hydrogen cyanide, which astronomers believe indicates a carbon-rich atmosphere. This world is an exotic, violent place, with a year that lasts 18 hours and surface temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees Celsius. It is clearly not a world where we would expect to find life. The significance of the measurement is in the successful retrieval of the vanishingly faint spectrum of a small, rocky planet from the bright, overwhelming light of its parent star.
The direct observation of the light from exoplanets is still in its infancy, but the James Webb Space Telescope, due for launch in October 2018, will allow planetary atmospheres to be probed in unprecedented detail. Kepler’s successor, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, will be launched in 2017 and will add huge numbers of Earth-like worlds for the JWST to observe, including Earth-sized planets around red dwarf stars. The discovery of water vapour on such a world would be exciting. The discovery of high oxygen levels would be a smoking gun for the presence of photosynthetic organisms. We may be very close indeed to discovering that we are not alone in the Universe.
Would that matter? These planets are beyond physical reach, at least for the foreseeable future, and it is extremely unlikely, in my view, that these planets will be populated by intelligent beings. If life is present, I would guess that it would be microbial. But I could be wrong. In any case, of course it matters. The lights in the night sky are powerful, majestic, but impersonal. The detailed knowledge of a thousand worlds of ice and snow and fire won’t, I regret, help us to live better lives – the folly of human conceits is too deeply engrained for that. I believe we will need a collective shock if we are to ‘deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot’. The shock could be something negative. Perhaps we’ll have to come together to fix the climate we’re mangling, or deflect a doomsday asteroid. Or, it might be something positive. Astronomy turns data into dreams; if we discover that life is common across the Universe, will it still be possible to glance up at those bright old stars and not feel as one nation beneath them? Why study rainbows? Then we’d know the answer.
If we discover that life is common across the Universe, will it still be possible to glance up at those bright old stars and not feel as one nation beneath them?
The James Webb Space Telescope is due for launch in October 2018. Dubbed by NASA as the premier observatory of the next decade, it is tasked with studying every phase in the history of our Universe, and may answer many of our unanswered questions about the origins of our Solar System and the worlds beyond our planet.
Artist’s rendition of the 55 Cancri e, which is the first large rocky plant that has been atmospherically analysed.
‘Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told
And some choose to believe it
I know they’re wrong, wait and see
Some day we’ll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.’
Kermit the Frog, The Muppet Movie
Index
The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your eBook. You can use your eBook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.
Page numbers in italics indicate photographs and illustrations
A
Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 251
aerobic respiration 188, 188–9
Airy, George Biddell 221
Airy Integral 221
al-Farisi, Kamal al-Din 214, 216
al-Haytham, Ibn 213
al-Shirazi, Qutb al-Din 214
Aldini, Giovanni 162, 162, 163, 167
Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula 29, 29
Alhazen 213–14; The Book of Optics 214, 214, 215, 216, 219, 221, 224
ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), Chile 50, 51
Alvin submarine 195, 197
amino acids 177, 179, 197
Amp 131, 231
Ampère, André-Marie 131, 231
Anderson, Philip 54
Andromeda Galaxy 56, 58–9, 60, 60, 61s
Antarctica 29, 29, 32, 32–3, 42, 96, 98, 98–9
Anthropocene 42
anti-cyclones 114, 115
anti-matter 40, 247
Apollo missions 103, 261; Apollo 8 209; Apollo 12 261, 262, 262, 263, 263; Apollo 14 80; Apollo 17 42, 43
Arctic Circle 95, 101
Aristotle 37, 63, 82, 82, 83, 175
atom 19; atomic nucleus, discovery of 225; atomic nucleus, first 151; composition/structure of 28, 30, 31, 33, 239, 254–5; fundamental forces of nature and 35, 39, 40, 56, 225; origin of life and 151, 155, 158, 171, 176, 179, 180, 183, 186, 190; periodic table and 158; water molecule and 28, 30, 31, 33, 239, 254–5
ATP 189, 190–1, 190, 198, 195, 198, 265, 266, 266; ATP Synthase 189, 190–1, 190, 195
B
Bahcall, John 244–5, 247
baryon: ‘super-multiplets’ 41, 41
basal facets 76
Bay of Fundy, Canada 116, 116, 117
Bean, Alan 262, 263, 263
bees, honeycombs of 22–4, 22, 23, 26–7, 26, 27
Bentley, Wilson ‘Snowflake’ 16, 16, 19, 75, 76
Bethe, Hans: ‘Energy Production in Stars’ 244
Big Bang 47, 49, 150–1, 226
bilateral symmetry 71, 72–3, 73
biogenesis, law of 175
biology: difference between chemistry and 176; origin of life and 151, 162–3, 162, 163, 166–7, 167, 171, 172–3, 176, 190–1, 195, 202, 204; photosynthesis and see photosynthesis; symmetry and symmetry breaking in 70–2, 70, 71, 72–3 see also under individual area of biology
black body 242
black dwarf 228, 229
Block Universe 144
blue whale 68, 69
Boltzmann, Ludwig 181, 181, 182, 182, 183; Boltzmann’s constant 181–2
Borman, Frank 209
Brahe, Tycho 16, 82, 107
branching instability 76
Brookhaven National Laboratory 41
building blocks and forces of nature, fundamental 34–41
C
Cambrian explosion 72
Canadian Hydrographic Service 116
Cape Canaveral 208, 209
caribou, migration of 94, 94–5
Carsonella ruddii 180
Cascades 41
Cassini spacecraft 56, 202–3, 202, 203
Castellers de Vilafranca 43, 44–5, 46–7, 47
Cavendish, Henry 28
Centrifugal Force 121–2, 122, 124, 129
charm quark 41
chemistry: difference between biology and 176; ‘knocking on the doors of’ 19, 28–33; movement of electrons of 154–9; nuclear physics and 225; origin of see life, origin of see also under individual area of chemistry
Chhath Puja, A prayer of 212
chlorophy
ll 264, 265, 265, 266, 267, 268, 268
Clark, Arthur C.: ‘The Nine Billion Names of God’ 204
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 217
colour 206–75; exoplanets and 270–5; land/photosynthesis and 264–9; oceans and 250–7; rainbows, origins of 213–21; sky and 258–63; solar neutrinos and 244–7; Sun’s emission of light 224–47 see also Sun
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 51, 51
conic 95, 95
Copernicus 82, 82, 106–7, 109, 117, 161; De revolutionibus 107
Coriolis Force 109, 111, 114, 115, 121, 129
Coriolis, Gaspard-Gustave de 109
cosmarium sp. desmid daughter cells 150, 151
Cox, Brian: ‘Double Diffraction Dissociation at Large Momentum Transfer’ (PHD thesis) 35, 37
CP violation 40, 247
Crick, Francis 176, 178, 178, 179
cyanobacteria 265, 266
D
da Vinci, Leonardo: ‘Vitruvian Man’ 70, 71
dark matter 40–1
Darwin, Charles 22, 23, 26, 168–9, 168, 171, 175, 176, 183, 187, 211, 237; On the Origin of Species 16, 62, 168–9, 169, 171, 175, 176, 187
Davis Jr., Raymond 244–5
de Duve, Christian 173
De Morgan, Augustus 221
Deltas 41
Descartes, René: L’arc en ciel 216–17, 219
deuterium 257
deuteron 229
DNA 176, 178, 178, 187, 190, 195, 198
Dirac, Paul 30
DIS (‘Deep Inelastic Scattering’) 37
discs 60–1
down quark 39, 40, 41, 155, 227, 229
Draugr 271
drop-experiments 109
E
Earth: age of 169, 170–1, 171; ‘Black Marble’ picture of 42, 43; ‘Blue Marble’ picture of 42, 43, 151, 151, 249, 249; formation of 102–5, 151; mass and radius of 52–3; orbit of 80–147; origin of life on 150–205; seasons on 92–101, 92, 94–5, 96, 97, 98–9, 100, 100–1, 101; spherical shape of 42–60; spin axis 60–1, 94, 94, 96, 100, 103; storms on 106–15, 106–7, 108, 109, 110–11, 112–13, 114, 115, 124; tides on 116–25, 116, 117, 118–19, 120, 121, 122–3, 124, 125, 125; ‘White Marble’ picture of 249, 251, 264
Earth-like planets in the habitable zone 271, 271, 274–5
Eddington, Sir Arthur 182
Ediacaran period 72
Einstein, Albert 126–7, 129, 138; E=mc2 equation 80, 139, 229; inertial reference frame and 88, 91, 127, 129, 131, 134, 136; Maxwell’s theory of light and 221, 229, 231, 233, 237, 239, 241, 242; photoelectric effect and 242; postulates 134, 135, 136, 143, 146, 147; ‘The Fundaments of Theoretical Physics’ 233; Theory of General Relativity 47, 56, 88, 144, 168; Theory of Special Relativity 30, 80, 88, 126–31, 134, 138, 144, 231, 237, 239, 242
electricity, laws of magnetism and 91, 129, 131, 163, 231–3, 231
electromagnetic force 35, 39, 40, 49, 56, 60, 62, 75, 225, 243
electromagnetism 28, 35, 37, 39, 40, 40, 56, 109, 131, 232–3, 235, 235
electron 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 36, 37, 39, 40, 40, 155, 158, 167, 187, 188, 190, 195, 226, 235, 242, 245, 246, 255, 257, 265, 266, 268
elements 148–205 see also life, origin of
Elsevier company 63
Elzevir, Lodewijk 63
Empedocles 161, 161
Emperor penguins 32–3
Enceladus 202–4, 202, 203, 204, 205
entropy 181–2, 183, 186, 187
Euclid 213
European Southern Observatory 237
European Space Agency 237
evolution, theory of 22, 23, 24, 26–7, 32–3, 62, 63, 67, 69, 72–3, 77, 103, 167, 168–9, 175, 183, 187, 195, 198, 237, 265, 268
exoplanets 173, 271, 274
F
faceting 75, 76
Faraday, Michael 131, 163, 230, 231, 232
fermions 30
Feynman, Richard 62, 83, 242, 243
Feynman diagram 242, 242, 243
fictitious force 109–11, 121, 122, 127, 129
fields, electric and magnetic 131, 231, 231, 232, 232, 235, 239
firefly squid 158, 159
55 Cancri A 271
55 Cancri B 271
55 Cancri e 271, 274, 274
Fleming, Alexander 237
Forshaw, Jeff 30
Forster, George 167
fundamental forces of Nature 28, 34-41, 91, 109, 110, 131, 226, 239 see also under individual force name
G
Gagarin, Yuri 209
Galilean Transformation 129, 131, 136
Galilei, Galileo 63–4, 81, 82, 82, 83, 116, 129, 131; death of 161; Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two Sciences 63–4; ‘Discourse on the Tides’ 116–17
Galvani, Luigi 163, 167
gamma rays 235, 235
Gell-Mann, Murray 41
General Relativity, Theory of 47, 56, 88, 144, 168
Germ Theory of Disease 175
Giant Impact Hypothesis 102, 103
gluons 39, 40, 40
gravity 40, 41, 42; Big Bang and 226; Earth’s orbit/seasons and 83, 85, 93, 95; Earth’s orbit/tides and 117, 120, 121–2, 124, 124, 125; formation of Earth and 42–61, 103; shapes and sizes of life and 62, 63, 64, 67; Universal Gravitation 16, 47, 49, 51, 53–4, 56, 60, 71, 93, 95, 117, 121, 121, 124
Great Red Spot 114, 115, 115
Gross, David 54
GUT (Grand Unification scale) 246
H
Haenyeo 71, 71, 72, 72
Haldane, J B S 174; ‘The Origin of Life’ 175, 176–7, 204
Hales, Thomas 24
Halley’s Comet 95, 97
Harrison, Mark 172
heat: light and 224, 229, 230–43
heat death 186
heavy water 257, 257
HERA (Hadron-Electron Ring Accelerator) 34, 35, 36, 37, 38–9, 39, 40, 41
Hertz, Heinrich 237
Hevelius 82, 82
Higgs boson 40, 246
Himalayan Cliff honeybee 24, 24–5
HL Tauri 50
‘Honeybee combs: how the circular cells transform into rounded hexagons’ (Karihaloo, Zhang and Wang) 26, 27, 27
honeycomb structure 19, 22, 22, 23, 23, 24, 24–5, 26, 26, 27, 27
Hooke, Robert 109
Hooker, Joseph 169
Hubble Space Telescope 161, 164, 228, 271
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image 161
Hunter, John 163
Hurricane Esther 109
Hurricane Florence 114
hurricanes 109, 114
hydrogen 28, 30, 30, 31, 33, 35, 42, 75, 151, 155, 158, 177, 178, 179, 183, 186, 186, 190, 195, 196, 197, 198, 203, 226–7, 229, 235, 244–5, 254–5, 257, 265, 271
hydrothermal vents 194–5, 195, 196–7, 196, 197, 198
I
ice, structure of 29, 29, 30, 30, 31–3, 31, 32–3, 75
Ice 1h 30, 30, 31–2, 31
inertia, principle of 82, 83–4, 91, 93, 109, 117, 126, 127, 131, 134
inertial reference frame 88, 91, 109–11, 121, 127, 128–9, 131, 134, 136, 140, 143, 147
International Astronomical Union (IAU) 102
International Space Station 251, 261
Ionian Enchantment 37, 40
J
Jack Hills, Australia 170–1, 171, 172, 173
James Webb Space Telescope 274, 274–5
jellyfish, bilateral symmetry 72–3
Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester’s 235
Jodrell Bank radio telescope 234, 235
Jupiter 42, 49, 97, 151, 173; Great Red Spot and 114, 115; Voyager missions and 209, 210
K
Kajita, Takaaki 245
kaons 41
Kelvin, Lord 169, 224, 225
Kepler, Johannes: Astronomia Nova 16; Copernican view of Solar System and 116–17, 117; empirical laws of planetary motion 16, 49, 71; honeycomb structure and 22; Newton and 47; On the Six-Cornered Snowflake 16, 19, 26, 28, 41, 63, 75, 76, 161; tides and 116–17
K
epler Space Telescope 271, 274
Kimberella 72, 73
Korea 71, 71, 72, 72, 73
L
Lambdas 41
Lane, Nick 202; Life Ascending 179
Langiokull glacier 251
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva 40, 41, 236–7
Legg, Gordon 56
Leonov, Alexei 42, 42
life, origin of 150–205, 162, 163, 166–7, 167, 168–9, 170–1, 171; biogenesis 175; Enceladus and (life beginning beyond Earth) 202–4, 202, 203, 204, 205; energy generating mechanisms and 187, 188–91; hydrothermal vents and 194–5, 195, 196–7, 196, 197, 198, 202–4, 202, 203, 204, 205; oldest life on earth (zircons) 170–1, 171, 172–3, 172, 173; prebiotic soup/’warm little pond’/primeval ocean theory 176–7, 176–7, 178, 179, 181, 187; reanimation and 162, 162, 163, 163, 167; Second law of thermodynamics/entropy and 181–3, 186–7, 191, 195; spontaneous generation 175; Urey–Miller experiment and 176–7, 176–7, 178, 179, 196–7, 202
light: heat and 224, 229, 230–43; photosynthesis and 264–5, 264, 265, 266, 266, 267, 268, 268–9; speed of 131, 136, 138, 139, 140, 233; wave theory of 221, 231–5, 231, 232, 233, 235, 236, 238
lightcone 140, 141, 142, 143, 144
Lindberg, David C. 213
Lorentz Contraction 135, 136
Lorentz Transformations 136
Lost City, Atlantic Massif 196–7, 196, 197, 198, 202
Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank Observatory 235
LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) 187, 191, 195, 198
luminescence 158, 159, 195
Luna 3 space probe 124, 124
lunar eclipse 258, 258–9, 260
M
macrostate 181–2, 183
Manatee 66, 67, 67, 69, 77
Marado, island of 71, 71, 72, 72
Maragheh Observatory, Iran 214
Marble Bar, Western Australia 171, 172
Marconi, Guglielmo 237
Mars 50, 52–3; gravity and 50, 52–3, 53, 64; Hale Crater 152–3; life on 151, 173; Olympus Mons 53, 53, 54–5, 56
Mars Express 51
mass, centre of 51, 121, 121, 122, 124, 129
Mauna Kea, Hawaii 52, 52, 53
Maxwell, James Clerk 2, 21, 131, 134, 182, 221, 229, 230, 231, 232–3, 235, 237, 239, 241, 242, 244
Forces of Nature Page 24
