This volume presents the lectures from the sixteenth Winter School of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Which was dedicated to extrasolar planets. Research into extrasolar planets is one of the most exciting fields of astrophysics, and the past decade has seen research leap from speculations on the existence of planets orbiting other stars to the discovery of around 200 planets to date. The book covers a wide range of issues, from the state-of-the-art observational techniques used to detect extrasolar planets, to the characterizations of these planets, and the techniques used in the remote detection of life. It also looks at the insights we can gain from our own solar system, and how we can apply them. The contributors, all of high standing in the field, provide a balanced and varied introduction to extrasolar planets for research astronomers and graduate students, bridging theoretical developments and observational advances.
• An introduction to research on extrasolar planets - one of the most exciting and rapidly developing fields in contemporary astrophysics
• Lectures by leading figures present a broad, coherent overview of the subject
• Contains state of the art discussions on the techniques involved in extrasolar planet research
Contents
Participants, Preface, Acknowledgements, 1st Extrasolar planet detection methods Laurance R. Doyle, 2nd Statistical Properties of Exoplanets Stéphane Udry, 3rd Characterizing extrasolar planets Timothy M. Brown, 4th From clouds to planet systems: formation and evolution of stars and planets Günther Wuchterl, 5th Abundances in stars with planetary systems extrasolar Garik Israelian, 6th Brown dwarfs: the bridge between stars and planets Rafael Rebolo; 7 The perspective: a panorama of the Solar System Agustín Sánchez-Lavega; 8 Habitable planets around the Sun and other stars James F. Kasting, 9th Biomarkers of extrasolar planets and their observability Selsis Franck, Jimmy Paillet and France Allard; index.
Contributors
Laurance R. Doyle, Stephane Udry, Timothy M. Brown, Günther Wuchterl, Garik Israelian, Rafael Rebolo, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, James F. Kasting, Franck Selsis, Jimmy Paillet, France Allard
