Article (Scientific journals)
The Search for Worlds Like Our Own
Fridlund, Malcolm; Eiroa, Carlos; Henning, Thomas et al.
2010In Astrobiology, 10 (1), p. 5-17
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This is a copy of an article published in "Astrobiology" © 2011, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The original article is available online at: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2009.0380


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Abstract :
[en] The direct detection of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby stars and the characterization of such planets -- particularly, their evolution, their atmospheres, and their ability to host life -- constitute a significant problem. The quest for other worlds as abodes of life has been one of mankind's great questions for several millennia. For instance, as stated by Epicurus 300 BC: Other worlds, with plants and other living things, some of them similar and some of them different from ours, must exist. Demokritos from Abdera (460-370 BC), the man who invented the concept of indivisible small parts - atoms - also held the belief that other worlds exist around the stars and that some of these worlds may be inhabited by life-forms. The idea of the plurality of worlds and of life on them has since been held by scientists like Johannes Kepler and William Herschel, among many others. Here, one must also mention Giordano Bruno. Born in 1548, Bruno studied in France and came into contact with the teachings of Nicolas Copernicus. He wrote the book De l'Infinito, Universo e Mondi in 1584, in which he claimed that the Universe was infinite, that it contained an infinite amount of worlds like Earth, and that these worlds were inhabited by intelligent beings. At the time, this was extremely controversial, and eventually Bruno was arrested by the church and burned at the stake in Rome in 1600, as a heretic, for promoting this and other equally confrontational issues (though it is unclear exactly which idea was the one that ultimately brought him to his end). In all the aforementioned cases, the opinions and results were arrived at through reasoning--not by experiment. We have only recently acquired the technological capability to observe planets orbiting stars other than 6our Sun; acquisition of this capability has been a remarkable feat of our time. We show in this introduction to the Habitability Primer that mankind is at the dawning of an age when, by way of the scientific method and 21st-century technology, we will be able to answer this fascinating controversial issue that has persisted for at least 2500 years.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Fridlund, Malcolm
Eiroa, Carlos
Henning, Thomas
Herbst, Tom
Lammer, Helmut
Léger, Alain
Liseau, René
Paresce, Francesco
Penny, Alan
Quirrenbach, Andreas
Röttgering, Huub
Selsis, Franck
White, Glenn J
Absil, Olivier  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astroph. extragalactique et observations spatiales (AEOS)
Hanot, Charles ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astroph. extragalactique et observations spatiales (AEOS)
Stam, Daphné
Schneider, Jean
Tinetti, Giovanna
Karlsson, Anders
Gondoin, Philippe
den Hartog, Roland
D'Arcio, Luigi
Stankov, Anna-Maria
Kilter, Mikael
Erd, Christian
Beichman, Charles
Coulter, Daniel
Danchi, William
Devirian, Michael
Johnston, Kenneth
Lawson, Peter
Lay, Oliver
Lunine, Jonathan
Kaltenegger, Lisa
More authors (25 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
The Search for Worlds Like Our Own
Publication date :
22 March 2010
Journal title :
Astrobiology
ISSN :
1531-1074
eISSN :
1557-8070
Publisher :
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., New Rochelle, United States - New York
Volume :
10
Issue :
1
Pages :
5-17
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Available on ORBi :
since 11 October 2010

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