did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

did-you-know? rent-now

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

We're the #1 textbook rental company. Let us show you why.

9783540336921

Lectures in Astrobiology

by ; ;
  • ISBN13:

    9783540336921

  • ISBN10:

    3540336923

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2007-01-03
  • Publisher: Springer Verlag
  • Purchase Benefits
  • Free Shipping Icon Free Shipping On Orders Over $35!
    Your order must be $35 or more to qualify for free economy shipping. Bulk sales, PO's, Marketplace items, eBooks and apparel do not qualify for this offer.
  • eCampus.com Logo Get Rewarded for Ordering Your Textbooks! Enroll Now
  • Write a Review Icon Write a Review
List Price: $199.99 Save up to $146.33
  • Digital
    $116.27
    Add to Cart

    DURATION
    PRICE

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

Summary

Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology.Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.

Table of Contents

1 Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Nikos Prantzos
1
1.1 Introduction
1
1.2 Nuclei in the Cosmos
2
1.2.1 Solar and Cosmic Abundances
2
1.2.2 Cosmic Abundances vs. Nuclear Properties
3
1.2.3 Overview of Nucleosynthesis
6
1.3 Stars: from the Main Sequence to Red Giants
8
1.3.1 Basic Stellar Properties
8
1.3.2 H-Burning on the Main Sequence
10
1.3.3 He-Burning in Red Giants
12
1.4 Advanced Evolution of Massive Stars
15
1.4.1 Neutrino Losses Accelerate Stellar Evolution
15
1.4.2 C, Ne, and O-Burning
17
1.4.3 Si-Melting and Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium (NSE)
21
1.4.4 Overview of the Advanced Evolutionary Phases
24
1.5 Explosive Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae
26
1.5.1 Main Properties and Classification of Supernovae
26
1.5.2 Explosive Nucleosynthesis in Core Collapse Supernovae
27
1.5.3 Explosive Nucleosynthesis in Thermonuclear SN
32
1.5.4 Production of Intermediate Mass Nuclei (from C to the Fe peak)
34
1.6 Nuclei Heavier than Fe
35
1.6.1 Production Mechanisms and Classification of Isotopes
35
1.6.2 The S-Process
37
1.6.3 The R-Process
38
1.7 Summary
40
References
42
2 Formation of the Solar System: a Chronology Based on Meteorites
Marc Chaussidon
45
2.1 In Search for Ages
45
2.2 What is a Geochemical Age?
46
2.2.1 The Radioactivity
46
2.2.2 The Absolute Ages
47
2.2.3 The Relative Ages
48
2.2.4 Sources of Error or Uncertainty in Isotopic Dating
49
2.3 What are the Processes that can be Dated by Isotopic Analyses of Meteorites?
51
2.4 From the First Solids to the First Planets: When and How Fast?
53
2.4.1 The Age of Meteorites and the Duration of Accretion Processes: the First Order Picture
53
2.4.2 A Relative Chronology Based on the Extinct Radioactivity of 26Al
53
2.4.3 A Relative Chronology Based on the Extinct Radioactivity of 53Mn
57
2.4.4 Absolute Calibration of the 26A1 and 53Mn Chronologies
58
2.4.5 Longer Period Extinct Radioactivities and Chronology of the Differentiation
60
2.5 Remaining Questions
63
2.5.1 Disparities Between the Various Chronologies 26A1, 53Mn and 182Hf
63
2.5.2 The Hypothesis of Homogeneity of the Distribution of Extinct Radioactivities in the Solar Accretion Disk: the Origin of Extinct Radioactivities
65
2.6 Conclusions
67
References
69
3 The Formation of Crust and Mantle of the Rocky Planets and the Mineral Environment of the Origin of Life
Francis Albarède
75
3.1 Chemical and Mineralogical Structure of the Earth
75
3.2 Dynamics of the Earth's Interior
77
3.3 The Origin of Continents
80
3.4 The Early Ages of Our Planet
83
3.5 From One Planet to the Next
88
3.6 Some Speculations
98
3.7 Questions for the Future
99
References
100
4 Water and Climates on Mars
François Forget
103
4.1 Introduction
103
4.2 Mars' Present-Day Climate
103
4.2.1 The CO2 Cycle and the Seasonal Polar Caps
105
4.2.2 The Dust Cycle
106
4.2.3 The Water Cycle
107
4.3 A Few Million Years Ago: the Recent Martian Paleoclimates
110
4.3.1 Climate Changes Due to Orbital Parameter Variations
110
4.3.2 Liquid Water on Mars a Few Million Years Ago
113
4.4 More Than Three Billion Years Ago: the Youth of Mars
115
4.4.1 Evidence for Sustained Liquid Water on Early Mars
115
4.4.2 The Early Mars Climate Enigma
118
4.5 Conclusion
119
References
119
5 Planetary Atmospheres: From Solar System Planets to Exoplanets
Thérèse Encrenaz
123
5.1 What is an Atmosphere?
123
5.1.1 Atmospheric Structure
123
5.1.2 Atmospheric Circulation and Cloud Structure
126
5.1.3 Atmospheric Composition
128
5.1.4 Interaction with the Magnetosphere
130
5.2 Atmospheres of Solar System Planets
130
5.2.1 Formation and Evolution of Planetary Atmospheres in the Solar System
130
5.2.2 Terrestrial Planets and Giant Planets
132
5.2.3 Atmospheres of Outer Satellites and Pluto
139
5.3 Tools for Studying Planetary Atmospheres
141
5.3.1 Remote Sensing Analysis
141
5.3.2 In Situ Analysis: Chemical Composition from Mass Spectrometry
146
5.4 From Solar System Planets to Exoplanets
147
5.4.1 Properties of Detected Exoplanets: a Summary
147
5.4.2 Earth-Like Exoplanets: the Habitability Zone
148
5.4.3 Giant Exoplanets: Structure and Composition
149
5.5 Conclusions
151
References
152
6 What About Exoplanets?
Marc Ollivier
157
6.1 Let's Talk About History
157
6.2 Statistical Analysis of the First Extrasolar Planets Discoveries
159
6.2.1 The Mass Distribution of Exoplanets
160
6.2.2 The Star Planet Distance Distribution
162
6.2.3 Orbit Migration
163
6.2.4 Mass/Distance Relation for Exoplanets
171
6.2.5 Eccentricity of Exoplanet Orbits
172
6.2.6 The Metallicity of Stars with Planets
174
6.3 The Atmospheres and Spectra of Giant Exoplanets
175
6.3.1 General Considerations
175
6.3.2 Pegasides: the Point of View of Theoreticians and Observers
176
6.4 Future Steps in Exoplanetology and Associated Instrumentation
180
6.4.1 Open Questions
180
6.4.2 Research and Study of Giant Planets
181
6.4.3 Research and Study of Telluric Planets
183
6.4.4 Characterization of Exoplanets by Direct Detection
186
References
193
7 Habitability: the Point of View of an Astronomer
Franck Selsis
199
7.1 Introduction
199
7.2 The Circumstellar Habitable Zone
201
7.2.1 The Inner Limit of the Habitable Zone
202
7.2.2 The Outer Limit of the HZ (or How to Warm Early Mars?)
206
7.2.3 Continuously Habitable Zone
210
7.3 Habitability Around Other Stars
210
7.4 The Influence of the Giant Planets on the Habitability of the Terrestrial Planets
214
7.5 Discussion
215
7.6 Conclusion and Perspectives
216
References
217
8 Habitability: the Point of View of a Biologist
Purificación López-Garcia
221
8.1 Introduction
221
8.1.1 The Concept of Habitability
221
8.1.2 Habitability in Biological Terms
222
8.2 What is Life?
222
8.2.1 Life's Definitions
222
8.2.2 Is it Living?
223
8.3 The Cell
224
8.3.1 Properties
224
8.3.2 Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
225
8.3.3 The Tree of Life
226
8.4 Common Denominators of Life on Earth
227
8.4.1 Elements and Molecules
228
8.4.2 Cellular Metabolism
230
8.4.3 The Limits of Terrestrial Life
233
8.5 Perspectives
235
References
235
9 Impact Events and the Evolution of the Earth
Philippe Claeys
239
9.1 Introduction
239
9.1.1 Terrestrial Craters
239
9.1.2 Historical Perspective of the Impact Process
241
9.2 Characteristics of Impact Craters
242
9.2.1 Magnitude and Frequency
242
9.2.2 Crater Morphologies
244
9.2.3 Formation Mechanism (Based Essentially on Melosh 1989 and French 1998)
246
9.2.4 Identification Criteria
249
9.3 Case Study: The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary and the Chicxulub Crater
254
9.3.1 The Chicxulub Crater
254
9.3.2 Distribution of Ejecta
257
9.3.3 Consequences for the Biosphere
262
9.3.4 Asteroid or Comet?
264
9.4 Stratigraphic Distribution of Impact Events
264
9.4.1 In the Phanerozoic (0 to 540 Ma)
264
9.4.2 Proterozoic Impacts (540 Ma to 2.5 Ga)
266
9.4.3 Archean Impacts (2.5 to 4 Ga)
267
9.4.4 Hadean Impacts (4.0 Ga to Formation of the Earth)
268
9.5 Discussion: Impact, Origin of Life and Extinctions
270
References
273
10 Towards a Global Earth Regulation
Philippe Bertrand
281
10.1 The Oxygen: an Energy Story
282
10.2 Nitrogen and Phosphorus: the Nutrient Feedback
287
10.3 What About the Atmospheric CO2?
291
10.4 Towards a Global Biogeochemical Regulation (Homeostasy)
296
References
302
11 The Last Common Ancestor of Modern Cells
David Moreira, Purificatión López-Garcia
305
11.1 The Last Common Ancestor, the Cenancestor, LUCA: What's in a Name?
305
11.1.1 Some Historical Grounds
305
11.1.2 The Hypothesis of a Cenancestor
306
11.2 How Did the Cenancestor Make Proteins?
308
11.3 What Was the Nature of the Genetic Material?
309
11.4 What Did the Cellular Metabolism Look Like?
310
11.5 Was the Cenancestor Membrane-Bounded?
311
11.6 Other Unresolved Questions
312
11.7 Perspectives
314
References
315
12 An Extreme Environment on Earth: Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents Lessons for Exploration of Mars and Europa
Daniel Prieur
319
12.1 Some Features of Oceanic Environment
319
12.2 Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents
320
12.3 Highly Efficient Symbioses
324
12.3.1 Vestimentifera
325
12.3.2 Molluscs
325
12.3.3 Polychaetous Annelids
327
12.3.4 Crustaceans
328
12.4 Life at High Temperature
328
12.4.1 Novel Microorganisms in the Bacteria Domain
329
12.4.2 Novel Microorganisms in the Archaea Domain
329
12.5 Response to Hydrostatic Pressure
335
12.6 Other Specific Adaptations
336
12.6.1 Fluctuations of Environmental Conditions
336
12.6.2 Heavy Metals
337
12.6.3 Ionizing Radiations
337
12.7 Lessons from Microbiology of Hydrothermal Vents
337
References
342
13 Comets, Titan and Mars: Astrobiology and Space Projects
Yves Bénilan, Hervé Cottin
347
13.1 An Astrobiological Look at the Solar System
348
13.1.1 The Origin of the Organic Matter
348
13.1.2 Follow the Water
354
13.2 The Space Exploration of Comets
356
13.2.1 General Considerations
356
13.2.2 Past Missions
359
13.2.3 Current Missions
369
13.2.4 Future Space Missions
382
13.3 The Space Exploration of Titan
382
13.3.1 Observations and Models of Titan Before Space Missions
382
13.3.2 Voyager Missions at Titan
385
13.3.3 Similarities and Differences Between Titan and the Earth
388
13.3.4 Cassini–Huygens Mission
392
13.4 Mars Exploration
398
13.4.1 Mars Before Space Missions
398
13.4.2 The Beginning of Martian Exploration
399
13.4.3 Current Space Missions
408
13.4.4 Future Exobiological Missions
412
13.5 Conclusion
420
References
420
14 Quantum Astrochemistry: Numerical Simulation as an Alternative to Experiments
Yves Ellinger, Françoise Pauzat
429
14.1 The Methods of Quantum Chemistry
429
14.1.1 Definition of Quantum Chemistry Calculations and Approximations
429
14.1.2 Wave Function-Based Methods
437
14.1.3 DFT Methods
447
14.1.4 Wave Function Versus DFT Methods
454
14.2 Applications of Quantum Chemistry
455
14.2.1 Radio Millimeter Observations
458
14.2.2 Infrared Observations
463
14.2.3 Modeling of Chemical Processes
472
14.2.4 Exobiology
482
14.3 Conclusions and Prospective
485
References
487
15 Artificial Life or Digital Dissection
Hugues Bersini
491
15.1 Introduction to Artificial Life
491
15.2 The History of Life Seen by Artificial Life
500
15.2.1 Appearance of a Chemical Reaction Looped Network
500
15.2.2 Production by this Network of a Membrane Promoting Individuation and Catalyzing Constitutive Reactions
502
15.2.3 Self-Replication of the Elementary Cell
503
15.2.4 Genetic Coding and Evolution by Mutation, Recombination and Selection
506
15.3 Functional Emergence
509
15.3.1 Emergence Within Networks: a Short Introduction to the Three Networks Studied at IRIDIA
512
15.3.2 Small Worlds
525
15.3.3 Emergence in Cellular Automata
529
15.3.4 Useful Emergence
534
15.4 Plasticity and Adaptability
535
15.5 Environmental Autonomy and Significant Integration
540
15.6 Conclusions
542
References
544
Appendix
1 Some Astrophysical Reminders
Marc Ollivier
549
1.1 A Physics and Astrophysics Overview
549
1.1.1 Star or Planet?
549
1.1.2 Gravitation and Kepler's Laws
550
1.1.3 The Solar System
550
1.1.4 Black Body Emission, Planck Law, Stefan Boltzmann Law
551
1.1.5 Hertzsprung—Russel Diagram, the Spectral Classification of Stars
553
1.2 Exoplanet Detection and Characterization
555
1.2.1 Planet Detection by the Radial Velocity Method
555
1.2.2 Planet Detection by Astrometry
557
1.2.3 Planet Detection by the Transit Method
558
1.2.4 Exoplanet Direct Detection by Nulling Interferometry (Bracewell's Interferometer)
560
1.3 List of Exoplanets as Detected the 31th of January 2005 (Schneider 2004; see References in Chap. 6)
562
2 Useful Astrobiological Data
567
2.1 Physical and Chemical Data
567
2.2 Astrophysical Data
574
2.3 Geological Data
579
2.4 Biochemical Data
589
3 Glossary
595
Authors 659
Index 665

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program