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About this book
These are exciting times for exobiology. The ubiquity of organic molecules in interstellar clouds, comets and asteroids strongly supports a cosmic perspective on the origin of life. Data from both ground-based telescopes and the recently launched Infrared Space Observatory are providing new insight into the complexity of carbon-based chemistry beyond the Earth. Meteorites give us solid evidence for extraterrestrial amino acids, and putative fossil evidence for life in a 3.6 billion-year-old Martian meteorite hints that life in our system might not be the sole prerogative of the Earth. Giant planets have now been discovered orbiting other stars, and although such planets seem unlikely to be habitable themselves, their existence strongly suggests what many astronomers have long believed - that planetary systems are commonplace.
All these topics are reviewed in this volume by active researchers. The level is appropriate for graduate students in astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics, and related disciplines. It will also provide a valuable source of reference for active researchers in these fields.
All these topics are reviewed in this volume by active researchers. The level is appropriate for graduate students in astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics, and related disciplines. It will also provide a valuable source of reference for active researchers in these fields.
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Planetary and Interstellar Processes Relevant to the Origins of Life
Editors: D. C. B. Whittet
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8907-9
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
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eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 1997
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-4597-8Published: 30 June 1997
Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-4863-9Published: 01 December 2010
eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-8907-9Published: 14 March 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IV, 316
Topics: Geology, Planetology, Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Atmospheric Sciences, Evolutionary Biology