Alien Skies Planetary Atmospheres from Earth to Exoplanets [Paperback]

Planetary atmospheres are complex and evolving entities, as mankind is rapidly coming to realise whilst attempting to understand, forecast and mitigate human-induced climate change. In the Solar System, our neighbours Venus and Mars provide striking examples of two endpoints of planetary evolution, runaway greenhouse and loss of atmosphere to space.

The variety of extra-solar planets brings a wider angle to the issue: from scorching hot jupiters'' to ocean worlds, exo-atmospheres explore many configurations unknown in the Solar System, such as iron clouds, silicate rains, extreme plate tectonics, and steam volcanoes. Exoplanetary atmospheres have recently become accessible to observations.

This book puts our own climate in the wider context of the trials and tribulations of planetary atmospheres. Based on cutting-edge research, it uses a grand tour of the atmospheres of other planets to shine a new light on our own atmosphere, and its relation with life.

Earths atmosphere:?A new look at an old friend.- Venus and Mars.- Titan and life without water.- Gas giant planets: from Jupiter to hot Jupiters.- Exotic worlds.- Back to Earth.

From the book reviews:

This is a beautiful, well-written book. With glossy pages, plenty of arresting graphics, and color photographs, it is a very nice introduction to the basic physics and chemistry of the objects populating Earths solar system, including planets and moons. & Pont (astrophysics, Univ. of Exeter, UK) explores in detail each planets atmospheric composition structure and chemistry, and weather and climate. & Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers. (T. N. Chase, Choice, Vol. 52 (7), March, 2015)

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