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Hunt for Alien Earths: Links & Books

Links

W.M. Keck Observatory
www.keckobservatory.org
Learn about some of the telescopes that will be used in the hunt for Earth-like exoplanets.

Kepler Mission
kepler.nasa.gov
Get the latest updates on NASA's Kepler Mission from its official homepage.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation
www.ballaerospace.com/gallery/kepler/index.htm
See images of different parts of the Kepler telescope, developed at Ball Aerospace & Technologies.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory—Exoplanet Exploration Program
exep.jpl.nasa.gov
Learn about NASA's effort to find other planets like Earth, see research opportunities, and more at this site from NASA.

Books

The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets
by Alan Boss. Basic Books, 2009.

New Worlds in the Cosmos: The Discovery of Exoplanets
by Michel Mayor, Pierre-Yves Frei, and Boud Roukema (trans). Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Here Be Dragons: The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life
by David Koerner and Simon LeVay. Oxford University Press, 2001.

Life in Space: Astrobiology for Everyone
by Lucas John Mix. Harvard University Press, 2009.

Articles

"Molecular Basis of Life Discovered on Extrasolar Planet"
by Alexis Madrigal. Wired, March 19, 2008.
www.wired.com/science/space/news/2008/03/exoplanet

"Hubble Discovers CO2 on an Extrasolar Planet"
by Giovanna Tinetti. University College London News. December 10, 2008.
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0812/08121001

"Absence of Water in Distant Planet's Atmosphere Surprises Astronomers"
PhysOrg.com, February 21, 2007.
www.physorg.com/news91288154.html

"Astronomers Reveal First Exoplanet ID Chart"
SpaceDaily, September 15, 2006.
www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_Reveal_First_Exo_Planet_ID_Chart_999.html

"Origins: Where Are the Aliens?—Chemical Fingerprints"
NOVA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/3113_origins_06.html


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