Stardust
Sun Kwok
Naturwissenschaften, Medizin, Informatik, Technik / Astronomie
Beschreibung
How did life originate on Earth? For over 50 years, scientists believed that life was the result of a chemical reaction involving simple molecules such as methane and ammonia cooking in a primordial soup. Recent space observations have revealed that old stars are capable of making very complex organic compounds. At some point in their evolution, stars eject those organics and spread them all over the Milky Way galaxy. There is evidence that these organic dust particles actually reached the early Solar System. Through bombardments by comets and asteroids, the young Earth inherited significant amounts of stardust. Was the development of life assisted by the arrival of these extraterrestrial materials?
In this book, the author describes stunning discoveries in astronomy and solar system science made over the last 10 years that have yielded a new perspective on the origin of life.
Other interesting topics discussed in this book
- The discovery of diamonds and other gemstones in space
- The origin of oil
- Neon signs and fluorescent lights in space
- Smoke from the stars
- Stardust in our hands
- Where oceans come from
- The possibility of bacteria in space
Kundenbewertungen
Carbon stars, Planet formation explained, Primordial soup, Stardust composition explained, Protoplanetary disks, Origin of bacteria, Comets and life, Stellar nucleosynthesis, Origin of life, Protoplanet matter, Aggregation of dust, Astrochemistry for the general reader, Organic molecules in the interstellar matter, Comet impact on Earth, We are stardust, Star formation explained