Beech Rejuvenating the Sun and Avoiding Other Global Catastrophes

1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-387-68129-0
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 228 Seiten

Reihe: Astronomers' Universe

Canadian academic Martin Beech has written a text that attempts to cross the line between science fiction and science fact. Put simply, his book details a method that just might be able to stop the Sun from losing its power and, ultimately, save humanity and the Earth itself. It investigates the idea that the distant future evolution of our Sun might be controlled (or 'asteroengineered') so that it maintains its present-day energy output rather than becoming a bloated red giant star: a process that would destroy all life on Earth.

Associate professor of astronomy, and Head of the Astronomy Department at Campion College, The University of Regina. My main research interests during the past decade have focused on the smaller objects within the solar system (comets, asteroids and meteoroids), but concomitant to this I have continued to perform research related to the structure and evolution of stars (the area of my doctoral studies). The book being proposed here is partly based upon a series of research papers that I have published over the years and on material used in a solar system studies class. The topic of asteroengineering was recently the focus of an 'opinion article' I wrote for the May 2006 issue of Astronomy Now magazine, and an editorial piece in the May 2006 issue of Smithsonian Air and Space magazine. Home web page: http://hyperion.cc.uregina.ca/-astro/mbeech.html

Autoren/Hrsg.

Beech, Martin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;About the Author;7
2;Table of Contents;8
3;Introduction;11
3.1;Comments on Units and Notation;13
4;1. A Universal Problem;15
4.1;Dealing with Fermi;16
4.2;The Drake Equation;19
4.3;“Hey! Over Here!";21
4.4;Caveat;23
4.5;Types of Civilizations;24
4.6;Moving Forward;25
4.7;Notes and References;26
5;2. It’s a Matter of Time;32
5.1;Time and Transformation;33
5.2;The Deadly Earth;35
5.3;The Deadly Solar System;37
5.4;The Deadly Stars;42
5.5;Deadly Novae;47
5.6;GRBs and Hypernovae;53
5.7;The Embrace of Andromeda;56
5.8;Deep Time;58
5.9;The Doomsday Event;58
5.10;The Long and the Short of It;59
5.11;Making the Best of It;60
5.12;Dyson Spheres;61
5.13;Terraforming;62
5.14;Space Structures;66
5.15;Thinking Long-Term;67
5.16;Notes and References;69
6;3. The Sun, Inside and Out;80
6.1;Star Basics;81
6.2;The Dynamical Timescale;82
6.3;Hydrostatic Equilibrium;84
6.4;The Pressure Law;85
6.5;The Central Temperature;87
6.6;Photon Diffusion Time;87
6.7;Energy Transport;89
6.8;The Surface Temperature of a Star;91
6.9;Stellar Luminosity;92
6.10;Energy Generation;92
6.11;Nuclear Fusion;94
6.12;The Mass Luminosity Law;96
6.13;A Journey Through the HR Diagram;97
6.14;The Journey of the Canonical Sun;99
6.15;The Reasons for Gigantism;104
6.16;A Negative Feedback System;106
6.17;Fundamental Constants;108
6.18;The Quantum World of the Electron;110
6.19;Collapsing Gas Clouds;111
6.20;Why Stars Are Massive;112
6.21;A Constraint on Planet Building;114
6.22;Notes and References;115
7;4. The Price of Doing Nothing;121
7.1;The Habitability Zone;121
7.2;The Ocean on Europa;123
7.3;A Brief Aside: Utilizing Europa;125
7.4;Moon Life;125
7.5;Synchronization and the Moon Effect;126
7.6;The Upper Limit;127
7.7;A Moving Habitability Zone;128
7.8;The Beginning of the End;130
7.9;The Fate of Venus and Earth;131
7.10;The Outer Planets;133
7.11;Orbital Engineering;135
7.12;Waving the Flag;138
7.13;End Games and Exotic Worlds;139
7.14;A Moving Imperative;142
7.15;Notes and References;145
8;5. Rejuvenating the Sun;154
8.1;The Engineering Options;154
8.2;Mixing and Mass Loss;155
8.3;Adding to the Pressure;157
8.4;The Opacity Effect;159
8.5;The Tools of the Trade;160
8.6;A Homogeneous Star Model;161
8.7;Introducing Mass-Loss;162
8.8;The Fate of the Ejected Material;163
8.9;An Outline Scenario for Rejuvenating the Sun;164
8.10;The UV Problem;166
8.11;The Extended Solar System Lifetime;167
8.12;Mixing It Up;169
8.13;Black Hole Mixing;170
8.14;A Steady Stellar Diet;172
8.15;Brave New Worlds;176
8.16;An Alien Beast Within;178
8.17;Solar Wrap Control;180
8.18;What the Future Holds;182
8.19;Notes and References;183
9;6. Stars Transformed;187
9.1;Revisiting Carter;187
9.2;An Exoplanet Review;187
9.3;The Case of the Blue Stragglers;190
9.4;The Time of Their Lives;195
9.5;Under Construction;196
9.6;On the Threshold;197
9.7;Notes and References;199
10;7. Between Now and Then;203
10.1;Do We Have a Near-Term Future?;203
10.2;What Price the Future?;204
10.3;Thinking Long-Term;207
10.4;Taking the Next Step;208
10.5;Future Earth;211
10.6;Notes and References;212
11;Epilogue;215
11.1;Notes and References;217
12;Glossary of Terms;218
13;Appendix A;222
13.1;Notes and References;224
14;Appendix B;226
15;Index;228