This is a book on planets: Solar system planets and dwarf planets. And planets outside our solar system exoplanets. How did they form? What types of planets are there and what do they have in common? How do they differ? What do we know about their atmospheres if they have one? What are the conditions for life and on which planets may they be met? And what's the origin of life on Earth and how did it form? You will understand how rare the solar system, the Earth and hence life is.
This is also a book on stars. The first and second generation of stars in the Universe. But in particular also on the link between planets and stars brown dwarfs. Their atmospheric properties and similarities with giant exoplanets.
All these fascinating questions will be answered in a non-technical manner. But those of you who want to know a bit more may look up the relevant mathematical relationships in appendices.

Presents the essential conditions required for the formation and evolution of life and on which planets these may be met Provides an understanding of how rare the solar system, planet Earth and all life on it actually are Teaches you about the different planets, stars and brown dwarfs Entertaining and at the same time informative and thought provocative for curious minds Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Prof. Sujan Sengupta is Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. His research interests are Theory and Observation of Brown Dwarfs, Extra-solar Planets, Neutron stars and low mass binary stars.

Inhalt
Prologue.- Hierarchy in the Universe.- A Brief History of the Solar System.- Climate of the Solar Planets.- Brown Dwarfs: The Missing Link Between Stars and Planets.- Discovery of Extra-Solar Planets.- The Zoo of Planets.- Life A Delicate Process.- In Search of Another Earth An Extremely Rare Planet.- Epilogue.