A Reader's Guide to the Cosmos

摘要

The choicest scientific legacy of the last decade of this millennium is the unambiguous discovery of planets orbiting other stars. At this writing, the total stands at eight— not just eight new planets, but eight new stellar systems alongside our own solar system. Even this tiny sample has revealed new planetary tricks that we had never anticipated, such as giant planets orbiting almost within the central fires of their system, roasting at temperatures of 1,000 kelvin and higher. The lesson is clear: Our solar system, however wide a range of planets we see in it, is but a parochial sample of nature's handiwork.