Planetary Habitability

Abstract

Understanding planetary habitability is one of the major challenges of the current scientific era, and is a vast inter-disciplinary undertaking that combines planetary science, climate science, and stellar astrophysics. This book provides an overview of the many processes that influence the energy balance of planetary surface environments and control the sustainability of temperate conditions. These factors include such aspects as the influence of stars, the atmospheres and interiors or planets, and the orbital dynamics of planetary systems. Also described are the concepts behind the habitable zone, lessons learned from solar system data, and the vast opportunities that are provided by exoplanet discoveries, both now and into the future.