Hidden in the Heavens: How the Kepler Mission’s Quest for New Planets Changed How We View Our Own
Jason Steffen
Oct 2024 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Perry Daniels
4.0star
1 reviewreport
headphones
Audiobook
9 hr 37 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 57 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
shoppingmode59% price drop on Dec 1
About this audiobook
Are we alone in the universe? It's a fundamental question for Earth-dwelling humankind. Are there other worlds like ours, out there somewhere? In Hidden in the Heavens, Jason Steffen, a former scientist on NASA's Kepler mission, describes how that mission searched for planets orbiting Sun-like stars—especially Earth-like planets circulating in Earth-like orbits. What the Kepler space telescope found, Steffen reports, contradicted centuries of theoretical and observational work and transformed our understanding of planets, planetary systems, and the stars they orbit. Kepler discovered thousands of planets orbiting distant stars—a bewildering variety of celestial bodies, including rocky planets being vaporized by the intense heat of their host star; super-Earths and sub-Neptunes; gas giants several times the size and mass of Jupiter; and planets orbiting in stellar systems that had only been imagined in science fiction.
Steffen offers a unique, inside account of the work of the Kepler science team (and the sometimes chaotic interactions among team members), mapping the progress of the mission from the launch of the rocket that carried Kepler into space to the revelations of the data that began to flow to the supercomputer back at NASA—evidence of strange new worlds unlike anything found in our own solar system.
Steffen offers a unique, inside account of the work of the Kepler science team (and the sometimes chaotic interactions among team members), mapping the progress of the mission from the launch of the rocket that carried Kepler into space to the revelations of the data that began to flow to the supercomputer back at NASA—evidence of strange new worlds unlike anything found in our own solar system.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
1 review
Andrea Romance
- Flag inappropriate
October 31, 2024
A former Kepler-mission scientist details the groundbreaking discoveries of thousands of exoplanets, revealing a stunning diversity of celestial bodies and challenging our understanding of planetary systems. The book is informative, if sometimes technical, and offers an insider view on the science and politics of a NASA mission. I enjoyed the audiobook narration. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
