250 index Lagrange, Anne-Marie, 165 Lalande 21185, 52, 55, 55n1 Laplace, Pierre Simon, 5 Large Binocular Telescope, 171 Larson, Richard, 22 lasers, and adaptive optics, 153­54 Latham, David, 59, 108­9, 131 Laughlin, Gregory, 84, 89, 121, 195­96 Lederberg, Joshua, 207 Lemonick, Michael, 78 Leonardo da Vinci, 210 Lick radial velocity survey, 76 life, exoplanetary: conditions for, 176­203; search for, 203­27 light: and gravity, 94; as infor- mation, 8­14; speed of, 169; thorium-argon lamp, 70; year, 233 Lin, Douglas, 75, 88­89, 117 MarsExpress (ESA), 215 MarsReconnaissanceOrbiter (NASA), 215 mass, 233 mass determination, and orbital inclination, 56­57 Mayor, Michel, 69­74, 84­87, 134, 185­86, 194 MBM12, 38 McArthur, Barbara, 88­89 McCormick, Jennie, 95­96, 98­101 Meade LX200 telescope, 95 Meadows, Vikki, 218­20 MEarth project, 197 Mercury, 103­5 Messier, Charles, 17 metals (heavy elements), 89­90, 234 meteorite, 38­42, 45, 193, 215,