In Exploding Superstars, Alain Mazure and Stephane Basa show how great stellar explosions have become extremely important in recent years to cosmologists trying to understand the evolution of our universe since the Big Bang and the scale of that universe. Recently supernovae and gamma-ray bursters have been used, for example, as "standard candles," illuminating their immediate environs like searchlights and allowing us to study the cosmos between them and us.

In the first three chapters the authors briefly review the great explosions that will form the subject matter of the book--namely, supernovae and gamma-ray bursters. They describe the very early universe, after the Big Bang, and then how "the lights came on all over the universe as the very first stars began to shine." The importance of stellar mass in governing not only the lifetime of a star (the most massive stars live relatively short lives) but also the way in which a star ends its days is also explained.

Chapter 4 describes the explosion of certain massive stars, outlining the various stages at the end of these stars' lives, which result in the cataclysmic explosions known as supernovae. In Chapter 5 the authors introduce the more exotic and spectacular forms of stellar explosion known as gamma-ray bursters. Chapter 6 studies the markers used for cosmic surveys and Hubble's contributions to the field. The penultimate chapter looks at the very distant, highly luminous sources known as quasars and the evolution of our universe from the earliest times. The final chapter shows how observations of distant supernovae have revealed that the expansion of the universe is in fact accelerating--one of the most exciting and remarkable discoveries in recent years. It was this discovery that lead to the idea that 70% of the universe is made up of mysterious dark energy.

The story of the search for life on Mars-and the moral issues confronting us as we prepare to send humans there Does life exist on Mars? The question has captivated humans for centuries, but today it has taken on new urgency. NASA plans to send astronauts to Mars orbit by the 2030s. SpaceX wants to go by 2024, while Mars One wants to land a permanent settlement there in 2032. As we gear up for missions like these, we have a responsibility to think deeply about what kinds of life may already inhabit the planet--and whether we have the right to invite ourselves in. This book tells the complete story of the quest to answer one of the most tantalizing questions in astronomy. But it is more than a history. Life on Mars explains what we need to know before we go. David Weintraub tells why, of all the celestial bodies in our solar system, Mars has beckoned to us the most. He traces how our ideas about life on Mars have been refined by landers and rovers, terrestrial and Mars-orbiting telescopes, spectroscopy, and even a Martian meteorite. He explores how finding DNA-based life on the Red Planet could offer clues about our distant evolutionary past, and grapples with the profound moral and ethical questions confronting us as we prepare to introduce an unpredictable new life form-ourselves-into the Martian biosphere. Life on Mars is also a book about how science is done-and undone-in the age of mass media. It shows how Mars mania has obscured our vision since we first turned our sights on the planet and encourages a healthy skepticism toward the media hype surrounding Mars as humanity prepares to venture forth.

Humanity has long been fascinated by the planet Mars. Was its climate ever conducive to life? What is the atmosphere like today and why did it change so dramatically over time? Eleven spacecraft have successfully flown to Mars since the Viking mission of the 1970s and early 1980s. These orbiters, landers and rovers have generated vast amounts of data that now span a Martian decade (roughly eighteen years). This new volume brings together the many new ideas about the atmosphere and climate system that have emerged, including the complex interplay of the volatile and dust cycles, the atmosphere-surface interactions that connect them over time, and the diversity of the planet's environment and its complex history. Including tutorials and explanations of complicated ideas, students, researchers and non-specialists alike are able to use this resource to gain a thorough and up-to-date understanding of this most Earth-like of planetary neighbours.

This book offers an exercise in theoretical planetology, presenting five different scenarios to assess the evolution of habitable conditions on Mars to assess planetary terraforming potential and to give insight into the ongoing search for habitable exoplanets. Four of the scenarios involve Martian satellite capture models, in which gravitational capture via tidal deformation and energy dissipation processes are measured to predict a pathway of biological evolution, while the fifth scenario analyzes the possible model that led to the Mars that we have today (i.e. with no life forms). In ten chapters, readers will learn how a Mars-like terrestrial planet can be transformed into a habitable planet, and what conditions must be assessed when searching for exoplanets in a star-centered orbit to support life. The book is intended for planetologists, and general enthusiasts of planetary evolution and our solar system.

Indulge your curiosity with this humorous and fascinating book that demystifies the surprising myths about space.

In the latest book from the Everything You Know is Wrong series, Matt Brown brings you a compendium of amazing facts about our planet, the universe, and everything in between! Thanks to popular sci-fi films and TV shows, there have been many misconceptions about the cosmos – from travelling through worm-holes to blowing up asteroids. In Everything You Know About Space is Wrong, you'll find a plethora of myths, legends and misquotes that have shaped the way you view the universe today. Think that the vacuum of space would make your blood boil and your head explode? It won't, and there have been people who have survived without wearing a suit in space. Think that astronauts float in space because there is zero-gravity? They're actually constantly falling towards the Earth. Think that the colour of space is black? It's actually predominantly green.

Chock-full of facts about the cosmos, how it works (and how it doesn't!), this illuminating book will guide you through the mine of misinformation to answer such questions as whether we will meet aliens in our lifetime (SETI predicts we'll find evidence of ET by 2040!), what happens in the centre of the black hole, and why Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. Discovering untruths about popular science, Everthing You Know About Space is Wrong provides a hugely entertaining insight into our universe.

This volume collects essays from prominent intellectuals and public figures based on talks given at the 2015 Darwin College Lectures on the theme of 'development'. The writers are world-renowned experts in such diverse fields as architecture, astronomy, biology, climate science, economy, psychology, sports and technology. Development includes contributions from developmental biologist and Nobel laureate John B. Gurdon, Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger, astronomer and cosmologist Richard Ellis, developmental psychologist Bruce Hood, former Met Office Chief Scientist Julia Slingo, architect Michael Pawlyn, development economist Ha-Joon Chang and serial entrepreneur Hermann Hauser. While their perspectives and interpretations of development vary widely, their essays are linked by a common desire to describe and understand how things change, usually in the direction of ever-increasing complexity. Written with the lay reader in mind, this interdisciplinary book is a must-read for anybody interested in the mechanisms underlying the changes we see in the world around us.

"The Mayan Code is really interesting and amazing because its statements are based on facts. For instance, it mentions the VEDA. We the Mayas know this people as the BEDZA. They used and followed the ancient calendar of 360 days, just as the Mayas did with the Haab calendar that has 360 days too. I recommend you to read this book." --Hunbatz Men, Maya Itza Tradition "Barbara Hand Clow has written the definitive book about 2012. This book, quite simply, is the best resource that now exists. A very wise human being has poured her heart, her soul, and her mind into these words. The Mayan Code is a great gift to us all." --Whitley Strieber, author of Communion and The Key The Mayan Code is a deep exploration of how, as we approach the end of the Mayan Calendar, time and consciousness are accelerating, giving us a new understanding of the universe. Using Carl Johan Calleman's research, as well as the ideas of other Mayan Calendar scholars, Barbara Hand Clow examines 16.4 billion years of evolution to decode the creative patterns of Earth--the World Mind. These great patterns culminate in 2011, and then during 2012 major astrological influences will inspire us to attain oneness and enlightenment.The Mayan Code shows how the time cycles of the Calendar match important periods in the evolutionary data banks of Earth and the Milky Way Galaxy. These stages of evolution are converging during the final stage of the Calendar, the period between 1999 and 2011. War and territoriality, resource management and separation from nature, are all part of daily events we must process during these few short years: evidence of the tightening spiral of time that we experience as time speeding up. Barbara HandClow counsels that our own personal healing is the most important factor as we prepare to make this critical leap in human evolution--now referred to as the awakening of the World Mind. BARBARA HAND CLOW is an International Mayan Elder (Comunidad Indigena Maya), Cherokee Record Keeper, and internationally acclaimed ceremonial teacher and author. She has written ten other books, including The Pleiadian Agenda, The Mind Chronicles, Chiron, Alchemy of Nine Dimensions, and Catastrophobia, and she maintains an astrological website, www.handclow2012.com.

This book is a unique work satisfying the need for a modern, comprehensive review of all major aspects of galaxy observation. The book combines the physical background on the nature and data of galaxies, the relevant instrumentation and viewing techniques, and finally the targets and their individual appearance in telescopes of various apertures. A comprehensive sample of galaxies, including quasars, groups and clusters of galaxies is presented. This combination of theoretical knowledge and practical information guarantees successful observing sessions. Furthermore, the book is clearly structured with outstanding images and graphics.

Laboratory astrophysics is the Rosetta Stone that enables astronomers to understand and interpret the distant cosmos. It provides the tools to interpret and guide astronomical observations and delivers the numbers needed to quantitatively model the processes taking place in space, providing a bridge between observers and modelers. IAU Symposium 350 was organized by the International Astronomical Union's Laboratory Astrophysics Commission (B5), and was the first topical symposium on laboratory astrophysics sponsored by the IAU. Active researchers in observational astronomy, space missions, experimental and theoretical laboratory astrophysics, and astrochemistry discuss the topics and challenges facing astronomy today. Five major topics are covered, spanning from star- and planet-formation through stellar populations to extragalactic chemistry and dark matter. Within each topic, the main themes of laboratory studies, astronomical observations, and theoretical modeling are explored, demonstrating the breadth and the plurality of disciplines engaged in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics.

Near the end of the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott and fellow moonwalker James Irwin conducted a secret ceremony unsanctioned by NASA: they placed on the lunar soil a small tin figurine called The Fallen Astronaut, along with a plaque bearing a list of names. By telling the stories of those sixteen astronauts and cosmonauts who died in the quest to reach the moon between 1962 and 1972, this book enriches the saga of humankind's greatest scientific undertaking, Project Apollo, and conveys the human cost of the space race. Many people are aware of the first manned Apollo mission, in which Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives in a fire during a ground test, but few know of the other five fallen astronauts whose stories this book tells as well, including Ted Freeman and C.C. Williams, who died in the crashes of their T-38 jets; the "Gemini Twins," Charlie Bassett and Elliot See, killed when their jet slammed into the building where their Gemini capsule was undergoing final construction; and Ed Givens, whose fatal car crash has until now been obscured by rumors. Supported by extensive interviews and archival material, the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of these and other fallen astronauts-including eight Russian cosmonauts who lost their lives during training-unfold here in intimate and compelling detail. Their stories return us to a stirring time in the history of our nation and remind us of the cost of fulfilling our dreams. This revised edition includes expanded and revised biographies and additional photographs. Purchase the audio edition.

Informed by astronomy education research, the Sixth Edition reflects an emphasis on learning by doing. This emphasis is reinforced through thoughtful pedagogy and an innovative teaching and learning package. Students get to interact with astronomy while instructors receive the resources they need to incorporate active learning into the classroom.

The variable activity of stars such as the Sun is mediated through stellar magnetic fields, radiative and energetic particle fluxes, stellar winds and magnetic storms manifested as stellar flares and coronal mass ejections. This activity influences planetary atmospheres, climate and habitability: on the one hand it drives life-sustaining processes on planets, but on the other hand can adversely impact planetary environments rendering them uninhabitable. Studies of this intimate relationship between the parent star, its astrosphere and the planets that it hosts have reached a certain level of maturity in our own Solar System. Based on this understanding, the first attempts are being made to characterize the interactions between distant stars and their planets and understand their coupled evolution, which is relevant for the search for habitable exoplanets. IAU Symposium 328 brings together diverse, interdisciplinary reviews and research papers which address the themes of star-planet interactions and habitability.

This work is the story of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution, transforming matter and life into consciousness, how science and civilization grew up together and the forces and individuals who helped shape modern science. The book aims to make scientific ideas accesssible and exciting. It is based on the television series of the same name. Subjects covered include the ancient library of Alexandria, the death of the sun, the evolution of galaxies, space missions and hieroglyphics.

Heart of Darkness describes the incredible saga of humankind's quest to unravel the deepest secrets of the universe. Over the past thirty years, scientists have learned that two little-understood components--dark matter and dark energy--comprise most of the known cosmos, explain the growth of all cosmic structure, and hold the key to the universe's fate. The story of how evidence for the so-called "Lambda-Cold Dark Matter" model of cosmology has been gathered by generations of scientists throughout the world is told here by one of the pioneers of the field, Jeremiah Ostriker, and his coauthor Simon Mitton. From humankind's early attempts to comprehend Earth's place in the solar system, to astronomers' exploration of the Milky Way galaxy and the realm of the nebulae beyond, to the detection of the primordial fluctuations of energy from which all subsequent structure developed, this book explains the physics and the history of how the current model of our universe arose and has passed every test hurled at it by the skeptics. Throughout this rich story, an essential theme is emphasized: how three aspects of rational inquiry--the application of direct measurement and observation, the introduction of mathematical modeling, and the requirement that hypotheses should be testable and verifiable--guide scientific progress and underpin our modern cosmological paradigm. This monumental puzzle is far from complete, however, as scientists confront the mysteries of the ultimate causes of cosmic structure formation and the real nature and origin of dark matter and dark energy.

A gripping first-person account of how scientists came to understand our universe's mysterious structure J. Richard Gott was among the first cosmologists to propose that the structure of our universe is like a sponge made up of clusters of galaxies intricately connected by filaments of galaxies-a magnificent structure now called the "cosmic web" and mapped extensively by teams of astronomers. Here is his gripping insider's account of how a generation of undaunted theorists and observers solved the mystery of the architecture of our cosmos. The Cosmic Web begins with modern pioneers of extragalactic astronomy, such as Edwin Hubble and Fritz Zwicky. It goes on to describe how, during the Cold War, the American school of cosmology favored a model of the universe where galaxies resided in isolated clusters, whereas the Soviet school favored a honeycomb pattern of galaxies punctuated by giant, isolated voids. Gott tells the stories of how his own path to a solution began with a high-school science project when he was eighteen, and how he and astronomer Mario Juric measured the Sloan Great Wall of Galaxies, a filament of galaxies that, at 1.37 billion light-years in length, is one of the largest structures in the universe. Drawing on Gott's own experiences working at the frontiers of science with many of today's leading cosmologists, The Cosmic Web shows how ambitious telescope surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are transforming our understanding of the cosmos, and how the cosmic web holds vital clues to the origins of the universe and the next trillion years that lie ahead.

From deep ocean trenches and the geographical poles to outer space, organisms can be found living in remarkably extreme conditions. This book provides a captivating account of these systems and their extraordinary inhabitants, 'extremophiles'. A diverse, multidisciplinary group of experts discuss responses and adaptations to change; biodiversity, bioenergetic processes, and biotic and abiotic interactions; polar environments; and life and habitability, including searching for biosignatures in the extraterrestrial environment. The editors emphasize that understanding these systems is important for increasing our knowledge and utilizing their potential, but this remains an understudied area. Given the threat to these environments and their biota caused by climate change and human impact, this timely book also addresses the urgency to document these systems. It will help graduate students and researchers in conservation, marine biology, evolutionary biology, environmental change and astrobiology better understand how life exists in these environments and their susceptibility or resilience to change.

Can you spot the Big Dipper in the night sky? Or Orion's Belt? Or Cassiopeia? Even in cities, and without the aid of a telescope, these are a few of the easier constellations to find. In fact, a great deal can be seen in the night sky with the naked eye - if you know what you're looking for. Night Sky presents 200 colour photographs of stunning nocturnal vistas all visible to the naked eye. From the majesty of the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) as seen from Norway or Canada, and the Southern Lights (Aurora australis) as seen from Australia, to seeing the clarity of the Milky Way over an Italian forest, from witnessing a lunar eclipse in Indonesia to charting the course of the International Space Station across the Indian night, and from seeing a Geminid meteor shower in New Mexico to recognizing the Great Bear (Ursa Major) constellation over New England, the book is a feast of nocturnal delights. Where necessary, additional inset photographs indicate the formation of a constellation. Presented in a handy, pocket-sized landscape format - take it out at night when you're stargazing - and featuring 200 outstanding colour photographs supported by fascinating captions, Night Sky is a stunning collection of images.

Sir William Herschel's contributions to astronomy during the late eighteenth century are unrivaled. His lasting legacy is his dedicated all-sky survey of star clusters and nebulae, and these objects continue to be among the most studied in the night sky. This unique book provides a complete re-examination of Herschel's entire catalog of non-stellar discoveries, making it the most accurate and up-to-date reference of its kind. Retrace the footsteps of one of history's greatest astronomers and explore every one of Herschel's landmark discoveries, including those considered to be lost or non-existent. Read detailed notes about each object's appearance and physical characteristics, and view hundreds of photos of the most intriguing Herschel objects, along with dozens of sketches of what is visible at the eyepiece. This superb book is a must-have for amateur astronomers seeking new and exciting observing challenges, and as the ultimate reference on the Herschel objects. Additional resources, including a target list ordered by Herschel designation, are available to download from www.cambridge.org/9780521138178.

This extensively illustrated book presents the astrophysics of galaxies since their beginnings in the early Universe. It has been thoroughly revised to take into account the most recent observational data, and recent discoveries such as dark energy. There are new sections on galaxy clusters, gamma ray bursts and supermassive black holes. The authors explore the basic properties of stars and the Milky Way before working out towards nearby galaxies and the distant Universe. They discuss the structures of galaxies and how galaxies have developed, and relate this to the evolution of the Universe. The book also examines ways of observing galaxies across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, and explores dark matter and its gravitational pull on matter and light. This book is self-contained and includes several homework problems with hints. It is ideal for advanced undergraduate students in astronomy and astrophysics.

Why is the Milky Way blue? Why isn't a black hole dark? How many stars can you see with your naked eye? How much hotter are blue stars than red ones?? Humans are the only known astronomers in the universe. When we look up at the night sky, we are linked to our ancestors. Away from city lights, we can see what generations of people before us have wondered at and weaved stories around. But all that will change. The Andromeda Galaxy is rushing towards us at 400,000 kilometres an hour. When Galaxies Collide will guide you to look at the night sky afresh. It peers 5.86 billion years into the future to consider the fate of Earth and its inhabitants. Will the solution be to live in space without a planet to call home? Will one of the other 100 billion planets spawn life? Learn how to watch this space.

This collection of scientific papers provides a state-of-the-art look at current knowledge on ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond. It is the result of a collaborative effort by scientists studying both terrestrial and extraterrestrial oceans, and analyzes the emergence of life and its survival on Earth as well as other potentially habitable planets and moons. The papers examine the more remote provinces of our solar system, focusing on the icy moons of the giant planets, like Europa and Titan, as well as bodies like Ceres and putative extrasolar ocean worlds. Their potential for subsurface liquid water oceans are explored, as is as their astrobiological potential. The collection also takes a look at Earth's own oceans, which offer important clues for the investigation of other ocean worlds. In addition, the collection addresses the outstanding key scientific questions and measurements, technologies and laboratory experiments necessary for the exploration of ocean worlds known today. Previously published in Space Science Reviews in the Topical Collection "Ocean Worlds"

Concise and self-contained, this textbook gives a graduate-level introduction to the physical processes that shape planetary systems, covering all stages of planet formation. Writing for readers with undergraduate backgrounds in physics, astronomy, and planetary science, Armitage begins with a description of the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks, moves on to the formation of planetesimals, rocky, and giant planets, and concludes by describing the gravitational and gas dynamical evolution of planetary systems. He provides a self-contained account of the modern theory of planet formation and, for more advanced readers, carefully selected references to the research literature, noting areas where research is ongoing. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to include observational results from NASA's Kepler mission, ALMA observations and the JUNO mission to Jupiter, new theoretical ideas including pebble accretion, and an up-to-date understanding in areas such as disk evolution and planet migration.