As we speak, stunning new snapshots of our Solar System are being transmitted to Earth by a fleet of space probes, landers, and rovers. Yet nowadays, it is all too easy to take such images for granted amidst the deluge of competing visuals we scroll through every day. To truly understand the value of these incredible space photos, we first need to understand the tools that made them possible. This is the story of imaging instruments in space, detailing all the technological missteps and marvels that have allowed us to view planetary bodies like never before. From the rudimentary cameras launched in the 1950's to the cutting-edge imaging instruments onboard the Mars Perseverance rover, this book covers more than 100 imaging systems sent aboard various spacecraft to explore near and distant planetary bodies. Featured within are some of the most striking images ever received by these pioneering instruments, including Voyager's Pale Blue Dot, Apollo's Blue Marble, Venera's images from the surface of Venus, Huygens' images of Titan, New Horizon's images of Pluto and Arrokoth, and much more. Along the way, you will learn about advancements in data transmission, digitization, citizen science, and other fields that revolutionized space imaging, helping us peer farther and more clearly across the Solar System.

The moon landing of 1969 stands as an iconic moment for both the United States and humankind. The familiar story focuses on the journey of the brave astronauts, who brought home Moon rocks and startling photographs. But Apollo's full account includes the earthbound engineers, mounds of their crumpled paper, and smoldering metal shards of exploded engines. How exactly did the nation, step by difficult step, take men to the Moon and back? In The Apollo Chronicles, fifty years after the moon landing, author Brandon R. Brown, himself the son of an Apollo engineer, revisits the men and women who toiled behind the lights. He relays the defining twentieth-century project from its roots, bringing the engineers' work and personalities to bright life on the page. Set against the backdrop of a turbulent American decade, the narrative whisks audiences through tense deadlines and technical miracles, from President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to NASA's 1969 lunar triumph, as engineers confronted wave after wave of previously unthinkable challenges. Brown immerses readers in key physical hurdles-from building the world's most powerful rockets to keeping humans alive in the hostile void of space-using language free of acronyms and technical jargon. The book also pulls back from the detailed tasks and asks larger questions. What did we learn about the Moon? And what can this uniquely innovative project teach us today?

Es geschah vor nicht langer Zeit, daB ein deutscher Phy siker im Vorwort eines kleinen Buches liber ein aktuelles physikalisches Gebiet dem Verleger besonders dankte, weil er die Arbeit so beschleunigt hatte, daB das Buch nicht wahrend des Druckes veraItete. Dies ist fur das Arbeitstempo der modernen Physik be zeichnend, und es konnte unter gewissen Umstanden das selbe fUr die Astronomie sein. 'Wenn der Unterzeichnete wahrend des Druckes der vorliegenden kleinen Arbeit keine ernsthaften Sorgen in derselben Richtung wie sein Kollege in der Physik zu haben brauchte, so liegt das im wesent lichen daran, daB das Buch Probleme aus der klassischen Astronomie behandeIt. Doch auf einen Punkt muB ich in diesem Zusammenhang die Aufmerksamkeit lenken: die Eddingtonsche Theorie yom inneren Bau der Sterne ist in der letzten Zeit so groBen Veranderungen ausgesetzt ge wesen, daB die Schilderung, die ich in meinen vorhedgen Buchern "Astronomische Miniaturen" (das Kapitel Scylla und Charybdis) und "Die Hauptprobleme der modernen Astronomie" davon gegeben habe, jetzt als teilweise veraltet angesehen werden muB. In der vorliegenden Arbeit ist der Gegenstand unter Berucksichtigung der letzten Entwick lungsphasen behandelt. Die Verfasser haben bei der Ausarbeitung dieses kleinen Buches an dem Programm der "Astronomischen Minia turen" festgehaIten: die Einteilung in eine Reihe kleiner - IV- Kapitel, die fiir einen wesentlichen Teil ganz unabhangig voneinander sind."

We all gaze at the night sky in wonder--and this guidebook, the ninth in the National Geographic Pocket Guide series, provides a go-to reference for everything filling the dark canvas above us. A basic guide to the solar system, distant galaxies, exoplanets and deep space, satellites and spacecraft, the big bang, meteor showers, and moon phases, this book also features scores of sky and constellation charts for stargazers. Each of the 140 featured topics includes a photograph or explanatory illustration or graphic. Interesting facts and tips throughout offer a quick guide to observing the night sky with the naked eye, from the Big Dipper and the North Star to auroras and eclipses.

Meteorites are among the rarest objects on Earth, yet they have left a pervasive mark on our planet and civilization. Arriving amidst thunderous blasts and flame-streaked skies, meteorites were once thought to be messengers from the gods, embodiments of the divine. Prized for their outlandish qualities, meteorites are a collectible, a commodity, objects of art and artists' desires and a literary muse. 'Meteorite hunting' is an adventurous, lucrative profession for some, and an addictive hobby for thousands of others. Meteorite: Nature and Culture is a unique, richly illustrated cultural history of these ancient and mysterious phenomena. Taking in a wide range of sources Maria Golia pays homage to the scientists, scholars and aficionados who have scoured the skies and combed the Earth's most unforgiving reaches for meteorites, contributing to a body of work that situates our planet and ourselves within the vastness of the Universe.Appealing to collectors and hobbyists alike, as well as any lovers of nature, marvel and paradox, this book offers an accessible overview of what science has learned from meteorites, beginning with the scientific community's reluctant embrace of their interplanetary origins, and explores their power to reawaken that precious, yet near-forgotten human trait - the capacity for awe.

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.