A tight-knit, high-powered group of scientists and engineers spent eight years building a satellite designed, in effect, to read the genome of the universe. Launched in 2001, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) reported its first results two years later with a set of brilliant observations that added focus, detail, and insight to our formerly fuzzy view of the cosmos.

For more than a year, the WMAP satellite hovered in the cold of deep space, a million miles from Earth, in an effort to determine whether the science of cosmology--the study of the origin and evolution of the universe--has been on the right track for the past two decades. What WMAP was looking for was a barely perceptible pattern of hot and cold spots in the faint whisper of microwave radiation left over from the Big Bang, the event that almost 14 billion years ago gave birth to all of space, time, matter, and energy.

The pattern encoded in those microwaves holds the answers to some of the great unanswered questions of cosmology: What is the universe made of? What is its geometry? How much of it consists of the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that continue to baffle astronomers? How fast is it expanding? And did it undergo a period of inflationary hyper-expansion at the very beginning? WMAP has now given definitive answers to these mysteries.

On February 11, 2003, the team of researchers went public with the results. Just some of their extraordinary findings: The universe is 13.7 billion years old. The first stars--turned on--when the universe was only 200 million years old, five times earlier than anyone had thought. It is now certain that a mysterious dark energy dominates the universe. Michael Lemonick, who had exclusive access to the researchers as WMAP gathered its data, here tells the full story of WMAP and its surprising revelations. This book is both a personal and a scientific tale of discovery. In its pages, readers will come to know the science of cosmology and the people who, seventy-five years after we first learned that the universe is expanding, deciphered some of its deepest mysteries in the patterns of its oldest light.

Astronomer Joseph Silk explores the Universe from its beginnings to its ultimate fate. He demonstrates how cosmologists study cosmic fossils and relics from the distant past to construct theories of the birth, evolution and future of the Universe. Stars, galaxies, dark matter and dark energy are described, as successive chapters detail the evolution of the Universe from a fraction of a microsecond after the Big Bang. Silk describes how physicists apply theories of subatomic particles to recreate the first moments of the Big Bang, and how astronomers chart the vast depths of space to glimpse how the most distant galaxies formed. He gives an account of the search for dark matter and the dark energy that will determine the ultimate fate of the Universe. Joseph Silk is the Savilian Professor of Astronomy and Head of the Astrophysics Department at the University of Oxford. He was previously Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Clare College, Cambridge, and a PhD in Astronomy from Harvard University. Silk is the author, or co-author, of many books, including The Left Hand of Creation (Basic Books, 1994) and A Short History of the Universe (WH Freeman, 1997). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The solar system has always been a messy place in which gravity wreaks havoc. Moons form, asteroids and comets crash into planets, ice ages commence, and dinosaurs disappear. By describing the dramatic consequences of such disturbances, this authoritative and entertaining book reveals the fundamental interconnectedness of the solar system--and what it means for life on Earth.

After relating a brief history of the solar system, Alan Rubin describes how astronomers determined our location in the Milky Way. He provides succinct and up-to-date accounts of the energetic interactions among planetary bodies, the generation of the Earth's magnetic field, the effects of other solar-system objects on our climate, the moon's genesis, the heating of asteroids, and the origin of the mysterious tektites. Along the way, Rubin introduces us to the individual scientists--including the famous, the now obscure, and the newest generation of researchers--who have enhanced our understanding of the galactic neighborhood. He shows how scientific discoveries are made; he discusses the uncertainty that presides over the boundaries of knowledge as well as the occasional reluctance of scientists to change their minds even when confronted by compelling evidence. This fresh historical perspective reveals science as it is: an imperfect but self-correcting enterprise.

Journeying to the frontiers of knowledge, Rubin concludes with the exciting realm of astrobiology. He chronicles the history of the search for life on Mars and describes cutting-edge lines of astrobiological inquiry, including panspermia (the possible transfer of life from planet to planet), the likelihood of technologically advanced alien civilizations in our galaxy, and our probable responses to alien contact.

Authoritative and up-to-date but also entertaining and fluidly written, "Disturbing the Solar System" will appeal to any reader who has ever picked up a rock or gazed at the moon with a sense of wonder.

50 years ago in July 2019 the human race's fascination with the Earth's moon went into overdrive when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins landed on the surface. To celebrate this significant anniversary, we take an in-depth look at the Apollo program and how it landed man on the Moon as well as all the fascinating facts about the celestial body itself. Find out everything you ever wanted to know about the Moon. How it was formed? What's on the far side? Who owns it? ....and for those wanting to get up close and personal, you can use our handy tour of its craters and seas before learning how to take your own photographs and analemmas. Put together by a team of experts in each specific field this book really is everything you need to know about the moon.

Thirty years ago the only planets we knew were the ones orbiting our own sun; we now know of thousands of other worlds orbiting distant stars. In this book astronomer Niall Deacon journeys to twenty of these globes: from giant, blisteringly hot planets orbiting close to their parent stars to frozen planets that float through space alone, and from dead stars shredding asteroids to worlds made of diamond and even planets that may be similar to the Earth. Deacon also takes in the latest exoplanet discoveries, and explains how astronomers have come to learn so much about these strange and distant worlds. Twenty Worlds tells a sweeping story, of real planets around other stars, and appeals to the wide audience for popular science and astronomy.

From this book, the reader will gain an insight into one of the most creative minds in the history of space exploration. Krafft Ehricke's contribution to space exploration encompasses details of new, innovative ideas, but also how to think about the importance and value of space exploration for society. The reader will gain an understanding of the early history of the space pioneers, what they have helped accomplish, and how Ehricke's vision of where we should be going can shape the future. At this time, when there are questions about the path of the space program for the next decades, Krafft Ehricke has laid out the philosophical framework for why space exploration must be pursued, through his concept of the "Extraterrestrial Imperative," and the fight that he waged, over many years, for a long-range vision for the program. Readers will find it a very imaginative work, and a very up-lifting story. Krafft Ehricke's Extraterrestrial Imperative is the summation of his work on encouraging the exploration and development of space. The book contains all of his reasons why we need to get off the planet and explore space.

Astronomers believe that a supernova is a massive explosion signaling the death of a star, causing a cosmic recycling of the chemical elements and leaving behind a pulsar, black hole, or nothing at all. In an engaging story of the life cycles of stars, Laurence Marschall tells how early astronomers identified supernovae, and how later scientists came to their current understanding, piecing together observations and historical accounts to form a theory, which was tested by intensive study of SN 1987A, the brightest supernova since 1006. He has revised and updated "The Supernova Story" to include all the latest developments concerning SN 1987A, which astronomers still watch for possible aftershocks, as well as SN 1993J, the spectacular new event in the cosmic laboratory.

'Brilliant. You won't find a clearer, more engaging guide to what we know (or would like to know) about the universe and how it is put together' Bill Bryson Celebrated physicist and global bestselling author Paul Davies tells the story of the universe in thirty cosmological conundrums In the constellation of Eridanus there lurks a cosmic mystery. It's as if something has taken a huge bite out of the universe, leaving a super-void. What could be the culprit? A super massive black hole? Another, bigger universe? Or an expanding vacuum bubble, destined to envelop and annihilate everything in existence? Scientists now understand the history of our universe better than the history of our own planet, but they continue to uncover startling new riddles-the hole in the universe being just one. In this electrifying book, award-winning physicist Paul Davies walks us through the puzzles and paradoxes that have preoccupied cosmologists from ancient Greece to the present day. Laying bare the audacious research that has led us to mind-bending solutions, Davies reveals how we might begin to approach the greatest outstanding enigmas of all.

Wir koennen sie mit blossem Auge oder mit Teleskopen uber den Himmel wandern sehen - aber kennen wir unsere kosmische Nachbarschaft wirklich? Wie viel wissen wir von den gewaltigen Vulkanen, den Kluften in ewiger Finsternis, den rasenden Sturmen und eisigen Ozeanen? Und wer weiss zu sagen, wer eigentlich der Gott Mars war, der dem roten Planeten seinen Namen lieh? Welche Mythen erzahlt man sich von Venus und Merkur - und wer sind eigentlich Sedna und Makemake? Durch dieses Buch werden Sie die Planeten des Sonnensystems mit neuen Augen sehen. Von der Venus uber den ringgeschmuckten Saturn und bis hinaus zu den einsamen Zwergplaneten jenseits der Neptunbahn begeben sich die Autoren auf eine spannende Reise. In ubersichtlichen Kapiteln entsteht so ein eindrucksvoller, packender und klar verstandlicher Einstieg in die Astronomie und den aktuellen Stand der Planetenforschung. Jedem astronomischen Kapitel folgt ein Kapitel zu den Mythen der Goettergestalten, die den Himmelskoerpern ihre Namen geben. Von Mesopotamien und AEgypten uber die griechisch-roemische Antike bis zu nordischen und weltweiten Mythen begibt sich der Leser dabei auf eine spannende Reise in die Vergangenheit. Die besondere Starke von 'Wanderer am Himmel' liegt in der Begeisterung der Autoren fur Ihr Gebiet, die sich in den unzahligen liebevoll zusammengetragenen Details, klugen Erlauterungen und mitreissenden Beschreibungen wiederfindet. Die Kroenung des Buches sind nicht zuletzt die einzigartigen und speziell fur dieses Buch angefertigten Zeichnungen der bekannten und beliebten Illustratorin Caryad. In der erfolgreichen Reihe, in der bereits 'Universum fur alle' und 'Faszinierende Physik' erschienen sind, ist mit 'Wanderer am Himmel' erneut ein Lesebuch entstanden, das zum Blattern und Entdecken einladt, zum Lesen und Traumen - ein gemutliches, aber auch kluges Sachbuch, furs Bett, fur den Couchtisch, zum Geniessen, Verlieben und Verschenken. "Auf gekonnte Art - unterstutzt durch beeindruckende Bilder, interessante Fakten und unterhaltsame Anekdoten - werden dem Leser zwei spannende Welten nahegelegt: Die Planeten unseres Sonnensystems und die Mythologie, die sich hinter ihren Namen verbirgt. Definitiv lesenswert!" Boris Lemmer, Deutscher Meister im Science Slam Die Autoren Thomas Roemer hat Physik und Astronomie studiert und ist Redakteur fur Phantastische Medien sowie erfolgreicher Entwickler von Fantasy-Rollenspielen. Seine kreative Begeisterung hat er in diesem Buch zur Entfaltung gebracht. Vera Zingsem studierte Theologie, befasste sich aber spater mit dem Gebiet der Spiritualitat im umfassenderen Sinn, wobei sie ein besonderes Augenmerk auf die weiblichen Aspekte legt. Sie hat mittlerweile mehrere erfolgreiche Bucher zu mythologischen Themen verfasst. Caryad ist eine weithin bekannte Illustratorin. Mit Ihren einzigartigen Handzeichnungen gibt sie den mythologischen Figuren eine unvergessliche Eigenart.

Fundamental Astronomy is a well-balanced, comprehensive introduction to classical and modern astronomy. While emphasizing both the astronomical concepts and the underlying physical principles, the text provides a sound basis for more profound studies in the astronomical sciences. This is the fifth edition of the successful undergraduate textbook and reference work. It has been extensively modernized and extended in the parts dealing with extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. You will also find augmented sections on the solar system and extrasolar planets as well as a new chapter on astrobiology. Long considered a standard text for physical science majors, Fundamental Astronomy is also an excellent reference work for dedicated amateur astronomers.