Journeys to the Ends of the Universe presents a tour through the universe from the big bang onward. The book explores the limits of knowledge where scientific fact overtakes and merges with the wilder speculations of science fiction. The beginnings of galaxies, stars, planets, and even life itself are related back to the raveled turmoil of the first few seconds and years of life in the cosmos. The journey continues past the ultimate fate of the solar system to probe the nature of supernovae. The future of galaxies, clusters of galaxies, super-clusters of clusters of galaxies, and so on leads toward the finale, where the author provides some bizarre musings of physicists and astronomers, suggesting possible destinies for the universe stretching its present age billions of times into the future.

ky Guide Africa South 2018 is a practical resource for all astronomers, whether they be novice, amateur or professional. It covers the upcoming year’s planetary movements, predicted eclipses, meteor showers – any events and facets of the night sky that change annually.

Star charts plot the evening sky for each season, facilitating the identification of stars and constellations. The guide contains a wealth of information about the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, meteors and bright stars, with photos, diagrams, charts and images. There’s also an excellent list of useful websites and a comprehensive glossary.

Struik Nature again joins forces with the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa to publish this annual guide. Now in its 72nd year of publication, the book is prepared by a team of contributors, all specialists in their fields.

Willy Ley inspired young rocket scientists and would-be astronauts around the world to imagine a future of interplanetary travel long before space shuttles existed. This is the first biography of the science writer and rocketeer who predicted and boosted the rise of the Space Age. Born in Germany, Ley became involved in amateur rocketry until the field was taken over by the Nazis. He fled to America, where he forged a new life as a weapons expert and journalist during World War II and as a rocket researcher after the war. As America's foremost authority on rockets, missiles, and space travel, he authored books and scientific articles, while also regularly writing for science fiction pulp magazines and publishing what he termed romantic zoology--a blend of zoology, cryptozoology, history, and mythology. He even consulted for television's Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and the Disney program Man in Space, thrilling audiences with a romanticized view of what spaceflight would be like. Yet as astronauts took center stage and scientific intellectuals such as Wernher von Braun became influential during the space race, Ley lost his celebrity status. With an old-fashioned style of popular writing and eccentric perspectives influenced by romanticism and science fiction, he was ignored by younger historians. This book returns Willy Ley to his rightful place as the energizer of an era--a time when scientists and science popularizers mixed ranks and shared the spotlight so that our far-fetched, fantastic dreams could turn into the reality of tomorrow.

In September 1969, several months after the Apollo 11 lunar landing, President Richard M. Nixon established the Space Task Force to chart NASA's path for the decades to come. This imaginative vision was shattered less than six months later when, on January 13, 1970, NASA Administrator Dr. Thomas Paine announced that, owing to funding cuts, only the reusable Space Shuttle could be afforded -- there would be no space station, no return to the Moon, and no missions to Mars. This is a story never before told about the missions and technologies that NASA had begun to plan but never fully realized. The book is a companion to the author's previous two works on the Space Shuttle. Whereas the first two books showed how the Space Shuttle flew in space and what the program accomplished, this book explains what more the Space Shuttle could have achieved and how the space transportation system could have further matured if circumstances had been otherwise. A final chapter also discusses how some of these plans might be resurrected in future programs.

Today's photographic equipment allows amateurs to take pictures of the stars that far surpass images taken just a few decades ago by even the largest observatories-and this book will teach you how. Author and world-renowned astrophotographer Thierry Legault teaches the art and techniques of astrophotography: from simple camera-on-tripod night-scene imaging of constellations, star trails, eclipses, artificial satellites, and polar auroras to more intensive astrophotography using specialized equipment for lunar, planetary, solar, and deep-sky imaging. Legault shares advice on equipment and guides you through techniques to capture and process your images to achieve spectacular results. Astrophotography provides the most thorough treatment of the topic available. This large-format, richly illustrated book is intended for all sky enthusiasts-newcomers and veterans alike. Learn how to: Select the most useful equipment: cameras, adapters, filters, focal reducers/extenders, field correctors, and guide telescopes Set up your camera (digital, video, or CCD) and your lens or telescope for optimal results Plan your observing sessions Mount the camera on your telescope and focus it for razor-sharp images Polar-align your equatorial mount and improve tracking for pin-point star images Make celestial time-lapse videos Calculate the shooting parameters: focal length and ratio, field of view, exposure time, etc. Combine multiples exposures to reveal faint galaxies, nebulae details, elusive planetary structures, and tiny lunar craters Adjust contrast, brightness, light curves, and colors Postprocess your images to fix defects such as vignetting, dust shadows, hot pixels, uneven background, and noise Identify problems with your images and improve your results

Marvel at the wonders of the Universe, from stars and planets to black holes and nebulae, in this exploration of our Solar System and beyond. Universe opens with a look at astronomy and the history of the Universe, using 3D artworks to provide a comprehensive grounding in the fundamental concepts of astronomy, including the basic techniques of practical astronomy. The core of the book is a tour of the cosmos covering the Solar System, the Milky Way, and galaxies beyond our own. Explanatory pages introduce different celestial phenomena, such as galaxies, and are followed by catalogues that profile the most interesting and important examples. A comprehensive star atlas completes the picture, with entries on each of the 88 constellations and a monthly sky guide showing the night sky as it appears throughout the year as viewed from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Stargazing is among the most peaceful and inspiring outdoor activities. Night Sky, the award-winning book by Jonathan Poppele, makes it more fun than ever! Take a simple approach to finding 62 constellations by focusing on one constellation at a time, instead of attempting to study dizzying charts. Start with the easy-to-find constellations during each season and work toward the more difficult ones. Better yet, you'll learn how to locate any constellation in relation to the Big Dipper, the North Star, and the top of the sky. With two ways to locate each constellation, you'll know where in the sky to look and what to look for! Along the way, you'll be introduced to mythology, facts, and tidbits, as well as details about the planets, solar system, and more! As an added bonus, the book comes with a red-light flashlight for night reading.

Covering both homemade and commercial products, this book provides the reader with simple and straightforward information about the modeling, building, and use of binoscopes. Binoscopes can be thought of as binoculars enlarged to the size of telescopes - essentially, a combination of the two. Constructing a binoscope is easier than most people think, but it still demands attention to detail and proper background knowledge. The author goes on to provide additional information about the products currently on the market, should the reader choose to purchase one instead of building it. Lastly, the book also compares binoscopes with telescopes in great detail, outlining the differences the reader can expect to see in the night sky from using both. The celestial views obtained with a binoscope, compared to a single telescope of the same aperture, are a very different experience. The new edition emphasizes the obvious advantages of viewing celestial objects through a binoscope. There are also many new photos and additional information on the latest equipment and some very special and rare equipment a collector might be interested in. Newly added cartoons and additional images of beautiful deep sky objects in each of the chapters makes reading the book a more enjoyable experience. Finally, there is a new comet discovery form and guide to follow for such discoveries, and a complete list of Messier objects for those interested in searching for these.

THE PERFECT SUMMER READ - From the #1 bestselling author of Hello, is this Planet Earth? and Ask an Astronaut As heard on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs __________________ 'What surprised me was how entirely serene I felt. I was weightless, no forces exerting themselves on my body. To my left was the Space Station. Below me, gradually going into shadow, was the Earth. And over my right shoulder was the universe.' In fascinating and personal detail, and drawing on exclusive diaries and audio recordings from his mission, astronaut Tim Peake takes readers closer than ever before to experience what life in space is really like: the sights, the smells, the fear, the sacrifice, the exhilaration and the deep and abiding wonder of the view. Warm, inspiring and often funny, Tim also charts his surprising road to becoming an astronaut, from a shy and unassuming boy from Chichester who had a passion for flight, to a young British Army officer, Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot who served around the world. Tim's extensive eighteen-year career in the Army included the command of a platoon of soldiers in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, deployment in Bosnia, and operations in Afghanistan. Full of life lessons for readers of all ages, Limitless is the story of how ordinary can become extraordinary. __________________ 'For someone who has literally been out of this world Tim's an incredibly down to earth guy and I think you'll be amazed at some of the things he has done ... it's so inspiring to know that even going into space didn't change him as much as being a parent did.' JOE WICKS 'Tim is one of our nation's good guys - and his story is a testament to his courage, kindness and a never-give-up spirit.' BEAR GRYLLS 'Full of courage, camaraderie and daring escapades, this reads like a Boys' Own adventure' MIRROR 'A fantastic book' PIERS MORGAN 'Fasten your seatbelt for an exhilarating read ... His accounts of blasting into orbit at 25 times the speed of sound and floating, weightless, around the space station are enthralling.' EXPRESS Bestseller in the UK, Sunday Times, October 2020

The very best images captured by the new generation of terrestrial telescopes, orbiting telescopes and deep-space probes and landers have been collected in this magnificent volume. Detailed captions explain the equipment and technicalities of producing such images, which are not only mesmerising but also provide a huge amount of information about the geology and atmospheres of celestial bodies, and the formation of distant galaxies. From the world's gigantic telescopes in the Canary Islands, Hawaii and Chile to the New Horizons probe now heading into the Kuiper Belt to examine other icy mini-worlds, each page reveals extraordinary images that take us deeper into our universe. Our enduring fascination in our solar system and the wonders of the universe is now being fed by images of breathtaking detail, whether from data sent back 7.5 billion kilometres to bring Pluto into focus, or our first direct encounter with a comet by the Philae lander.

In the 25 years that America has been flying Space Shuttles, they have done more to further mankind's space effort than anyone could have predicted. The accomplishments and discoveries of the Space Shuttles are colorfully presented in this Pocket Space Guide, #10 in the series, which chronicles the events and machines that have made humans at home in the Earth's orbit.

A special new edition of Apollo 13 Manual, published to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Moon mission launched in April 1970, which very nearly turned into a catastrophe. New content includes an expanded look at what was learned from the analysis of the problems that precipitated the crisis, and how these lessons affected the future space programme, and also a look at the worldwide reaction to the crisis, as the the international community held its breath. This Haynes Manual tells the story of the complex technical challenges involved in returning the crippled spacecraft safely to Earth, explained in detail by an expert author who was there through it all in Mission Control during the six-day flight. It is also the story of three very special heroes, the crew members of Apollo 13: Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise.

This guide is your map for a personal stargazing tour through the Arizona Night Sky. Included are the legends of the night sky from the region's Native American tribes.

The Ballet of the Planets unravels the beautiful mystery of planetary motion, revealing how our understanding of astronomy evolved from Archimedes and Ptolemy to Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Mathematician Donald Benson shows that ancient theories of planetary motion were based on the assumptions that the Earth was the center of the universe and the planets moved in a uniform circular motion. Since ancient astronomers noted that occasionally a planet would exhibit retrograde motion-would seem to reverse its direction and move briefly westward-they concluded that the planets moved in epicyclic curves, circles with smaller interior loops, similar to the patterns of a child's Spirograph. With the coming of the Copernican revolution, the retrograde motion was seen to be apparent rather than real, leading to the idea that the planets moved in ellipses. This laid the ground for Newton's great achievement-integrating the concepts of astronomy and mechanics-which revealed not only how the planets moved, but also why. Throughout, Benson focuses on naked-eye astronomy, which makes it easy for the novice to grasp the work of these pioneers of astronomy.

The most beautiful and influential photographs ever made were of the whole earth seen from space. They were taken from the moon, almost as an afterthought, by the astronauts of the Apollo space programme. They inspired a generation to think more seriously about our responsibility for this tiny oasis in space, the 'blue marble' falling through empty darkness.

This is a book about the long road to the capture of those unforgettable images. It is a history of the space programme and of the ways in which it transformed our view of the earth and changed the lives of the astronauts who walked in space and on the moon. It is the story of the often blemished visionaries who inspired that journey into space: Charles Lindbergh, Robert Goddard and Wernher Von Braun, and of the courageous pilots who were the first humans to escape the Earth's orbit.

Sunsets serve as daily reminders that breathtaking beauty exists in this world-we just have to notice it. In a portable trim, Sunset Seeking invites nature-lovers, mindfulness practitioners, and pop science enthusiasts to seek out sunsets and view them with intention. Learn what makes sunsets colorful and the atmospheric factors that influence them; discover folklore about the sun and its power from different places and times; and consider how the sun's cycle affects our well-being. With a deeper understanding of sunsets comes a deeper appreciation-let this pocket guide illuminate the wonders of this daily phenomenon.

Featuring detailed commented spectral profiles of more than one hundred astronomical objects, in colour, this spectral guide documents most of the important and spectroscopically observable objects accessible using typical amateur equipment. It allows you to read and interpret the recorded spectra of the main stellar classes, as well as most of the steps from protostars through to the final stages of stellar evolution as planetary nebulae, white dwarfs or the different types of supernovae. It also presents integrated spectra of stellar clusters, galaxies and quasars, and the reference spectra of some terrestrial light sources, for calibration purposes. Whether used as the principal reference for comparing with your recorded spectra or for inspiring independent observing projects, this atlas provides a breathtaking view into our Universe's past. The atlas is accompanied and supplemented by Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers, which explains in detail the methods for recording, processing, analysing and interpreting your spectra.

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.

Twinkling in the night sky, stars have inspired wonder and amazement in us since ancient times. They have guided our journeys and inspired our poetry and art, but until recently we have known very little about them. Now, through new instruments and technology, we are learning more about stars every day-from their dusty beginnings in nebulas to their spectacular ends as supernovas. Award-winning science writer Seymour Simon gives you a closer look at the stars.

From our own solar system to the edges of the universe, 50 Astronomy Ideas You Really Need to Know is your introduction to the most important concepts, discoveries and mysteries in astronomy. How did the universe begin? Where did the Moon come from? What happens in the heart of a black hole? Why are gravitational waves so significant? And is there life elsewhere in the cosmos? In fifty fascinating essays covering the central ideas of astronomy and cosmology, accompanied by diagrams, definitions of essential terms and timelines of key discoveries, this book examines the nature and variety of our universe - the life cycle of stars, the formation of planets, the structure of galaxies and the puzzles of dark matter and the multiverse. Expansive and illuminating, 50 Astronomy Ideas You Really Need to Know is the complete guide to the birth, life and possible death of the cosmos.

In a world divided by the ideological struggles of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, more than one-fifth of the people on the planet paused to watch the live transmission of the Apollo 11 mission. To watch as humanity took a giant leap forward. A companion book to the landmark documentary series on BBC TV. The journey from Cape Canaveral to the Moon was a tremendous achievement of human courage and ingenuity. It was also a long, deadly march, haunted by the possibility of catastrophic failure on the world's stage. In an era when the most advanced portable computer weighed 70 pounds, had a 36-kilobite memory and operated on less power than a 60-watt lightbulb, the sheer audacity of the goal is breath-taking. But the triumph of imagination and the unity of the Earth that day would change the world. Based on eyewitness accounts and newly discovered archival material, Chasing the Moon reveals the unknown stories of the individuals who made the Moon landing a possibility, from inspirational science fiction writer Arthur C. Clark and controversial engineer Wernher von Braun, to pioneers like mathematician Poppy Northcutt and astronaut Edward Dwight. It vividly revisits the dawn of the Space Age, a heady time of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration--NASA--was established on July 29, 1958. Ever since that day, NASA has been at the forefront of efforts to explore outerspace, resulting in the Apollo missions to the moon, the Skylab space-station, and today's space shuttle.
But behind the open face of NASA, there is a much more mysterious world. NASA has been linked to a wealth of high-level cover-ups, including:
Claims that the Apollo moon landings of 1969 to 1972 were faked as part of an effort to demonstrate military and technological superiority over the former Soviet Union.
NASA's role in hiding the truth about the controversial face on Mars--which many believe to be a carved structure, created in the remote past by long-extinct, indigenous Martians.
NASA's deep and longstanding involvement in the famous UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico, in the summer of 1947.
Deep Throat--like NASA sources that have attempted to blow the lid on NASA's most guarded secrets concerning the U.S. Government's interactions with aliens.
The NASA Conspiracies throws open all the doors that the Space Agency has kept closed for so long.

Richly illustrated with a luminous and informative collection of maps, photographs, and graphics, this atlas is the perfect companion for exploring the wonders of the universe as viewed from Earth. This expansive illustrated atlas invites readers to roam the night sky for constellations, planets and moons, eclipses, comets and meteor showers, auroras, and deep-sky treasures including nebulae and galaxies-many visible to the naked eye and all with binoculars or a backyard telescope. Beginning with basic space science and including a complete set of night sky maps for all four seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, this fascinating book guides the reader toward the most rewarding observations. A unique chapter on astro-tourism highlights ancient observatories, dark-sky preserves, and other global destinations for the sky-seeking traveller; a final chapter details current and future space missions and what they might discover. Richly illustrated with awe-inspiring imagery-including photos from space missions and telescopes, science-based artists' interpretations, and explanatory graphics-the book also contains 170 maps and charts of planets, moons, and constellations, from Earth's moon to moons of Saturn. Practical advice throughout helps readers see what they have been reading about, building key observational skills such as "star hopping" from easy-to-find stars to fainter deep-sky objects and focusing on "deep sky treasures:" areas rich in observable phenomena. Approachable and authoritative, gorgeous and fascinating, this large-format illustrated atlas will intrigue all who love to gaze up in wonder at the night sky-and find themselves wanting to know more.

Get the straight, scientific story on things like astrology, ghosts, spontaneous human combustion, psychic surgery, and ESP. You hear about these fantastic happenings every day on television and in the supermarket tabloids. Is any of this true or are they making it all up? While many people tune in just for laughs, plenty of readers believe their outrageous claims - often because they simply don't have a clear notion of what science really is. So how do you figure out what constitutes real science and what is nonsense? "Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction" carefully deconstructs five examples of pseudoscience - UFOs, out-of-body experiences, astrology, creationism, and ESP - and gives easy recipes to test other dubious notions so that you can tell what lies in the realm of real science and what more properly deserves the tag of pseudoscience. This second edition of "Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction" will include a brand new chapter on alternative medicine, up-to-date links for reliable skeptical websites, organizations and meetings, and a fully updated additional reading section.