Galaxies - the Milky Way's siblings - offer a surprising variety of forms and colours. Displaying symmetrical spiral arms, glowing red nebulae or diffuse halos, even the image of a galaxy can reveal much about its construction. All galaxies consist of gas, dust and stars, but the effects of gravity, dark matter and the interaction of star formation and stellar explosions all influence their appearances. This volume showcases more than 250 of the most beautiful galaxies within an amateur's reach and uses them to explain current astrophysical research. It features fantastic photographs, unique insights into our knowledge, tips on astrophotography and essential facts and figures based on the latest science. From the Andromeda Galaxy to galaxy clusters and gravitational lenses, the nature of galaxies is revealed through these stunning amateur photographs. This well illustrated reference atlas deserves a place on the bookshelves of astronomical imagers, observers and armchair enthusiasts.

There are many books covering different facets of astrophotography, but few of them contain all the necessary steps for beginners in one accessible place. Astrophotography is Easy! fills that void, serving as a guide to anybody interested in the subject but starting totally from scratch. Assuming no prior experience, the author runs through the basics for how to take astrophotos using just a camera-including cell phones and tablets-as well as a telescope and more sophisticated equipment. The book includes proven techniques, checklists, safety guidelines, troubleshooting tips, and more. Each chapter builds upon the last, allowing readers to master basic techniques before moving on to more challenging material. Also included is a comprehensive list of additional books and resources on a variety of topics so readers can continue expanding their skills. Astrophotography Is Easy! doesn't simply teach you the basic skills for becoming an astrophotographer: it provides you with the foundations you will need for a lifelong pursuit.

Paul Davies' The Eerie Silence: Searching For Ourselves in the Universe is an engaging and lucid guide to the 'Fermi Paradox' - why isn't the universe teeming with alien life? If aliens ever contact us, it will be the single most significant event in human history. And Paul Davies will be responsible for saying something back. For fifty years the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence has been scanning the skies. Now Davies, head of SETI's Post-Detection Task Group, with 'a rare talent for making physics mind-bogglingly vivid and exciting' (Times Higher Education), explores what the mysterious silence it has encountered could mean. Here he looks at exciting new ways to make contact with extra-terrestrial life. He considers what form advanced alien intelligence is likely to take if it exists. And more importantly, what exactly it would mean if it didn't - how extraordinary it would be if we were alone, to be human and here in this staggering, eerie silence... 'A magnificent cosmic tour of what might be out there in space' Sunday Times 'Rather wonderful' New Scientist 'Conveys excellently the fascination of the quest' The Times 'An authoritatively written, immensely clear, lay person's guide to the many things we don't know about the rest of the universe' Guardian Paul Davies is Director of the BEYOND Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and co-Director of the Cosmology Initiative, both at Arizona State University. An internationally-acclaimed physicist, writer and broadcaster, Davies is the author of some twenty award-winning books, including The Eerie Silence: Searching for Ourselves in the Universe, The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life? and The Mind of God: Science and the Search for Ultimate Meaning.

Mars is a small world with a big reputation. This mysterious planet - with volcanoes that dwarf Mount Everest, a canyon system that would stretch fully across the USA and curious landscapes that may support life - has fascinated us for centuries. In the most up-to-date account available of the elusive `Red Planet', Stephen James O'Meara follows our longstanding love affair with this bewildering world, from the musings of humanity's first stargazers, to the imaginings of science-fiction writers and film-makers, to the latest images and discoveries from orbiting spacecraft and robotic rovers. The book also reviews plans for piloted missions to Mars, and what it will take for those missions to succeed.

This book is for amateur astronomers who would like to know the mythology behind the names of astronomical objects in the night sky. It covers the lore and legend behind Ptolemy's 48 constellations, along with significant asterisms, the planets and their moons, the brightest named asteroids and dwarf planets. The revised second edition includes a host of new moons and dwarf planets discovered since 2011. In addition, it now features a new section on major asteroids and their associated myths. While still primarily focused on Greco-Roman mythology, the book now branches out to cover more recently named objects from other cultures, such as Hawaiian, Rapanui, Tongva and Inuit. To assist practical observers, the book gives the location and description of each constellation, including named stars and deep-sky objects. A host of helpful astronomy tips and techniques, as well as a brief introduction to astrophotography, are included to encourage direct observation and imaging of these mythical objects in the night sky.

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.

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.

For twenty-five years following the Voyager mission, scientists speculated about Saturn's largest moon, a mysterious orb clouded in orange haze. Finally, in 2005, the Cassini-Huygens probe successfully parachuted down through Titan's atmosphere, all the while transmitting images and data. In the early 1980s, when the two Voyager spacecraft skimmed past Titan, Saturn's largest moon, they transmitted back enticing images of a mysterious world concealed in a seemingly impenetrable orange haze. "Titan Unveiled" is one of the first general interest books to reveal the startling new discoveries that have been made since the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan.

Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton take readers behind the scenes of this mission. Launched in 1997, Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in summer 2004. Its formidable payload included the Huygens probe, which successfully parachuted down through Titan's atmosphere in early 2005, all the while transmitting images and data--and scientists were startled by what they saw. One of those researchers was Lorenz, who gives an insider's account of the scientific community's first close encounter with an alien landscape of liquid methane seas and turbulent orange skies. Amid the challenges and frayed nerves, new discoveries are made, including methane monsoons, equatorial sand seas, and Titan's polar hood. Lorenz and Mitton describe Titan as a world strikingly like Earth and tell how Titan may hold clues to the origins of life on our own planet and possibly to its presence on others.

Generously illustrated with many stunning images, "Titan Unveiled" is essential reading for anyone interested in space exploration, planetary science, or astronomy.

A new afterword brings readers up to date on Cassini's ongoing exploration of Titan, describing the many new discoveries made since 2006.

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.

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.

The essential map for all Moon watchers. The awesome beauty of the Moon is brought to life in this practical map for Moon watchers which locates, describes and indexes more than 500 physical features on the visible side of the moon. Who hasn't marvelled at the lunar landscape whether glancing up from Earth or being gripped by NASA imagery? Ever since the 1960s, when Neil Armstrong walked those first steps on the lunar surface, we have had a particular fascination with the Moon, but that grip goes back to the dawn of humanity. Our nearest neighbour in space, the Moon is hugely important due to its impact on tides and many other natural cycles that surround us, so to be able to look and read its landscape is especially revealing and valuable. With practical information on the best Moon watching techniques and tips, we capture both the magical and the practical aspects of lunar locations. * Superbly detailed map of the Moon's visible surface * 500 Moon features located on the map, with a clear index * Craters, seas, mountains, peaks and valleys * Landing sites of manned and unmanned spacecraft located * Helpful text aids the best effective moon watching * Plus map of the far side of the Moon as revealed by satellites * Maps drawn by lunar expert Dr. John Murray

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.

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.

Orienting us with an insider's tour of our cosmic home, the Milky Way, William Waller and Paul Hodge then take us on a spectacular journey, inviting us to probe the exquisite structures and dynamics of the giant spiral and elliptical galaxies, to witness colliding and erupting galaxies, and to pay our respects to the most powerful galaxies of all-the quasars. A basic guide to the latest news from the cosmic frontier-about the black holes in the centers of galaxies, about the way in which some galaxies cannibalize each other, about the vast distances between galaxies, and about the remarkable new evidence regarding dark energy and the cosmic expansion-this book gives us a firm foundation for exploring the more speculative fringes of our current understanding. This is a heavily revised and completely updated version of Hodge's Galaxies, which won an Association of American Publishers PROSE Award for Best Science Book of the Year in 1986.

If you look up at the sky on a dark night, what do you see? There's a whole universe staring back at you. In the company of Felicity the cat discover the phases of the moon, the constellations and how to spot the Northern Lights and the Milky Way. This beautiful, fun book will introduce you to the beauty of the night sky and show you the stars like you've never seen them before.

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.