The astonishing science of neutron stars and the stories of the
scientists who study them. Neutron stars are as bewildering as they
are elusive. The remnants of exploded stellar giants, they are
tiny, merely twenty kilometers across, and incredibly dense. One
teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh several million tons. They
can spin up to a thousand times per second, they possess the
strongest magnetic fields known in nature, and they may be the
source of the most powerful explosions in the universe. Through
vivid storytelling and on-site reporting from observatories all
over the world, Neutron Stars offers an engaging account of these
still-mysterious objects. Award-winning science journalist Katia
Moskvitch takes readers from the vast Atacama Desert to the arid
plains of South Africa to visit the magnificent radio telescopes
and brilliant scientists responsible for our knowledge of neutron
stars. She recounts the exhilarating discoveries, frustrating
disappointments, and heated controversies of the past several
decades and explains cutting-edge research into such phenomena as
colliding neutron stars and fast radio bursts: extremely powerful
but ultra-short flashes in space that scientists are still
struggling to understand. She also shows how neutron stars have
advanced our broader understanding of the universe—shedding light
on topics such as dark matter, black holes, general relativity, and
the origins of heavy elements like gold and platinum—and how we
might one day use these cosmic beacons to guide interstellar
travel. With clarity and passion, Moskvitch describes what we are
learning at the boundaries of astronomy, where stars have life
beyond death.
General
Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2020 |
Authors: |
Katia Moskvitch
|
Dimensions: |
210 x 140 x 26mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
304 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-91935-8 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-674-91935-1 |
Barcode: |
9780674919358 |
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