Bücher der Reihe Astronomers' Universe

As with the author's recent books Extreme Explosions and Under a Crimson Sun, the complex topic of star clusters is broken down and made accessible with clear links to other areas of astronomy in a language which the non-specialist can easily read and enjoy.

In accessible, informative language, this book describes stunning discoveries in astronomy and solar system science showing that complex organic compounds, formed in and ejected from old stars, could have played a central role in the origin of life on Earth.

Topics include anomalous lights, anomalous sounds, spectacular effects of cloud illumination by the Sun or Moon, lightning phenomena, electrophonic sounds of lightning, aurora and meteors, tornado and whirlwind phenomena on Earth and Mars, usual atmospheric effects, mirages, and the possible astronomical influences on cloud and climate.

This volume presents the findings of several satellites from across the globe sent to observe the sun. Beautifully illustrated, the book combines newly acquired scientific understanding with detailed descriptions of features visible on the Sun's surface and in its atmosphere.

The author of this book draws attention to ongoing and future observations that might reveal relics of an era before the big bang. In doing so, he provides an accessible introduction to the extraordinary new ideas of string cosmology.

Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds probes the basis for possible answers to the fundamentals questions asked about these planets orbiting stars other than our Sun.

Grappling with Gravity explores the physiological changes that will occur in humans and the plants and animals that accompany humans as we move to new worlds, be it to colony in the emptiness of space or settlements on the Moon, Mars, or other moons or planets. As a person adapts in space he or she will become less fit to live on Earth.

This fascinating book proposes a sound and realistic exploration on the topic of terraforming. The book presents what is physically possible today and hints what might conceivably be put into practice in the next several hundred years.

Canadian academic Martin Beech has written a text that attempts to cross the line between science fiction and science fact.

The book focuses on how the exploration of the cosmic background radiation has shaped our picture of the Universe. Using a simple language and captivating metaphors, this book will help the reader to understand the mechanisms behind our Universe.

The book describes from a historical point of view how cosmic rays were discovered. The main focus is on how the knowledge was gained, describing the main experiments and the conclusions drawn. Cosmic rays have an official date of discovery which is linked to the famous balloon flights of the Austrian physicist Hess in 1912.

White dwarfs, each containing about as much mass as our Sun but packed into a volume about the size of Earth, are the endpoints of evolution for most stars.

Other sources would have you believe that helium was jointly discovered by Janssen and Norman Lockyer, a British scientist, and that their discovery letters reached Paris the same day, one sent from India, and the other from England.

Then we move outward to the moons of Mars, then on to many of the more notable asteroid moons, and finally to a list of less-notable ones.All the major moons of the gas giant planets are covered in great detail, while the lesser-known satellites of these worlds are also touched on.

This book is an abbreviated, partly re-written version of "Under the Radar - The First Woman in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott." As the first female radio astronomer (and one of the first people in the world to consider radio astronomy), she made classic contributions to solar radio physics.

This objective study examines the many-sided Tunguska phenomenon, the explosive event in the USSR that cannot be explained by simple meteoric models. The author sets out the progress made in researching the event and deals with the UFO myths surrounding it.

The world as it is viewed from modern physics and cosmology has many strange and unexpected features. - Where are we going?The author, an experienced scientist and teacher, presents the knowledge that we have about our world for non-experts. He takes us on a journey through cosmology and the quantum world of elementary particles.

Weird Astronomy appeals to all who are interested in unusual celestial phenomena, whether they be amateur or professional astronomers or science buffs who just enjoy reading of odd coincidences, unexplained observations, and reports from space probes that "don't quite fit."

For a long time I have been giving scientific lectures in different countries and on diverse topics, generally related to astronomy and to my work at the Arecibo Observatory. Many of us want to believe that extraterrestrial creatures can talk to us, that perhaps they are even living among us, as UFO fans believe.

What about the future of the universe? And how long might the universe as we recognize it survive? This title takes the reader on a journey through space and time, beginning with a long look at the Earth and solar system, voyaging to the outermost galaxies, and finishing with speculations about the life and fate of the entire universe.

Starting out from humankind's earliest ideas about the cosmos, this book gives the reader a clear overview of our current understanding of the universe, including big bang theories and the formation of stars and galaxies, as well as addressing open questions.

As our closest stellar companion and composed of two Sun-like stars and a third small dwarf star, Alpha Centauri is an ideal testing ground of astrophysical models and has played a central role in the history and development of modern astronomy¿from the first guesses at stellar distances to understanding how our own star, the Sun, might have evolved. It is also the host of the nearest known exoplanet, an ultra-hot, Earth-like planet recently discovered.Just 4.4 light years away Alpha Centauri is also the most obvious target for humanity¿s first directed interstellar space probe. Such a mission could reveal the small-scale structure of a new planetary system and also represent the first step in what must surely be humanity¿s greatest future adventure¿exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy itself.For all of its closeness, ¿ Centauri continues to tantalize astronomers with many unresolved mysteries, such as how did it form, how many planets does it contain andwhere are they, and how might we view its extensive panorama directly?In this book we move from the study of individual stars to the study of our Solar System and our nearby galactic neighborhood. On the way we will review the rapidly developing fields of exoplanet formation and detection.

Since ancient times, humans have been engaged in a continual quest to find meaning in and make sense of sights and events in the night sky. Cultures spread around the world recorded their earliest efforts in artwork made directly on the natural landscapes around them, and from there they developed more and more sophisticated techniques for observing and documenting astronomy.This book brings readers on an astronomical journey through the ages, offering a history of how our species has recorded and interpreted the night sky over time. From cave art to parchment scribe to modern X-ray mapping of the sky, it chronicles the ever-quickening development of tools that informed and at times entirely toppled our understanding of the natural world.Our documentation and recording techniques formed the bedrock for increasingly complex forays into astronomy and celestial mechanics, which are addressed within these chapters. Additionally, the book explores how nature itself has recorded the skies in its own way, which can be unraveled through ongoing geological and archaeological studies. This tale of human discovery and ingenuity over the ages will appeal to anybody interested in the field of astronomy and its rich cultural history.

In particular, the book discusses the formation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the evolution of large scale structures in the universe, the distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies on very large distance scales.Following a brief introduction, the authors describe the scientific method - how science is done.

In the last 25 years, planetary science experienced a revolution, as vast oceans of liquid water have been discovered within the heart of the icy moons of our Solar System. These subsurface oceans lie hidden under thick layers of ice. We call them ocean worlds.Some of these icy moons, such as Ganymede, may hold two to three times more liquid water than all the water present on Earth, while others, such as Enceladus and Europa, are thought by astrobiologists to be our best hope of finding extraterrestrial life.In this book, we will explore and compare a variety of Solar System ocean worlds, meeting in the process 22 of the most intriguing objects, from the giant asteroid Ceres to the enigmatic, distant Sedna. In doing so, we will also encounter the multiple spacecraft that brought back most of what we know of these worlds (Pioneers, Voyagers, Cassini-Huygens, etc.), as well as the latest scientific research on this new topic.We will also entertain the possibility of life on each of these ocean worlds by assessing their habitability, as ultimately, these ocean worlds might hold the key to answering the fundamental questions in life: How did life appear? Where do we come from? Is there life out there? 

Most amateur astronomers - and many of those with similar interests but who are not currently practising observers - have only a sketchy understanding of space flight.

This is the story of Bernie Mills, Chris Christiansen, Paul Wild and Ron Bracewell, members of a team of radio astronomers that would lead Australia, and the world, into this new field of research.

Within our own Solar System, odd facts such as the apparent reversal of the Sun in the skies of Mercury, CO2-driven fountains of dust on Mars, possible liquid water (and perhaps primitive life!) deep within the dwarf planet Ceres, and a variety of odd facts about the planetary moons are all discussed.

The Hipparcos project was hugely important in mapping our Galaxy. Here is a fascinating account of an important episode in astronomy, written by the scientist who played a pivotal role that brought it to fruition, and eventually to a triumphant conclusion.