From the flashy stars to the shadowy and strange objects that hang out like loners at the edges of the universe, no player goes unnoticed. Every profile has a hip anime-style portrait to round out the picture, but make no mistake: while the presentation is all style, the science is rock solid.  The book includes a super cute poster of the solar system in the back. The universe has never been so cool.

    This discovery dramatically reshaped how humans understood their place in the cosmos, and once and for all laid to rest the idea that the Milky Way galaxy was alone in the universe. Six years later, continuing research by Hubble and others forced Albert Einstein to renounce his own cosmic model and finally accept the astonishing fact that the universe was not immobile but instead expanding. The fascinating story of these interwoven discoveries includes battles of will, clever insights, and wrong turns made by the early investigators in this great twentieth-century pursuit. It is a story of science in the making that shows how these discoveries were not the work of a lone genius but the combined efforts of many talented scientists and researchers toiling away behind the scenes. The intriguing characters include Henrietta Leavitt, who discovered the means to measure the vast dimensions of the cosmos . . . Vesto Slipher, the first and unheralded discoverer of the universe’s expansion . . . Georges Lemaître, the Jesuit priest who correctly interpreted Einstein’s theories in relation to the universe . . . Milton Humason, who, with only an eighth-grade education, became a world-renowned expert on galaxy motions . . . and Harlow Shapley, Hubble’s nemesis, whose flawed vision of the universe delayed the discovery of its true nature and startling size for more than a decade.Here is a watershed moment in the history of astronomy, brought about by the exceptional combination of human curiosity, intelligence, and enterprise, and vividly told by acclaimed science writer Marcia Bartusiak.

    We live in a golden age of astronomical observation. Some of the resulting images are well known and have inspired millions of people; others, equally breathtaking, have never been published before. For this book, Benson has culled the very best, and organized them into a thrilling journey through space and time to the universe's great places, ranging from "nearby" nebulae in our own Milky Way galaxy to the light of the Hubble Deep Field that has traveled billions of light-years.   Every bit as innovative and beautiful as the author's successful Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes but far grander in conception, Far Out is an inspiring work of art and science on the cutting edge of human perception.<!--StartFragment--> A Guide to the Cosmos, in Words and Images Dazzling and True ­–New York Times Book Review   [With Far Out] Take a good long look into space-time. –Los Angeles Times   Far out by Michael Benson proves that putting the photographable universe into a book doesn’t dampen its beauty. – Men’s Journal   An exquisite picture book of outer space. –San Diego Union Tribune “2001: A Space Odyssey and Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle: both are inspirational moving pictures. Far Out punches deep into space, like a series of jump cuts. It is a truly cinematic experience to see these magnificent images in rapid succession. Like the Star-Child in Stanley Kubrick’s vision of a Mankind evolving to a higher level, Far Out inspires me again to imagine a Universe filled with life, and each of those billions of pinpoints being orbited by worlds and beings of breathtaking beauty. Very moving pictures.”—Douglas Trumbull, Oscar-winning Visual Effects Supervisor, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Trek, The Motion Picture “The inventive, imaginative Michael Benson here unfolds the universe in its multiple dimensions.”—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, and The Planets “That the images in Michael Benson’s latest book, Far Out, are completely mind-blowing goes without saying. What’s especially dazzling about this volume, though, is the way Benson’s text takes the shards of those blown minds and completely reconfigures them into such a startlingly new and fresh awareness: a trembling awe all its own.”—Lawrence Weschler, author of Everything That Rises and Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees “First he gave us the beauty of our solar system’s neighbor worlds in Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes, but Michael Benson hasn’t stopped there. In this spectacular new offering he gives us the universe itself, presented in such stunning and vivid detail that I am awed by every page. Open this book, take the journey, and be amazed.”—Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon and A Passion for Mars

    What are the boundaries of our universe? Could there be other worlds - do we actually live in a multiverse? Will we meet another 'us' in a different reality? Or are alternative worlds parallel but separate? John Gribbin guides us through the different theories about multiverses, along the way explaining the every latest thinking about gravity, about time and multiple dimensions, about quantum theory, about matter itself - and even the mind-bending possibility that one day we may be creating universes ourselves. John Gribbin is the best guide to the big questions of science. And there is no bigger question than our search for the multiverse. 'The master of popular science writing'  Sunday Times 'In this universe at least, it's brilliant'  BBC Focus 'Numerous books on the subject have appeared in the past few years, but Gribbin's stands out for succinctness and readability. Long renowned as one of Britain's finest popular science writers, Gribbin combines expert knowledge with straightforward, no-frills exposition'  Scotland on Sunday John Gribbin is one of today's greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books, including In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, Stardust, Science: A History and Deep Simplicity. Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.

    It’s a state-of-the-art observation of the solar system as we know it today and a knowledgeable forecast of what to expect in the future, from Pluto’s demotion to plutoid to the upcoming Moon mission, the likelihood of a manned expedition to Mars, and much more.From breathtaking full-color photographs to detailed explanatory diagrams to expert essays, fascinating sidebars, and informative fact boxes, the New Solar System is not just an easy-to-use, solidly reliable reference, but also a visually stunning, invitingly browsable volume guaranteed to fire the imagination of even the most casual reader.As we celebrate NASA’s first half-century and look outward to exciting new possibilities, public interest in all things interplanetary will only grow more intense—and this wonderfully timely book is poised to launch us once more into the High Frontier.

    

    With that in mind, Jonathan Poppele has written this incomparable field guide to the night sky. Constellations in the book are organized by degree of locating difficulty, and each entry features history, fascinating details and simple instructions for locating and identifying the constellation. Pick up this book, and learn to enjoy the nightlife

    To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this extraordinary moment in human history, Robert Burleigh and Mike Wimmer have created a breathtakingly beautiful tribute that transports readers to the stars, where they will experience the moon landing just as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did.

    Hitoshi takes us through the difficult-to-understand subjects of space and the universe beyond with simple, easy-to-understand language and amusing diagrams drawn in crayon. If you ever wanted to know how the universe worked but didn't know where to get started, this guide provides the answers. Going beyond the assumptions of textbooks, this book makes for a wonderfully pleasant read while teaching you something along the way.

    Supports the Common Core State Standards.

    These are not necessarily the same objects that are the most spectacular or intriguing visually. The camera reveals different things and has different requirements. What objects in the sky tonight are large enough, bright enough, and high enough to be photographed? This book reveals, for each month of the year, the choicest celestial treasures within the reach of a commercial CCD camera. Helpful hints and advice on framing, exposures, and filters are included. Each deep sky object is explained in beautiful detail, so that observers will gain a richer understanding of these astronomical objects.This is not a book that dwells on the technology of CCD, Webcam, wet, or other types of astrophotography. Neither is it a book about in-depth computer processing of the images (although this topic is included). Detailed discussions of these topics can be found in other publications. This book focuses on what northern latitude objects to image at any given time of the year to get the most spectacular results.

    This is a comprehensive, visual record of the mission using high-resolution images selected from the entire suite of Apollo 11's on-board film magazines.

    Conselice, a professional astronomer specializing in galaxies in the early universe, this book tells the story of how astronomers have pieced together what is known about the vast and complicated systems of stars and dust known as galaxies.The first galaxies appeared as violently disturbed exotic objects when the Universe was only a few 100 million years old. From that tortured beginning, they have evolved though processes of accretion, merging and star formation into the majestic spirals and massive ellipticals that dominate our local part of the Universe. This of course includes the Milky Way, to which the Sun and Solar System belong; it is our galactic home, and the only galaxy we will ever know from the inside. Sheehan and Conselice show how astronomers' understanding has grown from the early catalogs of Charles Messier and William Herschel; developed through the pioneering efforts of astronomers like E.E. Barnard, V.M. Slipher, Henrietta Leavitt, Edwin Hubble and W.W. Morgan; and finally is reaching fruition in cutting-edge research with state-of-the-art instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope that can see back to nearly the beginning of the Universe. By combining archival research that reveals fascinating details about the personalities, rivalries and insights of the astronomers who created extragalactic astronomy with the latest data gleaned from a host of observations, the authors provide a view of galaxies - and their place in our understanding of the Universe - as they have never been seen before.

    They explore each of the solar system’s regions in detail; discover the planets, comets, and asteroids; experience the Apollo 11 lunar landing; hitch a ride on the International Space Station; and even traverse the dusty red surface of Mars. Filled with engaging and informative text, it’s an out-of-this-world look at the mysteries of space.

    Each volume will focus not only upon the individual missions within 'its' decade, but also upon the key challenges facing human space exploration at specific points within those 50 years: from the simple problems of breathing and eating in space to the challenges of venturing outside in a pressurised spacesuit and locomotion on the Moon.The first volume of this series will focus upon the 1960s, exploring each mission from April 1961 to April 1971 in depth: from the pioneering Vostok flights to the establishment of the first Salyut space station and from Alan Shepard's modest sub-orbital 'hop' into space to his triumphant arrival at the Moon's Fra Mauro foothills almost a decade later.The Introduction sets the scene with early plans to explore space, balloon flights and such details as the development of pressure suits. Each of the Vostok missions is then covered in depth, together with unmanned precursor flights, subsequent plans and the development of Voskhod. Chapter 2 studies the Mercury missions together with unmanned and monkey flights, the development of the Redstone and Atlas boosters and the ill-fated Dyna-Soar, while the twin Voskhod missions, including the first three-man space crew, first spacewalk and plans for subsequent Voskhods to extend time in space are covered in the third chapter. Each of the Gemini missions arethen described, as well as why and how the United States managed to achieve such a 'lead' over the Soviet Union, practising techniques for lunar landings, the development of spacesuit technology for extravehicular activities, 'Blue Gemini' and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. The Soyuz 1 and Apollo 1 tragedies and aftermath, including redesign, changes to future plans and the effect of Korolev's death precede a chapter on the United States' drive for the Moon, up to Apollo 14, including the challenges facing the first lunar explorers, the consistency of lunar soil and the development of spacesuits to handle locomotion. This first volume ends with an analysis of Soviet direction changes from lunar exploration to long-term space stations (Soyuz 3 to 10 and the development of Salyut 1) and the progress of the human space program in the 1960s and plans for space exploration in the next decade.Each of the next four volumes will follow at yearly intervals, the final one coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's epic journey:

    Nor do you need to be a great scientist to appreciate the exciting discoveries and intriguing mysteries of our universe.If you can change dollars into euros, you can understand the meaning of Einstein's most famous equation E=mc². And, you can understand black holes, relativity, quantum mechanics, and the Big Bang.Dr. Robert Piccioni brings the excitement of modern scientific discoveries to general audiences. He makes the key facts and concepts understandable without "dumbing" them down. He presents them in a friendly, conversational manner, and includes many personal anecdotes about the people behind the science.He presents real science for real people.In our modern age, science is the frontier where great discoveries are being made. While the public has participated in the excitement of Moon landings and missions to other planets, public participation in many other scientific discoveries is limited buy technical jargon and complex math. Most people hear only the sound bites of amazing new discoveries and have no way to find out what it all really means. That's a needless shame. Why be in the dark? Read this book, and have fun exploring your universe!

    The story of the discovery and exploration of the CMBR in the 1960s is recalled for the first time in this collection of 44 essays by eminent scientists who pioneered the work. Two introductory chapters put the essays in context, explaining the general ideas behind the expanding universe and fossil remnants from the early stages of the expanding universe. The last chapter describes how the confusion of ideas and measurements in the 1960s grew into the present tight network of tests that demonstrate the accuracy of the big bang theory. This book is valuable to anyone interested in how science is done, and what it has taught us about the large-scale nature of the physical universe.

    This is a reprint of the famous English translation, with an extraordinary running commentary by Nathaniel Bowditch of the first four volumes of the Mecanique Celeste. The fifth volume, in the original French, contains mainly historical material and completes the four volumes of the Bowditch annotated translation. The main feature of this volume is a masterly critico-historical discussion of the subject. In addition, there are various supplements to the matters treated in the first four volumes.

    The history of the Apollo project, from Kennedy's decision to go to the moon, to the development of the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft, to the fire which killed three astronauts, to the "one small step" by Neil Armstrong, and the final landing in 1972. This Kindle version is text-only, and does not contain the photos or illustrations.

    Keep in mind that our first mad scrambles to reach orbit, the moon, and the planets were littered with enough histrionics and cliffhanging turmoil to rival the most far-out sci-fi film. Utilizing original interviews with key players, bolstered by never-before-seen photographs, journal excerpts, and primary source documents, Jay Gallentine delivers a quirky and unforgettable look at the lives and legacy of the Americans and Soviets who conceived, built, and guided those unmanned missions to the planets and beyond. Of special note is his in-depth interview with James Van Allen, the discoverer of the rings of planetary radiation that now bear his name. Ambassadors from Earth is an engaging bumper-car ride through a fog of head-banging uncertainty, bleeding-edge technology, personality clashes, organizational frustrations, brutal schedules, and the occasional bright spot. Confessed one participant, “We were making it up as we went along.”

    [Scholastic Reader Level 2]Fabulous photographs, eye-catching design, and simple text constitute this Level 2 reader about our solar system! A $3.99 POB with foil on the cover!Learn fun facts about the Milky Way, and read about the sun, moon, planets, stars, and more! This hardcover nonfiction easy reader has simple text and exciting photographs of outer space! Three pages of fun learning activities are designed to both challenge and entertain new readers.

    The story of starlight is truly fascinating. Astronomers analyze and interpret the light from stars using photometry and spectroscopy, then inspirational detective work combines with the laws of physics to reveal the temperatures, masses, luminosities and outer structure of these far away points of light. The laws of physics themselves enable us to journey to the very center of a star and to understand its inner structure and source of energy!Starlight provides an in-depth study of stellar astrophysics that requires only basic high school mathematics and physics, making it accessible to all amateur astronomers. Starlight teaches amateur astronomers about the physics of stars and starlight in a friendly, easy-to-read way. The reader will take away a profoundly deeper understanding of this truly fascinating subject - and find his practical observations more rewarding and fulfilling as a result.

    It is a must-have for stargazers who want to explore these fascinating objects. The first modern star atlas devoted to double and multiple stars, it plots over 2,000 selected pairs of stars, each labeled with discoverer, catalog, and/or observatory designations. A superb introduction to this important class of celestial objects, it is spiral bound and printed in red-light friendly colors, making it ideal for use in the field. Written by experienced observer James Mullaney, and beautifully illustrated by renowned celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, it provides an easy-to-use 'celestial roadmap' to locate and identify double and multiple stars. Other deep-sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies are also included, and are color-coded for easy recognition and identification, making this an all-purpose observing reference.

    This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study.This book introduces constellations, describing how they were viewed in ancient times, the effect of the Earth's rotation on the stars that can be seen, and the modern classification of these star groups into a total of eighty-eight constellations.

    A region with physical conditions so extreme that they have not yet been reproduced in any terrestrial laboratory. A region so dense that an object as tiny as a walnut would have the same mass as our entire planet. This phenomenon-first formed in the equations of Einstein and popularized in the stories of science-fiction authors-is a black hole: one of the most exotic, mind-boggling, and profound subjects in astrophysics. Black holes are at the heart of some of the most intriguing phenomena in the universe. Not only that, they are ideal gateways to fundamental and cutting-edge concepts in astronomy, including the following: General relativity: Einstein's general theory of relativity provides the framework for understanding black holes, in which the warping of both space and time is so great that they are effectively cut off from the rest of the universe. Monsters at the heart of galaxies: Detailed studies of the centers of galaxies reveal that supermassive black holes are common, with masses of millions to billions of suns. Nearly every large galaxy has one. Wormholes: According to general relativity, black holes may be connected to passages through space-time known as wormholes. The jury is still out on whether they exist and whether they would allow time travel and trips to other universes. Is the universe like a hologram? Quantum theory suggests that information is not lost inside a black hole but instead is encoded around it like a hologram-a phenomenon that may characterize the universe as a whole! Indeed, the idea that the universe itself has properties similar to black holes shows that these objects play a pivotal role at all scales: from the truly cosmic to the subatomic realm, where theory suggests the existence of mini-black holes that may have been created in the aftermath of the big bang and that could be produced in the latest generation of particle accelerators. Nearly everyone has heard of black holes, but few people outside of complex scientific fields understand their true nature and their implications for our universe. Black Holes Explained finally makes this awe-inspiring cosmological subject graspable, with 12 lavishly illustrated lectures by veteran Great Courses Professor Alex Filippenko, a distinguished astronomer and award-winning teacher at the University of California, Berkeley. Travel into a Black Hole No movie, novel, or other fictional treatment of black holes matches Professor Filippenko's absorbing presentation of the actual science behind these amazing objects. In Lectures 8 and 9 he uses computer simulations created by fellow astronomers to conduct a virtual tour around and into a supermassive black hole, and then through a wormhole to another universe. Among the features you investigate are these: Einstein ring: As you approach a black hole, the starlight behind it spectacularly bends in a kaleidoscopic effect called gravitational lensing. This phenomenon can produce a series of halos known as Einstein rings. Photon sphere: Closer to a black hole, you come to a zone where an object must orbit at the speed of light to avoid falling in. Here, light can move in circular orbits and, in principle, you can look forward and see the back of your head. Event horizon: Continuing your plunge, you reach a boundary called the event horizon. Once you cross it, you can't return. Anyone watching from outside sees time come to a standstill, as you appear to stop and motionlessly fade from view. Singularity: After crossing the event horizon, you are only a minute away from the singularity, the hypothetical point of infinite density. Powerful tidal forces squeeze and stretch your body, until you are ultimately crushed to oblivion. Mission Invisible Recently elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Filippenko has devoted much of his research career to black holes, discovering some of the best evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way Galaxy, and participating in studies of supermassive black holes using the Hubble Space Telescope. Drawing on extensive graphics, including hundreds of stunning astronomical images, Dr. Filippenko shows how scientists have been able to read the evidence to surmise a great deal about objects that are inherently invisible. Among the most dramatic clues are high-energy beams of radiation that were first detected by spy satellites in the 1960s. These powerful "gamma-ray bursts" were long a mystery, but they are now thought to be the dying gasps of massive stars in distant galaxies, collapsing to form black holes. Dr. Filippenko also dispels several myths about black holes, such as that they are "cosmic vacuum cleaners," drawing in matter from afar with irresistible force. In fact, if the sun were compressed to form a black hole, there would be no effect on the orbits of the planets. Similarly, fears that mini-black holes created by particle accelerators will grow and devour the Earth have no basis in physics. In popular usage, a black hole is a place of utter emptiness. But in this engaging course, you learn about how there is much more to them than that. Astronomers have brought black holes out of the shadows to reveal that they are a widespread and vital phenomenon in the universe with unexpected implications for all scales of reality. Black holes are intriguingly counterintuitive, gratifyingly comprehensible, and surprisingly relevant to our overall understanding of the universe-as you will discover in Black Holes Explained

    That rare mastery is on full display in this beautiful volume of space photography from thirty of the most accomplished astrophotographers in the world, both professional and amateur. Galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, and other deep-sky treasures fill the pages. Along with the marvels of the night sky--the Andromeda and Whirlpool galaxies, the Pleiades and the Praesepe, the Orion and Crab nebulae, and many more--each section features a profile of the photographer's work, techniques, philosophy, and experiences. Compiled by the world's leading amateur astrophotographer, with an introduction to the history of space photography, this spectacular volume is an essential for every stargazer's bookshelf.

    Then the Magic School Bus takes a field trip inside the game! Can Ms. Frizzle's class answer the space clues and make it out of the game? Blast off with the Magic School Bus and learn all about the solar system!

    He looks at the 100 most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope. Doing what Schilling does best, he takes the reader on an adventure through both space and time. Photographs and amazing pictures line the pages of this book, offering the reader an escape from this world and an invitation to a world far beyond what the unaided human eye can detect.

    With fast facts and stunning photography, this book is sure to entertain and fascinate young readers. Inside the book, children will also find a fun sticker activity spread, with two sheets of bright stickers.

    Each two-page spread lays out the evidence for creation and then provides a rebuttal to the most common evolutionist objections to the evidence. Updated and expanded in 2014, the volume contains both the most recent cutting-edge evidence for creation and time-tested evidence which have never been answered by those rejecting Biblical truth. The book is divided into three major sections - Censored Biological Evidence, Censored Geological Evidence, and Censored Cosmological Evidence. Each section starts with a description of how an assumption of naturalism prevents our educational system from exposing students to any evidence which contradicts the presuppositions of evolution. Every page is a visual masterpiece, mating original photography or graphic designs with compelling text. Rather than a simple presentation of facts, Censored Science draws the reader into each subject using stories, analogies, and illustrations of the relevance for each of the evidences for creation. This coffee table quality hardback is the kind of book anyone would be proud to give to others. It has been technically reviewed and endorsed by some of the top scientists involved in creation research - including Dr. Steve Austin, Dr. John Baumgardner, and Dr. John Sanford.

    Dark matter. These strange and invisible substances don't just sound mysterious: their unexpected appearance in the cosmic census is upending long-held notions about the nature of the Universe. Astronomers have long known that the Universe is expanding, but everything they could see indicated that gravity should be slowing this spread. Instead, it appears that the Universe is accelerating its expansion and that something stronger than gravity--dark energy--is at work. In Einstein's Telescope Evalyn Gates, a University of Chicago astrophysicist, transports us to the edge of contemporary science to explore the revolutionary tool that unlocks the secrets of these little-understood cosmic constituents. Based on Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravitational lensing, or "Einstein's Telescope," is enabling new discoveries that are taking us toward the next revolution in scientific thinking--one that may change forever our notions of where the Universe came from and where it is going.

    Perhaps it comes from seeing the order, both overt and occult, in the movement of celestial spheres, with which we sense ourselves secretly involved. Perhaps it is because we feel so small before the starry universe and in this way we begin to become aware within ourselves of the grand questions regarding our existence and our passing through life. Why are there telescopes on the roof of the Pope's Summer home in Castel Gandolfo? For more than 100 years, the Vatican has supported an astronomical observatory. But that should come as no surprise; from even before the Gregorian Reform of the Calendar in 1582, indeed dating back to the invention of the University (where studying astronomy was a requirement for anyone wanting a doctorate in philosophy or theology!) the Church has not only supported astronomical research - it has seen the study of the Heavens as a way of getting to know the Creator! In honor of the International Year of Astronomy, the Vatican and its Observatory is delighted to present this small expression of support, filled with beautiful images from the Vatican's telescopes and wisdom from the Popes, to show that indeed.

    Due to the exceptional mathematical ability of its author, however, it outgrew its original plan and has since been seen as a rather more ambitious project. Praised by Somerville's contemporary Sir John Herschel for its presentation of general astronomical theories and the mechanical principles employed in their derivation, the work was a tour de force of scientific and technical exposition. It is especially remarkable both for its author's firm grasp of the subject, especially given her lack of formal mathematical training, and for its clear outline of Newtonian philosophy for a popular audience.

    Hubble has helped answer some of science's key questions and provided images that have awed and inspired the world. The STS-125 mission will return the space shuttle to the Hubble Space Telescope for one last visit before the shuttle fleet retires in 2010. This detailed coverage of the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope covers training, launch, and return to Earth with never-before-seen photographs of astronauts working 300 miles above Earth, plus spectacular images of other galaxies, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

    The authors of this book, aware of the difficulty of covering the multifaceted subject by any single author, have decided to combine their efforts to provide a suitable book for beginning students from varied disciplines. The book stemmed from a meeting on Basic Questions about the Origin of Life at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily in October 2006, where Pier Luigi Luisi laid out a balanced program to approach the subject. The present book basically follows that program. The many authors have produced most thoughtful, authoritative and readable chapters on their areas so that the student may grasp the background, objective and progress of the major research foci in the field.

    The current theories of their formation are reviewed and their recently observed temperature, composition and cloud structures are contrasted and compared with simple thermodynamic, radiative transfer and dynamical models. The instruments and techniques that have been used to remotely measure their atmospheric properties are also reviewed, and the likely development of outer planet observations over the next two decades is outlined.

    Europa beckons for our understanding and future exploration, enticing us with the possibilities of a water-rich environment and the potential for life beyond Earth. This volume in the Space Science Series, with more than 80 contributing authors, reveals the discovery and current understanding of Europa’s icy shell, subsurface ocean, presumably active interior, and myriad inherent interactions within the Jupiter environment. Europa is the foundation upon which the coming decades of scientific advancement and exploration of this world will be built, making it indispensable for researchers, students, and all who hold a passion for exploration.

    Hubble's images are snapshots in time and catch the colliding galaxies in different stages of collision. Thanks to a new and amazing set of 60 Hubble images, for the first time these different stages can be put together to form a still-frame movielike montage showing the incredible processes taking place as galaxies collide and merge.The significance of these cosmic encounters reaches far beyond aesthetics. Galaxy mergers may, in fact, be some of the most important processes that shape our universe. Colliding galaxies very likely, hold some of the most important clues to our cosmic past and to our destiny. It now seems clear that the Milky Way is continuously undergoing merging events, some small scale, others on a gigantic scale. And the importance of this process in the lives of galaxies is much greater than what was previously thought.