It discusses how to plan your stargazing and what you can see with your eyes, as well as how to choose binoculars and telescopes and what you can see using them. The book also offers seasonal star charts and constellation charts and gives readers specific objects to look for in the sky. This guide from Royal Observatory Greenwich provides all you need to know to get started in stargazing and discover the universe.

    Filled with data about the Earth, Moon, the planets, the stars, our Galaxy, and the myriad galaxies in deep space, it also reveals the latest scientific discoveries about black holes, quasars, and the origins of the Universe. Written by a premier astronomy expert, this book begins with a discussion of the Sun, from sunspots to solar eclipses. It then features over 100 tables on characteristics of the Moon, and the names, positions, sizes, and other key descriptors of all the planets and their satellites. The book tabulates solar and lunar eclipse, comets, close-approach asteroids, and significant meteor showers dates. Twenty-four maps show the surface features of the planets and their moons. The author then looks to the stars, their distances and movements, and their detailed classification and evolution. Forty-eight star charts cover both northern and southern hemispheres, enabling you to track down and name the main stars in all the constellations. The maps are supported by detailed tables of the names, positions, magnitudes, and spectra of the main stars in each constellation, along with key data on galaxies, nebulae, and clusters. There is a useful catalogue of the world's great telescopes and observatories, a history of astronomy and of space research, and biographies of 250 astronomers who have been most influential in developing the current understanding of the subject.

    To achieve this goal, they focuses on two central questions: "What Are We?" which highlights your place as a planet dweller in an evolving universe, guiding you to better understand where we came from and how we formed; and "How Do We Know?" which provides insights into how the process of science can teach us more about what we are.

    Along the way Stephen Baxter looks at our place in the universe, considers the possibility that we are in fact alone, and wonders whether that fact gives us the right to inherit everything. He also looks at how we might strive to overcome the limitations of the physical universe and win the deepest future. Stephen Baxter has brought his trademark narrative flair and imaginative brilliance to the latest ideas in physics and cosmology and produced a breathtaking guide to our possible futures.

    But what if it actually is nothing more than ordinary matter purposely hidden from our view? What if we are only allowed to see a small fraction of the stars in our galaxy, because the vast majority of star systems are teeming with aliens who wish to remain unseen? Marc Zemin, a brilliant student of astrophysics, is the first human to ever stumble upon this startling secret, when his experiments with wormhole travel cause aliens to land on Earth and whisk him away into space. To his astonishment, the aliens want his help in fighting a colossal galactic war that is rapidly spiraling out of control. But as he struggles to survive from battle to battle across the farthest reaches of the galaxy, he begins to uncover a horrifying conspiracy at play, striving to keep the warring civilizations in continuous conflict with each other. A desperate race against time ensues, as he and a handful of newfound alien friends try to stop the war and confront this mysterious, powerful force bent on destroying all life in the galaxy. But any hope of their success surprisingly appears to hinge on just one thing - whether or not Marc has the strength to overcome his own demons and face the shattering truth about who he really is. "A sci-fi debut that shows great potential." - Kirkus Discoveries

    Tim and the gang are up to their elbows in dinos, drugs, and dwarves.

    The universe is all about extremes, and in this engaging and thought-provoking book, astronomer Bryan Gaensler gives a whirlwind tour of the galaxies, with an emphasis on its fastest, hottest, heaviest, brightest, oldest, densest, and even loudest elements. From supernova explosions a billion times brighter than the sun to an asteroid the size of a beach ball, Extreme Cosmos offers a fascinating, fresh, and informed perspective of the remarkable richness of the universe, and the incredible physics that modern astronomy has revealed.

    Prusiner received a Nobel Prize, the world's most prestigious award for achievement in physiology or medicine. That he was the sole recipient of the award for the year was entirely appropriate, for his struggle to identify the agent responsible for ravaging the brains of animals suffering from scrapie and mad cow disease, and of humans with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, had been waged largely alone and in some cases in the face of strenuous disagreement.   In this book, Prusiner tells the remarkable story of his discovery of prions—infectious proteins that replicate and cause disease but surprisingly contain no genetic material—and reveals how superb and meticulous science is actually practiced using talented teams of researchers who persevere. He recounts the frustrations and rewards of years of research and offers fascinating portraits of his peers as they raced to discover the causes of fatal brain diseases. Prusiner’s hypothesis, once considered heresy, now stands as accepted science and the basis for developing diagnoses and eventual cures. He closes with a meditation on the legacy of his discovery: What will it take to cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s and other devastating diseases of the brain?

    David Peat explains the development and meaning of this Superstring Theory in a thoroughly readable, dramatic manner accessible to lay readers with no knowledge of mathematics. The consequences of the Superstring Theory are nothing less than astonishing.

    But gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of space and time – are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop light dead.At the two 4-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In 2015 they spotted the ripples produced by two black holes spiralling into each other, setting spacetime quivering.This was the first time black holes had ever been directly detected – and it promises far more for the future of astronomy. Brian Clegg presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a new, powerful path to understand the workings of the universe.Brian Clegg’s most recent books are The Reality Frame (Icon, 2017), What Colour is the Sun? (Icon, 2016) and Ten Billion Tomorrows (St Martin’s Press, 2016). His Dice World and A Brief History of Infinity were both longlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. He has also written Big Data for the Hot Science series. Brian has written for numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, Nature, BBC Focus, Physics World, The Times and The Observer. Brian is editor of popularscience.co.uk and blogs at brianclegg.blogspot.com.

    Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Astronomy; History / General; Juvenile Nonfiction / Science

    Written by one of the world's leading experimental cosmologists, this short but deeply insightful book describes what scientists are revealing through precise measurements of the faint thermal afterglow of the Big Bang--known as the cosmic microwave background, or CMB--and how their findings are transforming our view of the cosmos.Blending the latest findings in cosmology with essential concepts from physics, Lyman Page first helps readers to grasp the sheer enormity of the universe, explaining how to understand the history of its formation and evolution in space and time. Then he sheds light on how spatial variations in the CMB formed, how they reveal the age, size, and geometry of the universe, and how they offer a blueprint for the formation of cosmic structure.Not only does Page explain current observations and measurements, he describes how they can be woven together into a unified picture to form the Standard Model of Cosmology. Yet much remains unknown, and this incisive book also describes the search for ever deeper knowledge at the field's frontiers--from quests to understand the nature of neutrinos and dark energy to investigations into the physics of the very early universe.

    People of all ages frequently ask, “How did you find that so quickly?” Well, this book will explain just that! The planets in our solar system, the International Space Station, sunspots, birds, nebula, airplanes, and comets are just some of the items that his book will help you find!If you have been having difficulties enjoying your small telescope, this book is for you. There is something interesting about pretty much everything in outer space and it is exciting how many pop-culture references are derived from things in the night sky! Viewing the stars referenced in Star Trek, or talking about a character in Harry Potter named after a constellation, is just another way to make stargazing that much more fun! I am very excited to share my knowledge of astronomy and I am sure you will enjoy this book for years to come. By working through the 50 items in this book you will achieve a well-rounded understanding of amateur astronomy.

    These are not inventions of fantasy or science fiction, but are places that really exist-in our own solar system.Now with 190,000 copies in print, here is a spectacular Grand Tour of the solar system featuring a unique blend of science and art-photographs along with dazzling full-color paintings, drawings, and maps based on years of astronomer William Hartmann's research, personal observation, and interviews with colleagues. In text and diagrams, too, The Grand Tour explains how the strange and uncanny worlds on the journeys came to be, and what it would be like to actually set foot upon them today. The book includes an atlas of the planets and their satellites, and of the Earth's moon. Complete with a selection of previously unpublished photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts, and by the Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer planetary probes, The Grand Tour is unique and breathtaking, majestic and eerie, and wonderful, taking the reader to more, and to the beyond. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and Newbridge Book Club.

    The answers to the big questions: Are the laws of physics fine-tuned for life? Are we alone in the universe? Why is gravity so weak? How can I predict the winner of every horse race?