The Stars of HeavenDo a little armchair space travel, rub elbows with alien life forms, and stretch your mind to the furthest corners of our uncharted universe. With this astonishing guidebook, you don't have to be an astronomer to explore the mysteries of stars and their profound meaning for human existence. Clifford A. Pickover tackles a range of topics from stellar evolution to the fundamental reasons why the universe permits life to flourish. He alternates sections that explain the mysteries of the cosmos with sections that dramatize mind-expanding concepts through a fictional dialog between futuristic humans and their alien peers (who embark on a journey beyond the reader's wildest imagination). This highly accessible and entertaining approach turns an intimidating subject into a scientific game open to all dreamers. Told in Pickover's inimitable blend of fascinating state-of-the-art science and whimsical science fiction, and packed with numerous diagrams and illustrations, The Stars of Heaven unfolds a world of paradox and mystery, one that will intrigue anyone who has ever pondered the night sky with wonder. |
Contents
Stellar Parallax and the Quest for Transcendence | 1 |
The Joy and Paschen of Starlight | 14 |
Spectral Classes Temperatures and Doppler Shifts | 39 |
Luminosity and the Distance Modulus | 58 |
HertzsprungRussell MassLuminosity Relations and Binary Stars | 71 |
Last Tango on the Heliopause | 90 |
Stellar Evolution and the Helium Flash | 117 |
Stellar Graveyards Nucleosynthesis and Why We Exist | 142 |
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alien Alpha ants apparent magnitude appears astronomers atoms Balmer Betelgeuse Big Bang binary black hole Bob looks Bob nods Bob says Bob's bright brown dwarfs Brunhilde carbon Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Centauri Cepheid color constellation core cosmic creatures distance Earth electromagnetic electrons emits energy levels evolve explode eyes figure flexscreen fusion galactic galaxies Galileo grass gravity heaven heavy elements heliopause helium helium flash helium-4 huge humans hydrogen interstellar light light-years lines luminosity magnetic field Main Sequence massive Milky million Miss Muxdröözol Miss Muxdröözol says nebula Nephilim neutrinos neutron stars night sky nuclear nuclei observed orbit Orion parsecs particles photosphere physicist Pickover planets Plex says produce protons radiation reactions red dwarfs red giant says Miss Muxdröözol Science scientists Sirius solar flares solar masses solar system solar wind space spectral spectrum star's stellar parallax Sun's sunspots supernova surface telescopes temperature Universe visible wavelengths white dwarf York