Wonders of the Universe

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A

Abell 2218 (cluster of galaxies) 190, 191

AD 185 (supernova) 83

Aldrin, Buzz 96 al-Haytham, Ibn 56

Alpha Centauri (star) 45, 98

Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) 120, 120, 121, 121, 123, 130, 130, 131, 131, 133

Altair (star) 230, 231, 231

Ampère, André-Marie 36, 37

Ampère’s Law 36

Amun-Re 17, 18

Anders, William 8

Anderson, John 120

Andromeda (M31 galaxy) 13, 25, 25, 29, 48–9, 48, 49, 52, 149, 169, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171

Apollo 8 8, 162

Apollo 11 96

Apollo 15 145

Apollo 17 156, 157, 166, 167

Arches Cluster 26–7, 26

Aristotle 38, 56

Armstrong, Neil 96, 161

arrow of time 212–13, 219, 239, 240

asteroids 134–5, 164, 165

atom:

formation of 69

stability of 181

atomic clock 209

‘atomic hypothesis’ 79

Australopithecus 47

B

Bagmati river 80–1, 80

barred spiral galaxy 28

Bell, Jocelyn 177, 180, 182

Betelgeuse (star) 120, 120, 121, 121, 123, 130, 130, 131, 131, 133

Big Bang 9, 62, 106–7

as the beginning of time 10

CMB as evidence of 66, 68, 69, 70–1

Hubble expansion as evidence of 65

inflation and 71

pre-10

raw material of human being and 11

spacetime and 65, 67

standard model 108–9

symmetry-breaking events 106

timeline of the universe and 110–11

black dwarf 129, 237, 239

black holes 24, 129, 205, 206, 235

anatomy of 196–7

detecting 12

gravity and 151

mass scales with galaxy size 238

Milky Way and 36, 148, 149,

195

quasars and 177

Sagittarius A

^*

26, 149,

149

, 195,

195

S2 and 36

supernova and 84

Boltzmann, Ludwig 217, 219

Boomerang Nebula 231

Boreman, Frank 8

Brahe, Tycho 151

branes 10

Bunsen, Robert 98, 99

Burgess Shale, Canada 72–3, 72, 73, 75

C

Calabash Nebula 124, 124

California, gold mining in 126, 127

Cambrian Explosion 72–3, 75

Cape Observatory, South Africa 98

Carina Nebula 74–5, 74–5

Cassini, Giovanni 40, 164

Cassiopeia (constellation) 48, 48, 49

Cat’s Eye Nebula 125, 125

Cavafy, C.P. 10

Cepheid variables 60, 65

centrifuge 174–5

CERN, Geneva 12, 78, 79, 106

Chaco Canyon Great Houses, New Mexico 177, 177, 178–9, 178–9

Chandra X-ray observatory 83, 239

Chandrasekhar limit 181, 182

Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan 181

Chankillo, Peru 201–3, 201, 202, 203

Chesterton, G.K. 8

Clark, Alvan Graham 231

Clausius, Rudolf 214, 215, 217

cosmic clock 39, 40–1

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) 66, 69, 70–1

Cosmos (Sagan) 177

‘cosmological redshift’ 64–5

Crab Nebula 176, 176, 177, 179, 180, 180, 181, 181, 182

D

dark matter/energy 24, 65, 222, 224

dating, carbon and radioactive 27

dawn of time 46–7

Degenerate Era 234, 235

Democritus 79, 91

Deneb (star) 230, 231, 231

Descartes. René 32, 38, 58, 59, 150

Draco (constellation) 190, 191

Duillier, Nicolas Fatio de 164

‘Dwingeloo 1’ (galaxy) 13, 13

Dyson, Freeman 180–1

E

Earth 204, 205

age of 205

blue marble 166–7,

166–7

death of 230, 232, 240, 241

elements

see

elements

gravity and

see

gravity

light and

see

light

orbit 39,

39

, 149, 202, 204–5

Eddington, Sir Arthur 188, 189, 213, 215, 219

Eduard Bohlen 234–5

Egypt, ancient 17–19, 83, 209

Einstein, Albert 10, 11, 12, 36, 43, 65, 145, 151, 185, 188, 188, 189–93, 194, 195, 213

El Tatio geysers, Chile 103, 104–5, 104, 105 Electromagnetic Induction, Faraday’s Law of 36

electromagnetism:

Big Bang and 106

force of nature 140

light as an electromagnetic wave 36, 37, 43

spectrum 59, 68, 69, 168

stability of elements and 116

stars and 122

strength of 151, 174

electron 69, 79, 101, 114, 130, 181, 194, 195, 209, 210, 222

electron degeneracy pressure 181, 194, 195

elements, chemical 79

atomic explosions and 115

construction of 113, 114

Periodic Table of 94–5

rarest of all 126–7

role in human history 114

Empedocles 38

entropy:

arrow of time and 219, 221

destiny of stars and 228

in action 216–19,

216–17

,

218

,

219

randomness and 215

ESA (European Space Agency) 75, 85, 135, 158

Eskimo Nebula 124, 124

Eta Carinae (star) 30, 31, 75

Euclid 38, 150

Euler, Leonhard 34

European Southern Observatory (ESO) La Silla Observatory, Chile 75, 85

evolutionary Big Bang 72–3, 75

exoplanets, how to find 88–9

extraterrestrial life 84, 175, 177

eye, emergence of the 72–3, 75

F

Faraday, Michael 36, 37

Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction 36

Fermi, Enrico 115

fermions 181, 194

Fish River Canyon, Nambia 152–3, 153, 154, 154, 166

Fornax (constellation) 54

Fraunhofer lines 99

Fraunhofer, Joseph von 98, 99

G

Gagarin, Yuri 141, 142, 143

galactic halo 27

galactic neighbourhood 24–5

galaxies 24

barred spiral 28

collisions of 169–71

dwarf 24, 25, 48

giant 24

measuring distance of 60–1

shape of our 28

spiral 25,

25

, 28, 48,

49

,

53

, 55, 70, 169,

169

term 24

see also under individual galaxy name

Galaxy Evolution Explorer, NASA 235

Galileo 32, 38, 40, 52, 145, 209

gamma-ray burst 226, 226, 227, 227

General Theory of Relativity 11–12, 145, 151, 182, 188, 189–93, 194–5, 213

Gentilin, Guillaume 29

geoid 155, 158–9, 158, 159

Glenn, John 142

Gliese 581 (planet) 84, 89

GOCE (satellite) 158

GPS 191, 193

Grand Unified Theory 239

gravity 11–12, 138–97

centrifuge and 174–5

formation of 161

geoid 155, 158–9,

158

,

159

invisible string 140, 148–9

minimising potential energy and 166

Moon and 148, 159, 160–3

mountains and surface gravity 154

neutron stars and 84, 180, 181, 182, 194, 195

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation 150–1, 163, 184, 185, 186, 190, 193

newtons 154, 155

paradox of 174–5

planets, effect on 174–5

sculptor 140, 146, 147, 151, 152–3

stars and planets, creator and destroyer of 141, 166

Sun’s 175

surface 154

understanding 150–1

water and 153, 156, 159, 160–3

weakness of 174–5

weight, mass and 154–5

weightlessness 141, 142, 144–5, 155

what is? 184–5

why do all objects fall at the same ratio in gravitational

fields? 144–5, 184–5

zodiacal light and 164–5

GRB 090423 (star) 227, 229, 229

Great Rift Valley, Tanzania 46, 46, 47, 47

Greece, ancient 19, 38, 79, 83

Greenland 146, 146–7

Grisson, Gus 175

H

H D 93129A (star) 75

H E 1523-0901 (star) 27

Hawker Hunter 42–3

Helix Nebula 124, 124

Herschel 36 (star) 29–30

Herschel Space Observatory Telescope 134, 135

Herschel, Sir John 120

Herschel, William 124

Hewish, Anthony 177, 182

Higgs Boson 12, 107

Himalayas 80, 92, 92, 93, 93

Hindu religion 8, 80–1

Homo Habilis 47, 48, 48

Hooke, Robert 32, 34

Hoyle, Sir Fred 177

Hubble Telescope 25, 50–5, 51, 52, 60–1, 64–5, 71, 85, 120, 142, 176, 180, 190, 231

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 54, 54, 55, 56, 59, 227

Hubble, Edwin 52, 60, 62, 149

Hubble’s Law 60, 63, 64–5

human ancestors 47, 48, 48

Huygens, Christiaan 32, 34, 41, 209

hydrogen bomb 115, 116

hypernova 31

Hypothesis of Light (Newton) 34

I

IC 4406 (star) 124, 124 inflation 71, 106

infrared 68, 69

Infrared Telescope, UK’s (UKIRT) 227

Innes, Robert 98

Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma, Canary Islands 12

J

Jansky, Karl 168

Johanson, Donald 47

Joule, James 214–15

Jovian clock 40–1

Jupiter 40, 41, 41, 45, 164, 165, 174

K

Karnak Temple, Luxor 17, 17, 18, 18, 19

Kathmandu, Nepal 80–1

Kepler, Johannes 19, 32, 38, 151

Kirchhoff, Gustav 98, 99

Kohoutek 4-55 (planetary nebula) 125, 125

Kolmanskop, Namibia 216–21, 216–17, 218, 219, 220

L

Lagoon Nebula 29, 29

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 12, 78, 79, 79, 107

Leakey, Louis 47

Leakey, Mary 47

Lenard, Andrew 180–1

Lescarbault 186

Leucippus 79, 91

Lewala, Zacharias 216

LGM–1 177, 182

Liberty Bell 7 175

light 11

a star is born 29–31

as an electromagnetic wave 34, 35, 36, 37, 59, 60, 64, 68, 69, 101, 191

barrier 43

birth of the universe and 66–75

connection with past 16, 31, 44, 45, 48–9, 52, 71

‘corpuscles’ 34

cosmic clock and 39, 40–1

dawn of time and 46–7

diffraction of 34

finding Andromeda 48–9

first sight 72–5

Hubble Telescope and

see

Hubble Telescope

infrared 68, 69

made up of a spectrum of colours 98–9

mapping the Milky Way galaxy 26–7

measuring/observing movement in, ancient 19–21

messengers from across the ocean of space 36–7

microwaves 68, 69, 70–1

galactic neighbourhood 24–5

our place in the universe 22–3

picturing the past 70–1

radio waves and 68–9, 84

rainbows 56–9

redshift

see

redshift

speed of 37, 38–43

story of 16–31

the shape of our galaxy 28

time travel 44–65

visible 68–9

what is? 32–44

Young’s double-slit experiment 34–5

Livingstone, David 56

Local Group 149

Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 182, 183, 183

Lovell, Jim 8

Lucy (human ancestor) 47

Lüderitz, Namibia 216–19

Luna 3 162

Luna 15 96

M

M33 (Triangulum galaxy) 25, 25

M51 (Whirlpool galaxy) 25, 25

M87 (Virgo A galaxy) 24, 24, 149, 149

Maffei 1 and 2 13

Magellan, Ferdinand 209

Magellanic clouds 48

magnetic fields 36–7

magnetism 36–7 see also electromagnetism

Manhattan Project 115

mapping the night sky 82–3

Mars 45, 96, 153, 154, 155, 156–7

Mauna Kea, Hawaii 155

Maxwell, James Clerk 36–7, 43, 190, 215

Mayans 84

megaparsec 64, 65

Mendeleev, Dmitri 94–5, 97

Mercury 97, 175, 184, 184, 185, 190, 193

‘The Mercury Seven’ 142

messengers 14–75

microwaves 66, 68, 69, 70–1

Michelson, Albert 120

Milky Way 12, 25, 69, 70, 148, 225, 225

Andromeda collides with 169,

170

,

171

birth of stars in 29–31

death of stars in 30–1

mapping the 20, 22–3, 24–5, 26–7

name of 24

Orion Spur 28, 71

shape of 28–9

spiral arms 28

Mir space station 11

Mira (star) 84, 84, 85

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 146

Moon:

creation of 161,

161

gravitational field 159, 160–3,

161

,

162

,

163

looking at 44, 45

spaceflight to 8, 96–7,

96

,

97

, 162

Mount Everest 153, 154

Mount Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, California 60, 120

mountains, surface gravity and 154

MSO735.6+7421 (galaxy cluster) 172, 173

Musgrave, Story 53

MyCnl18 (planetary nebula) 125, 125

Mz3 (planetary nebula) 125, 125

N

Namib Desert 68–9, 216–21, 236–7, 236, 237

Namibia 68–9, 68, 153, 216–21, 236–7, 239

NASA 11, 53, 84, 85, 132, 133, 142, 146, 159, 169, 176, 180, 190, 221, 231, 235, 240

Neptune 45, 97, 174

neutron 79, 106, 110, 111, 114, 115, 123, 130, 133, 181, 182, 194, 239

neutron degeneracy pressure 195

neutron stars 84, 180, 181, 182, 194

Newcomen, Sir Thomas 214, 215

Newton, Sir Isaac 32, 34, 41, 43, 56, 58, 98–9, 145, 150–1, 163, 184, 185, 190, 193

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation 150–1, 163, 184, 185, 186, 190, 193

newtons 154, 155

NGC 1068 (galaxy) 239, 239

NGC 281 k (new star-forming region) 67, 67

NGC1300 (galaxy) 53, 53

nubecular minor 25

nuclear fusion/fission 115–17

O

OGLE2TRL9b (exoplanet) 174

Olympus Mons 153, 154, 155, 155, 156–7

Omega Nebula 84, 85, 85

origins of being 78–137

‘atomic hypothesis’ 79

Big Bang 106–11

chemical elements and 79

cycle of life 80–1

early universe 102–17

El Tatio Geysers, Chile 104–5

elements and 94–7, 126–7

exoplanets, how to find 88–9

first stars 118–19

mapping the night sky 82–3

matter by numbers 114

meteorites and 134–5

moon rocks, study of 96

origins of life 92–3

planetary nebulae 124–5

religion and 80–1

role of stars in building blocks of our existence 90–101

simplicity of the universe 112–13

star death 122–3

stellar nurseries 84–5

Sun, Venus transits 86–7

supernova: life cycle of a star 128–37

timeline of the universe 112–13

up and down quarks 79

what are stars made of? 98–101

Orion (constellation) 119, 133

Orion Molecular Cloud 132, 133

Orion Nebula 75, 82, 84, 85, 85, 132, 133, 134, 135

Ostional wildlife refuge, Costa Rica 208

P

‘Pale Blue Dot’ 240, 240, 241

Parkes Radio Telescope, Australia 182

Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal 80, 81

Pauli exclusion principle 130, 181, 194

Pease, Francis 120

Pegasus (constellation) 61, 61

Peirsec, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de 84

Penzias, Arno 69

Periodic Table, The 94–5

Perito Moreno glacier, Argentina 210–11, 210–11, 212–13, 212, 213

Permian mass extinction 73

Picard, Jean 40, 41

picturing the past 70–1

Pikaia 75

Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex 149

Pistol Star 27, 27

Planck Era 9, 10, 106

Planck’s constant 41

planetary nebulae 124, 124, 125, 125, 128, 133

Polaris (North Star) 48, 83, 100, 101

Primordial Era 224

Principia (Newton) 150–1

Project Mercury 142

protons 79, 106, 112, 113, 114, 115, 123, 130, 181, 239

Proxima Centauri 20, 98, 234, 234

pulsars 180, 182, 195

Q

Quantum Electrodynamics 12

quantum theory 9–10, 12, 34, 35, 93, 98, 99, 101, 116, 130, 181, 195, 202, 213, 215

quarks, up and down 79, 106, 110, 114, 181, 182, 194

quasars 177

Quintuplet Cluster 27, 27

R

radio astronomy 168

radio waves 68–9, 84

rainbows 56–9

RCW 86 (supernova) 83, 83

RCW 103 (supernova) 133, 133

red dwarf 84, 89, 128, 234

red giant 69, 84, 120, 121, 128, 230, 232

redshift 60, 60, 61, 62–5, 71

religion 8, 80–1

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 122, 122, 123

Romer, Ole 37, 39, 41

Royal Observatory, Greenwich 12, 41

Ryle, Martin 177

S

S2 (star) 26, 195

Sagan, Carl 177, 241, 242

Sagittarius A^* (black hole) 26, 149, 149, 195, 195

Schwarzschild metric 194–5

Schwarzschild, Karl 194

Scott, Commander Dave 145

Shepherd, Alan 142

Sirius (dog star) 100, 100

Sirius A (star) 230, 231, 231

Sirius B (star) 230, 231, 231

Skeleton Coast, Namibia 236–7, 239

sound barrier 42–3

Space Adaption Syndrome (space sickness) 142

Space Shuttle 142

Atlantis 11

Challenger 52

Endeavour 9, 50, 51

STS-31 (shuttle mission) 52, 53

STS-71 (shuttle mission) 11

STS-127 (shuttle mission) 11

spaceflight, human 8–9, 10–11, 138, 141–5, 142, 143, 144, 145

spacetime 43, 65, 66, 67, 189–90, 191, 193, 194–5

Special Theory of Relativity 43, 154, 185

speed of light 37, 38–43

spiral galaxies 25, 25, 28, 48, 49, 53, 55, 70, 169, 169

spiral nebulae 60, 70

Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA 133, 169

Standard Model of particle physics 12

stars 78–137

birth of 29–31, 84–5

black dwarf 129, 237, 239

dating 27

death of 30–1, 84, 122–3, 130–3, 141, 177, 179, 180–1, 227, 230, 231

destiny of 228–41

first 27, 118–19, 224, 225, 226, 227

life cycle of 128–9

main sequence 28, 128

mapping 82–3

neutron 84, 180, 181, 182, 194

nurseries 84–5

reading the history of 98–9

red dwarf 84, 89, 128, 234

red giant 69, 84, 120, 121, 128, 230, 232

role in/building block of our existence 8, 90–101

the last 234, 235

what are they made of? 98–9

white dwarf 128, 129, 181, 230, 233, 234, 235,

235

see also under individual star name

Stauch, August 216

steam engines 11, 214

Stelliferous Era 224–5, 229

Stephan’s Quintet (galaxy cluster) 61, 61

strong nuclear force 12, 106, 114, 115, 116, 140

STS-31 (shuttle mission) 52, 53

STS-71 (shuttle mission) 11

STS-127 (shuttle mission) 11

Sun 98, 164, 165

ancient measuring of movement 19

as a red giant 230, 232

death of 229,

229

, 230, 232–3, 240

distance between outermost planet of our solar system and 26, 27

gravity 175

main sequence star 28

nuclear fusion

116–17

time it takes light to reach us 45

Venus transits 86–7,

87

white dwarf 230, 233

supernovas 12, 30, 31, 83, 84, 128–9, 131, 136–7, 180

Swift satellite, NASA 227

symmetry breaking 104–5, 106

T

Tanzania 46, 47, 48

Teller, Edward 115, 116

Terra satellite, NASA 146

Theia 161

thermodynamics 11

First Law of 214–15

Second Law of 215, 237, 240

Thirteen Towers of the temple, Chankillo, Peru 201–3, 201, 202, 203

time:

a very precious 240–1

ancient life and 208–9

ancient measuring of 201–3

arrow of 212–13, 219, 239, 240

clocks 209

controlling 210

cosmic clock 204–5

death of the sun 232–3

demise of our universe 230–1

destiny of stars and 228–41

galactic clock 206–7

glaciers and 210–11, 212–13

human measurement of 208–9, 210

life cycle of the universe 222–7

passage of 200

the beginning of the end 236–9

the last stars 234–5

time travel 44–65

Titov, Gherman 141, 142

Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit 194

trilobites 73, 75

turtles 208, 208

U

UDF-y-38135539 (galaxy) 227

universe:

age of 8, 65

beauty of 8

birth of 8, 9, 65, 66–75

see also

Big Bang

clock, cosmic 11, 39, 40–1

demise of 230–9

earliest possible photograph of 70–1

early 70–1, 102–3

expanding 64–5, 68

four forces of nature shape 140

heat death of 239

inflation 71, 106

life cycle of 222–7

our place in the 22–3

recombination 69

simplicity of 112–13

size of 8

timeline of 110–11

what are the building blocks of? 11

why is there a? 10

Ulam, Stanislaw 115, 116

up and down quarks 79, 106, 110, 114, 181, 182, 194

Uraniborg Observatory, near Copenhagen 41, 42

Ursa Major (constellation) 48

V

Vega (star) 100, 101, 231

Venus 87, 96–7, 174

Very Large Array (VLA), New Mexico, U.S. 168, 168

Very Large Telescope (VLT), Paranal Observatory, Chile 27, 120

Victoria Falls, Africa 56, 57, 56–7, 58, 58

Virgo Cluster 24, 148, 149

‘Vomit Comet’ 142, 144–5, 155, 189, 193

Vostock 1 141, 142

Vostock 2 142

Voyager 1 45, 240, 241

Voyager 2 97

Vulcan (hypothetical planet) 186–7, 186–7

W

Watt, James 214

wave equations 36, 37, 37

weak nuclear force 12, 106, 110, 140, 181

weight and mass, differences between 154–5

weightlessness 141, 142, 144–5, 144, 145, 155

white dwarf star 128, 129, 181, 230, 233, 234, 235, 235

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 70–1, 70

Wilson, Robert 69

Wolf-Rayet star 30–1, 227

wonder, the value of 10–11

X

XX-33 Romeo (hydrogen bomb) 115

Y

Young’s double-slit experiment 34–5

Z

Z Camelopardalis (binary star system) 234, 235, 235

‘ZAMS’ (zero ago main sequence) star 29

zodiacal light 164–5, 164–5

Zwicky 18 (dwarf galaxy) 25, 25