Wonders of the Universe

Wonders of the Universe
Andrew Cohen

Professor Brian Cox

Recommended for viewing on a colour tablet.Professor Brian Cox is back with another insightful and mind-blowing exploration of space. This time he shows us our universe as we've never seen it before.13.7 billion years old. 93 billion light years wide. It contains over 100 billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars. This infinite, vast and complex Universe has been the subject of human fascination and scientific exploration for thousands of years. The wonders of the Universe might seem alien to us and impossible to understand, but away from the telescopes, the labs and the white coats, Professor Brian Cox uses the evidence found in the natural world around us to explain its simple truths.The same laws of light, gravity, time, matter and energy that govern us here on Earth are the same as those applied in the Universe. Using his expert knowledge and his infectious enthusiasm, Professor Cox shows us that if we can understand the impact of these governing laws on Earth it will bring us a step closer to an understanding of our Universe.

For Mum, Dad and Sandra – none of this would have been possible without you

Brian Cox

For my dad, Geof Cohen (1943–2007)

Andrew Cohen

Wonders of the Universe

Professor Brian Cox & Andrew Cohen

Copyright

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WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Text © Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2011 ISBN: 9780007413379

Version 2017-02-03

Contents

Copyright

Introduction

The Universe

Chapter 1

Messengers

The Story of Light (#ulink_a6b62b84-c8af-5d3b-9deb-32ebad0c7017)

Our place in the Universe (#ulink_437c45ab-ea1b-5b0f-bac2-3a6275f0ff76)

Our galactic neighbourhood (#ulink_349c500d-6fc5-5d8a-99af-a9ec6c5657ee)

Mapping the Milky Way Galaxy (#ulink_cd44d1f8-fcdd-5d5b-bb4a-52c97ddb312a)

The shape of our galaxy (#ulink_2254d3dc-658c-58bb-8dae-269a3f9a10ce)

A star is born (#ulink_bffe2b86-0bfa-52a7-966f-4faec24c7657)

What is Light? (#ulink_dcfc5caa-3d49-5505-8701-7bf587c76753)

Young’s double-slit experiment (#ulink_b61be48b-233b-5fc7-a471-3483e803fad9)

Messengers from across the ocean of space (#ulink_39a54763-0551-54e2-9736-5de7fc9aa58a)

Chasing the speed of light (#ulink_11cf6438-2fed-563c-a33c-8b04972575fe)

The search for a cosmic clock (#ulink_81e12426-2708-5fed-a8fd-ff2fa31024bb)

Speed limits (#ulink_365196d1-976f-5cb2-bd9b-72a43484e15b)

Time Travel (#ulink_54c3919a-9139-593b-a7da-1e67e7675a2e)

To the dawn of time (#ulink_e24d3fc0-26bf-506c-b970-c7103a3ec2b9)

Finding Andromeda (#ulink_ba157aef-001d-5d3a-a25a-0c3f580371e8)

The Hubble Telescope (#ulink_caa03739-3286-5649-93c1-43e4db6578be)

Hubble’s most important image (#ulink_0273d9b1-0ef0-52bc-87c7-e5a94bcb224b)

All the colours of the rainbow (#ulink_0ba76585-f60c-56d4-91e5-d8e11a9238aa)

Hubble expansion (#litres_trial_promo)

Redshift (#litres_trial_promo)

The Birth of the Universe (#litres_trial_promo)

Visible light (#litres_trial_promo)

Picturing the past (#litres_trial_promo)