State of the Universe 2008 - M. Ratcliffe (Praxis, 2008) WW.pdf

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STATE OF THE UNIVERSE 2008
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Martin Ratcliffe
STATE OF THE
UNIVERSE 2008
NEW IMAGES, DISCOVERIES, AND EVENTS
Published in association with
Praxis Publishing
Chichester, UK
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Martin Ratcliffe FRAS
Wichita
Kansas
USA
Front cover illustration: This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix
nebula, the remains of a star that once looked like our Sun. When sun-like stars die, they puff out their
outer gaseous layers. These layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and
shine with infrared and visible colors. In Spitzer ’s view of the Helix nebula, infrared light from the
outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot
in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown
out when the star died. Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Su (Univ. of Arizona).
Back cover illustration: (Top) This image taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on NASA’s
Hubble Space Telescope depicts bright, blue, newly formed stars that are blowing a cavity in the center
of a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Image courtesy NASA, ESA, and the Hubble
Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) - ESA/Hubble Collaboration. (Middle) This composite image shows the
Crab Nebula, the remains of a colossal stellar explosion called a supernova. The Chandra X-ray image
is shown in light blue, the Hubble Space Telescope optical images are in green and dark blue, and the
Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared image is in red. Image courtesy NASA, ESA, CXC, JPL-Caltech, J.
Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State Univ.), R. Gehrz (Univ. Minn.), and STScI. (Bottom) This image
by the Chandra X-ray Observatory shows Cassiopeia A, the youngest supernova remnant in the Milky
Way. The red and green regions show material from the destroyed star that has been heated to millions
of degrees by the explosion. Image courtesy NASA/CXC/MIT/UMass Amherst/M.D.Stage et al.
SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN POPULAR ASTRONOMY
SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-0-387-71674-9 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
Springer is a part of Springer Science + Business Media (springeronline.com)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007936093
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or re-
view, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may
only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior per-
mission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance
with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
© Copyright, 2008 Praxis Publishing Ltd.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Cover design and cartoons: Jim Wilkie
Typesetting and design: BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts., UK
Printed in Germany on acid-free paper
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