Cosmological Enigmas Pulsars, Quasars, and Other Deep-Space Questions PDF
Preview Cosmological Enigmas Pulsars, Quasars, and Other Deep-Space Questions
Cosmological Enigmas This page intentionally left blank Cosmological Enigmas Pulsars, Quasars & Other Deep-Space Questions mark kidger the johns hopkins university press Baltimore © 2007The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kidger, Mark R. (Mark Richard), 1960– Cosmological enigmas : pulsars, quasars, and other deep-space questions / Mark Kidger. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8018-8460-3(hardcover : acid-free paper) ISBN-10: 0-8018-8460-8(hardcover : acid-free paper) 1. Cosmology—Popular works. I. Title. QB982.K532007 523.1—dc22 2007014811 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Page 225constitutes an extension ofthis copyright page. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases ofthis book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936or [email protected]. To Sir Patrick Moore For opening the author’s eyes to the wonders of the Universe as a young child with his BBC program The Sky at Night This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 chapter How Are Stars Born and How Do They Die? 5 2 chapter How Do We Know That Black Holes Exist? 24 3 chapter Who Is the Strangest in the Cosmic Zoo? 39 4 chapter How Far Is It to the Stars and Will We Ever Be Able to Travel to Them? 61 5 chapter How Old Is the Universe? 80 6 chapter Is Anybody There? 96 7 chapter How Will the Universe End? 117 8 chapter Why Is the Sky Dark at Night? 136 9 chapter How Do We Know There Was a Big Bang? 154 10 chapter What Is There Outside the Universe? 174 193 Notes 217 Index 84 116 Color galleries follow pages and . viii Contents Acknowledgments Many people have contributed directly or indirectly to this book and its sister volume. In most cases, the help has been anonymous or “E Pluribus”; in other cases, it has been so direct and important that it would be churlish not to acknowledge it. The team at Johns Hopkins University Press has been extremely sup- portive and professional, starting with my editor, Trevor Lipscombe. Most people do not realize how important an editor’s role is in a suc- cessful book project: ideas, encouragement, suggestions, corrections, and modifications all have come from Trevor and his encyclopedic knowl- ff edge. Other sta at JHUP, in particular Juliana McCarthy and Bronwyn Madeo, have also gone well above and beyond the call of duty. I have also been privileged to work with two eagle-eyed copy editors who have done far more than just correct spelling mistakes and bad grammar. Fi- nally, a vote of thanks to supportive colleagues, both former ones in Tenerife and the amazing Herschel team in Madrid—the best team in the world.
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