Page numbers in bold denote an illustration
A
Abell 520 113
absolute magnitudes 12
absolute zero 50
accretion disk 80
active galaxies 81–3
AH 84001 (meteorite) 139–40
Alcubierre Moya, Miguel 156–7
Aldrin, Buzz 136
Alpha Centauri 153
alternative universes see parallel universes
amino acids 127–8
ammonia 127
ancient times 8–11
Andromeda Nebula 23
Angkor Wat (Cambodia) 8–9
anisotropies 94
anomalous forces 158–9
anthropic reasoning 196
antiquarks 92
Apache Point Observatory (New Mexico) 76
Apollo Moon landings 75
apparent magnitudes 12
Aristotle 58
asteroid belt 53
asteroids 55
astronomy, ancient 8–13
atomic physics 36
atoms 41
nature of 36–9
axion 108
B
Babylonians 8
barred-spiral galaxies 15–16, 16, 23, 97–8
Becquerel, Antoine Henri 29
Bell, Jocelyn 74
beryllium 195–6
Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm 22
Betelgeuse (star) 12
Big Bang 33–4, 84–5, 87–96, 115, 120, 168, 180–1, 183, 187–8, 191
big rip 185–7
black holes 15, 63, 77–86, 99–100, 160, 184–5
anatomy of 81
and Big Bang 85
discovery of existence 78–9
earliest 102
evaporating 84–5
formation 80
and Hawking radiation 185
information loss problem 85–6
observing of 79–80
silhouettes of 83–4
and string theory 86
types of 80–4
blue stars 31–2
blueshift 183
bombardment period 53–4, 24–5, 127
bosons 108–9
Bradley, James 78–9
Breakthrough Propulsion Physics group 157
Bullet Cluster 113
Bunsen, Robert 39
C
calendar 9
Cambrian Explosion 149
candles 19–21
Canis Minor 15
carbon bottleneck 195–6
carbon dioxide 127
carbon-12 125–6
carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle (CNO cycle) 102
carbonaceous chondrite 127
Cassini (Saturn probe) 158
Cavendish, Henry 167
celestial objects, first 96–104
chaotic inflation 175
CHNOPS 124
climate change 150
clocks 159
collagen 149
Comte, Auguste Cours de philosophie positive 39
conjunctions 13
constants of nature 163–9, 175
constellations 10–11
Copenhagen interpretation 172
Copernicus, Nicolaus 21
cosmic acceleration 35
cosmological constant 116–19
cosmological distance ladder 18–26
cosmological principle 120–1
craters 53
on Mars 137
Crisler, Michael 107
Curie, Pierre and Marie 29
curved space 91, 112, 174, 182
Cyclops Project 150–1
Cygnus 79
Cygnus X-1 79
cyanobacteria 126
D
dark energy 35, 114–22, 156, 186–7, 186
dark matter 66, 105–13, 116–17, 119
dark stars 78–80
darkness of night 27–8
Davies, Paul 198 dead stars 20, 185
decoherence 176–7
deep field astronomy 96–8, 100
Delta Cephei 19
deuterium 38
DGP gravity 119–20
Digges, Thomas 27
dimensionless constants 165–6
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) 128, 131–2
Doppler, Christian 23–4
double helix 128
double pulsar 74–5
Drake, Frank 142–3
Dvali, Gia 119–20
dwarf planets 52
E
Earth
age of 28–9
beginnings of life on 123–32
bombardment of 53–4, 124–5, 127
chemical identity 38
craters on 53
escape velocity 60
formation and evolution of life on 148–9, 148
interior structure 49
ocean formation 53
orbiting around the Sun 21
threat of asteroids 55
Easter Island 8
E.coli 128
Eddington, Arthur Stanley 19–20, 29, 37, 71–2
Egyptians, ancient 9–10
Einstein, Albert 66–76, 91, 160, 190, 192
and cosmological constant 116–19
space-time continuum concept 67–8, 67, 71, 75, 116
thought experiment involving an elevator 69–70
see also General Theory of Relativity; Special Theory of Relativity
ekpyrotic Universe 188
electromagnetism 72–3, 88, 92, 118, 164, 167
elevator, Einstein’s 69–70
elliptical galaxies 9, 15–16, 16, 23, 30, 97
Enlightenment 56
Epsilon Eridani 142
equivalence, principle of 69–70, 75
Eris (2003 UB313) 52
ether 153–4
evolution, theory of 197–8
exoplanets 144–7
extraterrestrials, existence of 142–51, 161
F
Fermi Paradox 161
fermions 108–9
fine-structure constant 164–6
flat Universe 91–2, 92, 115–16, 185–7
flocculent spiral galaxies 98, 99
fly-by anomaly 158
Fomalhaut (star) 147
forces of nature 72, 88, 89, 118 see also electromagnetism; gravity; nuclear forces
fossils 126
fourth dimension 174
Friedman, Alexander 120
G
G-force 70
galactic bulge 14–15
galactic disk 14–15
active 81–3
barred-spiral 15–16, 16, 23, 97–8
elliptical 9, 15–16, 16, 23, 30, 97
formation 97
Great Wall of 121
number of 17
and redshifts 23–5
spiral 15–16, 16, 23, 97–8, 99
stretching of 63
surveys of 122
Galileo 13–14, 69, 102, 144, 169, 189
Galileo (spacecraft) 158
gamma ray bursts (GRB) 102–3
gas giants 51–2
Gell-Mann, Murray 178
General Theory of Relativity 9, 24–5, 33, 35, 65–77, 79, 155–6, 160, 182
giant molecular clouds 47–8
global positioning systems (GPS) 156
globular clusters 29–32, 31, 34
Goodricke, John 19
grand design spiral galaxies 98, 99
gravitational constant 163
gravitational lensing 71–2, 71
attempt to unify with other forces 72–4, 75, 86
Big G and measurement of 163, 166–8
DGP 119–20
and General Theory of Relativity 66–76, 79, 111
Newton’s theory of 56–65, 67, 71, 79, 111–12, 163, 189–90
separation of at end of Planck era 89, 95
Great Wall of galaxies 121
Greeks, ancient 10–13
H
Hale Telescope 25
Halley’s comet 61
halo 106
Haroche, Serge 177
Haumea 52
Hawking radiation 185
Hawking, Stephen 84, 86, 160, 66, 195
HDE 226868 star 80
Heaven 9
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle 192–3
Helios 2: 152–3
helium 36–8, 41, 43, 88, 93, 101, 195–6
Hercules Cluster 16
Herschel, William 43
Hertzsprung, Ejnar 31
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HR) 31–2, 31
Higgs boson 109
Hipparchus 11
Hooke, Robert 58
HR8799 (star) 147
Hubble Deep Field 97–8
Hubble Space Telescope 12, 17, 25–6, 32, 96–7, 100
Hubble time 34–5
Hubble Ultra Deep Field 100
humans’ arrival on Earth 149
hydrogen 36–8, 41–4, 47, 88, 93, 101–2, 104
hydrogen telescopes 104
hyperthermophiles 129–30
I
inflation 90–2, 155, 164, 174–5, 179–80
chaotic 175
information theory 132
Intelligent Design 198–9
intermediate mass black holes 80–1
International Astronomical Union 11, 52
inverse square law 12, 27–8, 111
Io 63
iron 102
Island Universe hypothesis 23
J
Jupiter 12–13, 38, 48–9, 52–4, 64, 146
bombardment of by comet fragments (1993) 54
creation of tidal forces on its moons 63
escape velocity 60
formation 51
K
kelvin 50
laws of planetary motion 13, 57–8, 58, 106, 112, 191
Kepler mission 146
Kepler space telescope 144
Kirchhoff, Gustav 39–41
kosmos 9
L
Large Hadron Collider 85, 92, 109
laws of physics 178–9
LeVerrier, Urbain 66
leap second 63
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan 19
Leibniz, Gottfried 89
LGM-1 74
life
defining 131–2
existence of intelligent beings on other planets 142–51
formation of on Earth 123–32, 148–9
light, speed of 14, 17, 78–9, 152–5, 163–6
light years 14
look-back time 17
Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon 168
Lorentz transformation 168
Lorentz violation 168
low-mass stars 42–4
Lunar Laser Ranging 75–6, 167–8
M
main sequence stars 30
Makemake 52
many-worlds interpretation 172–3, 173, 176–7
and AH 84001 meteorite 139–40
escape velocity 60
hostility of environment 135
ice fields 138–9
lack of magnetic field and effect of 137
water on 135–9
Mars Odyssey orbiter 138
matter 34
Mendeleev, Dmitri 36
Mercury 12–13, 38, 49, 49, 66–7, 168
Mesopotamia 10
AH 84001 139–40
Murchison 127–8
Michell, John 78–9
Michelson, Albert 153–4
Michelson-Morley experiment 153–4
microbes 128
microfossils 126
microwave background radiation 34–5, 90, 94, 115–16, 121, 164, 174, 180, 183, 188
Milgrom, Mordehai 111
Milky Way Galaxy 13–16, 14, 30, 32, 47, 174, 184
Miller, Stanley 126–7
Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) 111–13, 119
Moffat, John 164
molecular clouds 47–8
Mono Lake (California) 133–4, 134
escape velocity 61
and Lunar Laser Ranging 75–6, 167–8
movement of 76
slowing of rotation 63
Morley, Edward 153–4
Murchison meteorite 127–8
N
nature, constants of 163–9, 175
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) 158
near-Earth objects 55
neutralinos 109–10
Newgrange (Ireland), tomb at 8
theory of gravity 56–65, 67, 71, 79, 111–12, 163, 169, 189–90
nuclear forces 72–3, 88, 92, 118
Nut (sky goddess) 10
O
oceans, formation of on Earth 53
Oklo (Gabon) 162–3
Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus 27
Olbers’ Paradox 27–8, 28, 33–4
oligarchs 51
Oparin, Alexander Ivanovich 126–7
open orbits 61
open Universe 181–2, 182, 183–6
orbits 56–65
and comets 61
and Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 13, 57–8, 58, 106, 191
open 61
P
parallel universes 120, 161, 172–80, 187–8
particle accelerators 92 see also Large Hadron Collider
Pathfinder rover 136
Pauli, Wolfgang 107
perchlorates 135
Perrin, Jean-Baptiste 41
phantom energy 119
Phoenix robotic lander 135, 138
phosphorus 124
physics, beyond Einstein 162–9
Pioneer anomaly 158
Planck, Max 88
Planck (spacecraft) 180
Planck time 88
planet-forming disks 48–9
planetary motion, Kepler’s laws of 13, 57–8, 58, 106, 112, 191
planets
and ancient Greeks 12–13
calculating mass of by wobbling stars 64
change in composition from inner regions to outer 48–50
composition of 46–7
formation of by stars 144
formation of 47–54
habitable 144–5
reasons for occupying identical orbital planes 48
reasons for staying in orbit 56–65
plasma 93
plate tectonics 139
Pluto 51–2
polarization 180
positrons 89
pre-solar grains 123
primordial black holes 84–5
prism 39
probability 170–1
Procyon 15
prokaryote 148
proteins 127–8
proton-proton chain 101–2
Ptolemy, Claudius 10
pulsars 74–5
Q
quantum theory 84, 88, 118, 170–2, 175–6, 187, 191–4
quasi-stellar objects 82
quintessence 118–19
Ra (sun god) 10
radiation
released by active galaxy 81–2
see also microwave background radiation
red giant stars 31, 32, 43–4, 43
relativity see General Theory of Relativity; Special Theory of Relativity
religion and science 189–99
reversibility 85
Robur Carolinum (Charles’ Oak) 11
Rosetta (comet chaser) 158
Russell, Henry Norris 31
Rutherford, Ernest 37
S
Sagittarius, constellation of 14
Sagittarius A* (black hole) 83–4
Schrödinger’s cat 170–2, 176–7
Schwarzschild, Karl 79
Scott, Dave 69
search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) 150–1
SERENDIP project 151
SETI@home program 151
shooting stars 54
singularity 85–6
Small Magellanic Cloud 19
sodium 40
solar alignment
and ancient structures 8–9
solar eclipse 71
space-time continuum 67–8, 67, 71, 75, 84, 116, 160
Special Theory of Relativity 116, 152, 154–6, 159
spectral analysis 36, 39–41, 40, 147
spectrum 39
speed of light 14, 17, 78–9, 152–5, 163–6
spiral galaxies 15–16, 16, 23, 97–8, 99
starburst 99
stardust 123–32
age of 29–32
composition 36–45
death of 42–5
earliest 101–3
formation of planets 144
main sequence 30
measuring brightness of 11–12
steady state theory 188
stellar black holes 80
Stonehenge 9
string theory 73, 75, 86, 88, 166, 168–9, 178–9, 187
stromatolites 126
sulfur 124
Sun 8–10, 14–15, 21, 41, 43, 48–9, 150, 193
and gravitational lensing 71–2, 71
habitable zone 145
magnitude of 12
nuclear reactor of 41–2
surface temperature of 30
temperature of solar core 193
supermassive black holes 81–3
supernova type II 45
supersymmetry 108–10, 108, 118
T
Tau Ceti 142
technology 150
Hale 25
Hubble Space 12, 17, 25–6, 32, 96–7, 100
hydrogen 104
Kepler space 144
X-ray 79–80
Thales 10
theory of everything 62, 72, 166, 178
third dimension 174
time 159
looking back in 17
and space-time continuum 67–8, 67, 71, 75, 84, 116, 160
time machine 160
time travel 152–61
Tipler, Frank 160
Tombaugh, Clyde 120
torsion balance 167
transit (celestial alignment) 144
tree of life analysis 128–9, 130
triple alpha process 195
tunneling 84
2003 UB313 (Xena) 52
2007VK184 (asteroid) 55
U
uncertainty principle 192–3
Universe
age of 27–35
components of 116
expansion of 23–6, 33–5, 115–17, 122, 194–5
fate of 181–8
formation of 87–95
infinite 175
inflation of 90–2, 155, 164, 174–5, 179–80
measuring size of 18–26, 173–4
size of 26
sudden death of 187–8
universes, parallel 120, 161, 170–80, 187–8
Unwins, Philippa 130
Urey, Harold 126–7
Ursa Major 96–7
V
vacuum decay 187
Virgo Cluster 16
virtual particles 73
Vonnegut, Kurt 90
Vulcan 66
W
W and Z particles 109
warp speed 156–8
on Mars 135–8
weak gravitational lensing 112–13
Webb, John 165
Wilson, Robert 87–8
X
X-ray telescopes 79–80
Y
yellow stars 30–2
Z
zodiac 10
Zwicky, Fritz 105