Astronomy/Cosmology for the innocent.

[Hitchington]

This may be of interest to some (link):
NASA to Reveal New Discoveries in News Conference on Oceans Beyond Earth

 

[jonny jeez]

Thanks for the recommendations, particularly to Hitch for putting so much effort in.

I'm going to go with Prof Pointy's recommendation at first,with Marin's duly logged (it is bloody expensive!) and with Hitch's also logged.

Once you've nailed the universe, its contents and its size. Try tackling this one.

What IS gravity?

That'll really mess you up.

 

[Markymark]

I hate it break to everyone but the entire universe has been mapped and we know exactly how large it is and it's position. In a spoiler tag as the scale is mindblowing:

Spoiler: The Entire Universe

 

[Profpointy]

For a bit of nicely pitched viewing try the documentaries of Jim Al-khalili, accessable but a lot more grown up than the whistful musings of Brian Cox.

Saw that last night and it was indeex excellent. Whilst I sort of knew much of the story it was still a delight and included snippets I'd not previously known or had forgotton. I think the Penzias and Wilson discovery of the cosmic background radiation to be amongst the most amazing result in all science. I can just imagine how they felt when they realised what they had actually stumbled across.

Jim AK is my favourite science broadcaster, though Cox is also good in fairness.

 

[TVC]

I hate it break to everyone but the entire universe has been mapped and we know exactly how large it is and it's position. In a spoiler tag as the scale is mindblowing:

Spoiler: The Entire Universe

View attachment 347051

And there is a huge black hole at its centre.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

And there is a huge black ar$e hole at its centre.

FTFY

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

This is fairly up to date and an easy read too. It's also free!!

http://iopscience.iop.org/book/978-0-7503-1373-5

 

[MarkF]

I love the stars, I go out on motorbike (with telescope) into the Dales just to see them away from light pollution. I can sit and look for hours. But I am such a dunce I can't grasp astronomy, I keep going back to my "Astronomy for dummies" book that I bought a decade or more ago, but I still can't get past stuff like sidereal days without my head hurting, that in turn, brings back memories of my dad getting mad with me whilst trying to explain the dark side of the moon with an apple and an orange.

I am currently reading "An astronomer's tales - Life under the stars"

 

[Hitchington]

This may be of interest to some (link):
NASA to Reveal New Discoveries in News Conference on Oceans Beyond Earth

This is awesome news. I really hope we do discover life on Enceladus before i snuff it, this will change everything!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39592059

 

[swee'pea99]

A book? Why read a book when you can watch the movie?...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0

 

[Gasman]

Here's another good beginners' guide.

 

[Salty seadog]

I hate it break to everyone but the entire universe has been mapped and we know exactly how large it is and it's position. In a spoiler tag as the scale is mindblowing:

Spoiler: The Entire Universe

View attachment 347051

Wot no Dover....

 

[sackville d]

That said, a few pictures wouldn't hurt.

Well here`s one to get you thinking.In this image of part of the Andromeda Galaxy there are in the region of 100,000,000 stars
The stars that look like stars are in our galaxy
The stars in the Andromeda Galaxy look like diffuse light but as you zoom in they become clearly identifiable as individual stars.
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/

 

[Andy in Sig]

Well here`s one to get you thinking.In this image of part of the Andromeda Galaxy there are in the region of 100,000,000 stars
The stars that look like stars are in our galaxy
The stars in the Andromeda Galaxy look like diffuse light but as you zoom in they become clearly identifiable as individual stars.
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/

It's the scale of it that I find hard to visualise: 100,000,000 stars in just one part of one galaxy!!! Quite staggering really.

 

[Illaveago]

It's the scale of it that I find hard to visualise: 100,000,000 stars in just one part of one galaxy!!! Quite staggering really.

I think a trip to a sandy beach might put it into some perspective a bit better.
I think I can remember Carl Sagan saying about grains of sand and the number of stars in the universe.