Table of Contents

THE SOLAR SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCING THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Overview of the Solar System
Scale of Solar Planetary Orbits
Birth of the Inner Planets
Birth of the Gas Giants
Origins of Atmosphere
Impacts in the Solar System
Planetary Rings
Water in the Solar System
The Future of the Solar System
THE SUN
The Sun
Rotation of the Sun
Solar Eclipses
Sunspots
Solar Flares
The Solar Cycle
Solar Wind
The Heliosphere
THE EARTH
Earth
Earth’s Interior
Earth's Impact Craters
Earth’s Tides
The Aurorae
EARTH’S MOON
The Moon
Phases of the Moon
Geology of the Moon
Seas of the Moon
Highlands of the Moon
Craters of the Moon
Far Side of the Moon
Formation of the Moon
Water on the Moon
THE OTHER PLANETS
Mercury
Venus
The Surface of Venus
Geology of Venus
Atmosphere of Venus
The Surface of Mars
Geology of Mars
Valles Mariners
Volcanoes of Mars
Polar Caps of Mars
Martian Atmosphere
Water On Mars
Life On Mars
Jupiter
Jupiter’s Atmosphere
Jupiter’s Moon System
Saturn
Saturn’s Atmosphere
Saturn’s Rings
Saturn’s Moons
Uranus
Uranus’ Atmosphere
Rings of Uranus
Neptune
Neptune’s Atmosphere
Neptune’s Rings
Triton
Pluto and Charon
Beyond Pluto
MINOR MEMBERS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Asteroid Belt
Killer Asteroids
Comets
Cometary Nuclei
Comets in History
Meteors
Meteor Streams
Meteorites
THE NIGHT SKY
INTRODUCTION
THE STARS IN THE SKY
Star Atlases
Star Positions
Magnitude Scale
Star Atlas 1
Star Atlas 2
Star Atlas 3
Star Atlas 4
Star Atlas 5
Star Atlas 6
STUDYING THE STARS
Messages In Starlight
Classifying Stars
The Color of Stars
Star Distances
Weighing Stars
STELLAR LIFECYCLES
Birth of a Star
Protostars
Brown Dwarfs
The Main Sequence
How Stars Shine
Extrasolar Planets
Red Giants
Blue Supergiants
Planetary Nebulae
White and Black Dwarfs
Supernova
Supernova Remnants
Neutron Stars
Pulsars
Black Holes
OUR GALAXY
Star Clusters
Globular Clusters
Interstellar Matter
Milky Way
Center of the Galaxy
BEYOND THE MILKY WAY
Classifying Galaxies
Magellanic Clouds
Andromeda Galaxy
Whirlpool Galaxy
Spiral Galaxies
Elliptical Galaxies
Irregular Galaxies
Dwarf Galaxies
Galaxy Collisions
Active Galaxies
Quasars
Intergalactic Medium Galaxy Clusters
THE UNIVERSE AT WORK
Scales of the Universe
Four Forces
Energy and Matter
The Elements
Electromagnetic Radiation
Quantum Theory
Special Relativity
General Relativity
Gravity and the Universe
Dark Matter
Expanding Universe
COSMIC HISTORY
The Big Bang
Early Universe Inflation
Nucleosynthesis
Birth of Galaxies
The First Stars
Death of the Universe
LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Panspermia Theory
The Drake Equation
SETI
First Contact
SPACE MISSIONS
INTRODUCTION
FIRST STEPS IN SPACE
Sputnik
Animals in Space
Explorer 1
Mercury Craft
Mercury: The Right Stuff
Vostok Missions
Gemini 1 & 2
Voskhod 1
Leonov - First Spacewalk
Gemini 8-12
THE PIONEERS
Yuri Gargarin
Gus Grissom
John Glenn
Valentina Tereshkova
James Lovell
Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin
ROCKETS AND LAUNCHERS
From V-2 to Explorer 1
Mercury Redstone
Soviet N-1
Saturn Series
Saturn 5
Soyuz Series
Ariane
Chinese Launchers
Commercial Launch Vehicles
SpaceShipOne
SATELLITES
Launching Satellites into Orbit
Unmanned Sputniks
Telstar 1
Direct Broadcast Satellites
Early Warning Satellites
Spy Satellites
Scientific Satellites
Weather Satellites
Infrared Satellites
X-Ray Satellites
Remote Sensing
Satellites & Mobile Phones
Hubble Telescope
Inside Hubble
PSLV
SHUTTLES AND STATIONS
Salyuts 1-5
Salyuts 6 & 7
Soyuz II Disaster
Skylab
Columbia’s First Flight Spacelab
Flying the Shuttle
Shuttle Reentry
Shuttle Landing
Challenger Disaster
Mir
Shuttle and Mir Linkup
Mir: Cooperation and Crisis
Building the ISS International Space Station
H-IIB and Falcon
Tiangong-1 and Shenzou-9
Columbia disaster
Final Shuttle Missions
TO THE MOON
Soviet Lunar Program
Luna 1, 2 and 3
Luna 10-12
Ranger & Surveyor
Apollo Test Flights
Apollo 1 Disaster
Apollo Command Module
Apollo Lunar Module
Apollo 8
Apollo 11
Apollo 13
Apollo 14
Lunar Rovers
MARS AND VENUS
Venera 1-3
Mariner to Mars
Venera 9 & 10
Viking to Mars
Mars Global Surveyor
Pathfinder to Mars
Mars Rovers Opportunity + Spirit
Mars Orbiters
Curiosity
MA VEN
EXPLORING FURTHER
Pioneer
Moon/Sun Missions
Pioneer 10 & 11
Voyager Missions
Vega 1 and 2
Giotto
Deep Space 1
Cassini Huygens
Lost Probes
Herschel Space Observatory
New Horizons
Index

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About the Author

Giles Sparrow studied astronomy at University College London and science communication at Imperial College London. He has acted as consultant and contributor on numerous popular science books, including The Universe and How to See It, and was a major contributor to Universe. He lives in east London.