On the Edge of the Cosmos : A Century of Revolution in Astronomy.

Intro -- On the Edgeof the Cosmos -- General Summary -- Acknowledgments -- Part I A Century of Revolutionin Our Vision of the Universe -- General View of 20th Century Astronomy and Its Starting Point -- Astronomy, the Key to Our Vision of the World -- Benchmarks on 1900 Astronomy and Its Shortcomings -- Scientific and Technical Revolutions, Drivers of 20th Century Astronomy -- Physics Revolutions, Keys to Astrophysics -- Giant Telescopes -- Overcoming the Disturbances of the Earth Atmosphere -- Exploiting All Spectral Domains from Radio to X-ray and Gamma-Ray -- Visiting the Planets -- No Pause in the Progress of Signal Detection and Exploitation -- Part II Stars are Well Understood -- How does a Star Work? -- Understanding the Stars -- Solving the Mystery of the Origin of the Energy of the Sun and the Stars -- The Life of the Stars -- Our Atoms were Born in the Stars -- Stars also Die -- Complexities of Star Birth and Physics -- General Star Formation Scenario -- Young Infrared Stars: Born in Dusty Cocoons -- Gravitational Contraction, Accretion and Discs -- Universality of Stellar Pairs - Complex Ending of Their Lives -- Brown Dwarfs, Billions of Aborted Stars -- Stars are Still at the Forefront of Current Astronomy -- Stars and Ecology of Planets and Galaxies -- Part III The New World of Galaxies -- Discovery of Galaxies -- The Appreciation of the Nature of Galaxies Dates Back Only to the Beginning of the 20th Century -- First Steps in the World of Nearby Galaxies -- Architecture and Stellar Content of Galaxies -- Our Galaxy and Its Interstellar Medium -- Exploration of Our Galaxy, the Milky Way -- An Ordinary Galaxy -- Current Organization of Stars Resulting from the Milky Way History -- The Interstellar Gas, a Key Player in the Evolution of Galaxies -- Other Players in the Interstellar Medium -- Exotic Components of the Milky Way.

Hundreds Billions of Galaxies -- Galaxies at All Stages of Their Life -- The Turbulent Family Life of Galaxies -- Understanding the Formation and Evolution of Galaxies -- Part IV Cosmology, the Science of the Universe as a Whole -- Birth of Cosmology -- The Universe of Galaxies is Expanding -- The Saga of the Big Bang Confirmation -- The Very First Phase in the History of the Universe: Uncertain Physics -- A Well-Understood Second Phase: The Standard Big Bang Model -- Content of the Universe and Structure Formation -- Formation of Galaxies and Structures of the Present Universe -- Fundamental Parameters of the Universe are Better Known than Its Physics -- Age of the Universe and Variations of the Determinations of the Hubble Constant -- An Overall Density Very Close to the Critical Density -- Need and Nature of Dark Matter -- A Last-Minute Surprise, the Re-Acceleration of the Expansion Involving an Unknown Source of Cosmic Energy -- Summarizing: An Unexpected Universe Model Validated in Multiple Ways -- Part V Singular Stars and Cataclysmsin Extreme Physical Conditions -- Explosions of Stars and Their Singular Residues -- Extreme Physics of Supernova Implosion/Explosion -- Neutron Stars, Hyper-Dense Supernova Residues -- Gamma-Ray Bursts, Even More Powerful Bursts -- Cosmic Rays, Messenger Particles of the High Energy Universe -- Black Holes and Their Power -- Black Holes, General Relativity and the Cosmos -- Stellar Black Holes -- Gravitational Waves, Propagation of Spacetime-Curvature Disturbances -- Quasars: New Stars a Thousand Times Brighter than Galaxies -- Manifestations of Super-Massive Black Holes and Their Interpretation -- Co-evolution of Galaxies and Their Black Hole -- The Super-Massive Black Hole of Our Galaxy and Others -- Part VI Planets, in the Solar System and Outside -- Direct Exploration of the Planets.

Planets, Stars of Astronomy until the 19th Century -- Half a Century Without Revolution for Planetology -- Humans Went to the Moon! -- We Broadly Understand the Origin of the Moon and Its Importance for the Earth -- Very Rich Close-up Photos of All the Bodies of the Solar System -- Summary of Planetary Expeditions -- Searching for Life in the Solar System: Where and When? -- Entering the Dream World of Exoplanets -- Explosion of Discoveries of New Planets -- The Majority of Stars have a Planetary System -- Surprising Variety of Exoplanets -- The Search for Earth-Like Planets -- Conclusion -- A New Cosmos in the 21st Century? -- A New Cosmos -- Auguries for 21st Century Astronomy? -- Glossary -- Acronyms and Space Missions -- References -- Index.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.