Universe – serie

Thirty years ago the only planets we knew were the ones orbiting our own Sun; we now know of thousands of other worlds orbiting distant stars. In this book astronomer Niall Deacon journeys to twenty of these globes: from giant, blisteringly hot planets orbiting close to their parent stars to planets that float through the cold wilderness of space alone, and from dead stars shredding asteroids to worlds made of diamond and even planets that may be similar to the Earth. Deacon also takes in the latest exoplanet discoveries, and explains how astronomers have come to learn so much about these strange and distant worlds.Twenty Worlds tells a sweeping story, of real planets around other stars, and appeals to the wide audience for popular science and astronomy.

Simulating the Cosmos is a behind-the-scenes look into one of the hottest and fastest-moving areas of astrophysics today: simulations of cosmology and galaxy formation, which illustrate how everything we see in the universe arose out of the primordial soup of the Big Bang.Leading cosmologist Romeel Davé guides you through the trials and tribulations of what it takes to put the universe into a computer, the amazing new insights revealed by cosmological simulations, and the many mysteries yet to be solved. This rollicking and extraordinary journey is a rare glimpse into science in action, showing how cosmologists are using the laws of physics and supercomputers to uncover the secrets of why the universe looks the way it does.