"New Eyes on the Universe - Twelve Cosmic Mysteries and the Tools We
Need to Solve Them" gives an up-to-date broad overview of some of the
key issues in modern astronomy and cosmology. It describes the vast
amount of observational data that the new generation of observatories
and telescopes are currently producing, and how that data might solve
some of the outstanding puzzles inherent in our emerging world view.
Included are questions such as: What is causing the Universe to blow
itself apart? What could be powering the luminous gamma-ray bursters?
Where is all the matter in the Universe? Do other Earths exist? Is there
intelligent life out there? The renowned author explains clearly,
without recourse to mathematics, why each question is puzzling and
worthy of research. Included in the study of the wide range of sensitive
and powerful instruments used by scientists to try and solve these
problems are ones which capture electromagnetic radiation and
'telescopes' for cosmic rays, neutrinos, gravitational waves, and dark
matter.
This book discusses twelve areas of active astronomical research,
ranging from the nature of dark energy to the existence or otherwise of
extraterrestrial civilizations, and devotes one chapter to each topic.
Although astronomers tackle each of these questions using information
gleaned from all possible wavelengths and sources (and this is
emphasized throughout the book), in this work the author dedicates each
chapter to a particular observational method. One chapter covers X-ray
telescopes for investigating black holes, while another uses infrared
telescopes to learn more about planetary information.