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How a team of researchers, led by the author, discovered our home galaxy's location in the universe. You are here: on Earth, which is part of the solar system, which is in the Milky Way galaxy, which itself is within the extragalactic supercluster Laniakea. And how can we pinpoint our location so precisely? For twenty years, astrophysicist Hélène Courtois surfed the cosmos with international teams of researchers, working to map our local universe. In this book, Courtois describes this quest and the discovery of our home supercluster. Courtois explains that Laniakea (which means “immense heaven” in Hawaiian) is the largest galaxy structure known to which we belong; it is huge, almost to...
This book guides readers (astronomers, physicists, and university students) through central questions of Practical Cosmology, a term used by the late Allan Sandage to denote the modern scientific endeavor to find the cosmological model best describing the universe of galaxies, its geometry, size, age, and matter composition. The authors draw on their personal experience in astrophysics and cosmology to explain key concepts of cosmology, both observational and theoretical, and to highlight several items which give cosmology its special character. These highlighted items are: Ideosyncratic features of the “cosmic laboratory”, Malmquist bias in the determination of cosmic distances, Theory of gravitation as a cornerstone of cosmological models, Crucial tests for checking the reality of space expansion, Methods of analyzing the structures of the universe as mapped by galaxies, Usefulness of fractals as a model to describe the large-scale structure and new cosmological physics inherent in the Friedmann world model.
In a simple manner, explains the frontiers of astronomy, how fractals appear in cosmic physics, offers a personal view of the history of the idea of self-similarity and of cosmological principles and presents the debate which illustrates how new concepts and deeper observations reveal unexpected aspects of Nature.
Regarding his discoveries, Sir Isaac Newton famously said, "If I have seen further it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." The Evolving Universe and the Origin of Life describes, complete with fascinating biographical details of the thinkers involved, a history of the universe as interpreted by the expanding body of knowledge of humankind. From subatomic particles to the protein chains that form life, and expanding in scale to the entire universe, this book covers the science that explains how we came to be. This book contains a great breadth of knowledge, from astronomy and physics to chemistry and biology. The second edition brings this story up to date, chronicling scientific achievements in recent years in such fields of research as cosmology, the large-scale architecture of the universe, black holes, exoplanets, and the search for extraterrestrial life. With over 250 figures, this is a non-technical, easy-to-read textbook at an introductory college level that is ideal for anyone interested in science as well as its history.
Why did Ptolemy's theory cause problems for the church? What is the big secret concerning the "?Age" of the earth? Why do many scientists reject the use of design in explaining origins? The seemingly absurd idea that all matter, energy, space, and time once exploded from a point of extreme density has captured the imagination of scientists and laypersons for decades. The big bang has provided a central teaching for the eons of time of "cosmic evolution", undermining the history and cosmology of the Bible. It is a theory that fails, even violating the very physical laws on which it is purportedly based. In this easy-to-read format, authors Alex Williams and John Hartnett explode this naturalistic explanation for the universe, and show that the biblical model provides a far better explanation of our origins. This fully indexed, illustrated analysis of the big bang theory is an invaluable help in understanding and countering a world view that is as chaotic and destructive as its name implies.
This work provides the current theory and observations behind the cosmological phenomenon of dark energy. The approach is comprehensive with rigorous mathematical theory and relevant astronomical observations discussed in context. The book treats the background and history starting with the new-found importance of Einstein’s cosmological constant (proposed long ago) in dark energy formulation, as well as the frontiers of dark energy. The authors do not presuppose advanced knowledge of astronomy, and basic mathematical concepts used in modern cosmology are presented in a simple, but rigorous way. All this makes the book useful for both astronomers and physicists, and also for university students of physical sciences.
This book has its roots in a series of collaborations in the last decade at the interface between statistical physics and cosmology. The speci?c problem which initiated this research was the study of the clustering properties of galaxies as revealed by large redshift surveys, a context in which concepts of modern statistical physics (e. g. scale-invariance, fractality. . ) ?nd ready application. In recent years we have considerably broadened the range of problems in cosmology which we have addressed, treating in particular more theoretical issues about the statistical properties of standard cosmological models. What is common to all this research, however, is that it is informed by a perspec...
This volume reviews the current status with respect to both theory and observation of the extragalactic distance scale. A sufficient accuracy is required both for a precise determination of the cosmological parameters and also in order to achieve a better understanding of physical processes in extragalactic systems. The "standard candles", used to set up the extragalactic distance scale, reviewed in this book include cepheid variables, RR Lyrae variables, novae, Type Ia and Type II supernovae as well as globular clusters and planetary nebulae.
What are the current ideas describing the large-scale structure of the Universe? How do they relate to the observed facts? This book looks at both the strengths and weaknesses of the current big-bang model in explaining certain puzzling data. It arises from an international conference that brought together many of the world's leading players in cosmology. In addition to presenting individual talks, the proceedings of the resulting discussions are also recorded. Giving a comprehensive coverage of the expanding field of cosmology, this text will be valuable for graduate students and researchers in cosmology and theoretical astrophysics.