perihelion 310
period-luminosity relation 204, 252
Periodic Table 139
permafrost 310
Perryman, Mike 180
Perseid meteor shower 82
Perseus (constellation) 82
Pettit, Edison 112
phases 310
Phillips, John 212
Phobos (moon) 118
Phocylides, Johann 162
Piazzi, Giuseppe 64
Pickering, Edward C. 9, 140, 166, 188–89, 203–4
Pickering, William 68, 70, 189
Pigafetta, Antonio 251
Pioneer (spacecraft series) 14, 75, 127, 133, 245–46
Pirani, F. A. E. 275
Pisces (constellation) 35
Planck (spacecraft) 274
Planet X 69
planetary gears 38
planetary nebulae 228–31, 301, 310–11; XXIII, XXIV
planetary rings 311
planetary systems 18–21, 206–7, 230, 311
planetesimals 66, 234–35, 295, 311
planets
Bode’s Law 63–64
definition 310
dwarf 66, 71
gas giants 130–35, 235, 305
geocentric theory 18, 20–21, 37–39, 305
origins 130, 232–35, 238
structure 303
terrestrial 235, 314
see also exoplanets
Plass, Gilbert N. 113
Plato 28
Pleiades 191, 193, 238
plenum 143, 311
Plough (asterism) 24
Plutinos 75, 311
Pluto
discovery 68–71
orbit 74–75
status as a planet 71
Poincaré, Henri 144
Polaris (star) 34
Pontecorvo, Bruno 220, 223
Poop Deck (constellation) 36
positrons 220
Praesepe (star cluster) 191
precession 25, 34–35, 95, 311
‘primum mobile’ (first mover) 21
Principle of Equivalence 149, 311
proper motion 311
proplyds 233–34, 237, 311
proto-Earth 105–6
proto-planetary discs 206, 233–34, 311
proto-planets 235, 311
protons 215, 220, 311
PSR 1257+12 (pulsar) 206–7
PSR B1534+12 (pulsar) 276
PSR B1913+16 (pulsar) 276
PSR J0737-3039 (pulsar) 276
Ptolemaeus, Claudius see Ptolemy
Ptolemaic theory 20–21, 301, 312
Ptolemy 20, 23, 26, 36, 38
pulsars 13, 148, 169–71, 206–7, 226–27, 276, 312
Purcell, Edward Mills 244
Pythagoras 107
quadrant 178
quasars 148, 158, 169, 253–56, 257, 258, 286, 288, 312
Queloz, Didier 207–8
Quetelet, Adolphe 82
Quinn, Tom 73–74
radar 82–83, 107, 153
radiant 81, 312
radiation pressure 91, 312
radio galaxies 11, 153–54, 248, 254–56, 257, 269
radio waves 151–54, 243–44, 245, 260, 269, 272, 312
Ramsay, William 141
Ranger (spacecraft) 104
Reber, Grote 152–53, 243, 254, 260
red dwarf stars 193
red giant stars 193, 218, 231, 239, 312
redshift 168, 253, 306
reflection nebula 237–38, 312
Reifenstein, Edward 226
relativity 9, 14, 147–50, 173–74, 267–68, 275–76, 288, 290–91, 305, 313
retrograde motion (of a planet) 38, 39
Reynolds, R. T. 129
Richer, Jean 30
Ries meteor crater 100
Ring Nebula 230, 257
rings of the planets 57, 130, 131–34; XX
Roche, Édouard 132
Roche limit 132, 312
rockoon 85
Romans, ancient 28
Rømer, Ole 50
Rosetta (spacecraft) 90–91, 92; IX
Rosse, Lord (William Parsons) 225, 245
Rossi, Bruno 155, 156–57, 159
Rubin, Vera 287–88
Ruiz-Lapuente, Maria Pilar 198
Russell, Henry Norris 9, 99, 166–67, 193, 216, 230
Rutherford, Ernest (Lord) 212
Ryle, Martin 11, 255, 269–70
Ryugu (asteroid) 67
S2 262
Sabine, Edward 87
Safronov, Viktor 234
Sagan, Carl 111, 112, 114, 218, 242
Sagittarius (constellation) 192
Sagittarius A (radio source) 260–61
Sagittarius A East 261
Sagittarius A West 261
Sagittarius A* 261–62
Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy 247–48
Sails (constellation) 36
Salpeter, Edwin 217, 258
Sandford, Scott 79
Sarpi, Pietro 48
satellites (manmade) 31–32, 143–44
Saturn
composition 130–31
origin 130
rings 130, 131–33, 134; XX
satellites 132, 133, 134–35
Schiaparelli, Giovanni 82, 116–17
Schmidt, Martin 253, 256
Schmitt, Harrison 105
Schwabe, Heinrich 87
Schwarzschild, Karl 91, 174
scientific theory 10
scintillation 169, 312
Score, Roberta 79
Scorpio (constellation) 237
Scorpius X-1 (X-ray source) 157–58
Scott, David 149
SCUBA camera 249
Scutum (constellation) 24
Sea of Tranquility 104
seasons 57, 93–96
Secchi, Angelo 140
Seyfert, Carl 254
Seyfert galaxies 158, 254, 257, 258, 312
Sgr A see Sagittarius A
Sgr A* see Sagittarius A*
Shakespeare, William 219
Shapley, Harlow 192, 204
Sharpless, Stewart 243, 244
Shelton, Ian 13, 199–200
shepherds (in planetary rings) 133
Shipley, John 76–77
Shoemaker, Caroline 100
Shoemaker, Eugene (Gene) 100
shooting stars see meteors
Shorty Crater 105
silicon 218
Simpson, George 113
Sirius 164, 178
Sirius B (white dwarf) 165–68
Sitter, Willem de 267–68
Slee, Bruce 269–70
Slipher, Vesto Melvin 69, 238, 248
Small Magellanic Cloud 251
Smith, Francis Graham 254
Smith, Harlan 256
Smoot, George 274
SN 1987A (supernova) 13, 199–201
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) (satellite) 46, 222–23
solar flares 87, 313
Solar Max (satellite) 201
solar nebula 73, 130, 234, 238, 313
solar neutrino problem 221, 223, 313
solar neutrinos 12, 194, 200, 214, 219–21, 223, 313
solar oscillations 222
solar prominences 222
solar quakes 219
solar sound waves 219, 222
Solar System 37, 39–41, 52, 235, 302, 306; see also planets; Sun
solar wind 87, 91, 106, 108, 238, 313
Somerville, Mary 59
sounding rockets 85
South Celestial Pole 35, 36, 250, 251
South Magnetic Pole 88
southern constellations 25, 33–36
Southern Cross (constellation)
25, 36, 237
Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) see Spitzer Space Telescope
space weather 87
spacetime 147–50, 174
special relativity 14, 147–50, 313
spectroscopy 111–12, 113, 139–41, 176, 187–88, 207, 208–9, 216, 2
28–30, 256, 287, 313
speed of light 50, 147, 149
spiral arms 192, 244–45, 313
spiral galaxies 247, 248, 254, 287–88, 313; XXVI
Spirit Rover 122
Spitzer Space Telescope (spacecraft) 190; XVIII
splosh craters 121, 124, 313
Sputnik (series of spacecraft) 86, 156
Stabius, Johannes 34
Staelin, David 226
standard candles 203, 204, 313
star clusters 11, 185, 191–94, 237, 313
star distances 177–81, 192
Stardust (spacecraft) 67, 91, 238
stars
magnitude 308
origin 189, 190, 192–93, 195–97, 229, 232–35
see also constellations
Steady State theory (of the Universe) 268, 270, 271, 273, 314
Šteins (asteroid) 67
stellar energy 211–14
stishovite 100
stromatolites 297
Strong, Ian 263–64
Struve, Wilhelm 179, 236
Styx (moon) 71
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) 221, 223
suevite 100
Summer Triangle (asterism) 24
Sun
age 211–12, 235
corona 156
eclipses 138, 140, 312–13
energy 211–14, 219
heliocentric theory 37, 39–41, 52
mass 211
orbit 207
spectrum 138, 139–41
structure 219–23
weather effects 94
see also solar entries
sungrazing comet 46, 314
sunlight 294
sunquakes 219
sunspots 48–49, 87, 222
super-earths 210
supergiant stars 176
SuperKamiokande 200
supermassive black holes 253–54, 257–59, 309, 314
Supernova 1987A 13, 199–201, 252
supernova of 1054 224, 225, 226
supernova of 1572 13, 195, 196
supernovae
definition 314
element irradiation 218, 239
formation 167, 171, 195–96
gravitational waves 279
naked 265
remnants 224–27; XVIII
time dilation 148
type Ia 197–98, 314
type II 197, 198, 200–1, 314
X-rays 158
SuperWASP (Wide-Angle Search for Planets) 209
Surveyor (spacecraft) 104
Swedenborg, Emanuel 232
Sword of Orion 186
tail (of a comet) 314
TAMA 300 277
Tang Ming 238
Taurus (constellation) 24, 224
Taurus A (supernova remnant) 153
Taurus Mountains 104
Taurus X-1 (X-ray source) 158
Taylor, Joseph 276
tears of St Lawrence 82
technetium 218
telescope, invention 11, 47–48
Tempel’s Comet 82, 91
Tera, Fouad 109
terrella 86
terrestrial planets 235, 314
Thackeray, A. D. 237
Thackeray’s globules (IC 2944) 237
Thales of Miletus 20
Theia (proto-Moon) 105
Thoreau, Henry David 33
Thorne, Kip 277
Three-Body Problem 144
‘Thunderstone of Ensisheim’ 76
Tilghman, Benjamin 98–99
time dilation 147–48, 314
Tintoretto, Jacopo 26; I
Titan 132, 134–35
Titius–Bode Law see Bode’s Law
Titius, Johann 63, 301
Tombaugh, Clyde 69, 70
TOPEX/Poseidon (satellite) 31
Toutatis (asteroid) 67
trade winds 93–94
Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) 74–75, 314
transit of an exoplanet 208–9
transit of Mercury 40
transit of Venus 9, 40; II
Trapezium 186, 189
Tremaine, Scott 73–74, 248
triple stars 280
Triton (Neptune’s satellite) 60, 61
Trumpler, Robert 237
Tunguska impact 100
Turner, Gerald 109
Turner, Herbert Hall 70
Twining, Catlin 81
Tychonic theory 52–53, 314
Tyndall, John 113
Uhuru (spacecraft) 158
Ulrich, Roger 222
Ultima Thule 75
Ulysses (spacecraft) 238
unification theory 258, 314
uniformitarianism 101, 315
Universe
definition 315
expansion 267–70, 283, 290–91; see also Big Bang
life 293–98
size 204, 267, 283
Uranus 12, 55–57, 58, 130, 133–34
Ursa Major (constellation) 22, 23–24
Ussher, Archbishop James 211–12
V-2 rockets 80, 82–83, 85, 155–56
vacuum 290
Valles Marineris 119, 123
Van Allen Belts 86–87, 315
Van Allen, James 85, 86
van de Hulst, Hendrik 243–44
variable stars 162–64, 202–5, 248, 252, 301, 315
Vega (star) 197, 233
Vega (spacecraft) 90, 114
Vela (gamma-ray monitoring series of satellites) 263–64
Velikovsky, Immanuel 101
Venera spacecraft 114
Venus 9, 11, 14, 40, 51–54, 111–15; II, IV
Venus Express 115
Very, Frank 113
Vesta (asteroid) 65, 66, 67, 79
Viking (spacecraft and landers) 119, 122, 123
VIRGO (gravitational-wave detector) 277
Vogel, H.C. 140
volcanoes
on Earth 32
on Io 126–29
on Mars 119
on Mercury 109–10
on Venus IV
Volkoff, George 171
Voltaire 29
Voyager (spacecraft) 57, 61, 75, 127–28, 133, 134
Vulcan 150
Wacker, John 238
Walsh, Dennis 288
Wampler, Joe 201
Wannier, P. 252
Ward, William 234
Wasserburg, Gerald 109
water 89, 92, 121, 122–25, 294–95
weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPs) 288–89, 315
weather 93–96, 145
Webster, Louise 175–76
Weinreb, Sander 189
Weiss, Rainer 277
Wells, H. G. 97
Westerhout, Gart 244
Weymann, Ray 288
Whaling, Ward 217
Wheeler, John A. 147, 174
Whelan, John 167
Whipple, Fred 90
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) 245; XXVI
white dwarf stars 9, 12, 165–68, 175, 193, 197–98, 302, 315
Whitman, Walt 80, 81
Wildt, Rupert 113
Wilkinson, David 272
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) (spacecraft) 274
Willamette meteorite 78
Wilson, Robert Woodrow 271, 272–73
WIMP see weakly interactive massive particle
Wise, Don 105
WMAP (spacecraft) see Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
Wollaston, William 139
Wolszczan, Aleksander 206, 276
Woolf, N. J. 273
Wright, Thomas 184
Wrixon, G. T. 252
X-ray binary stars 175, 315
X-ray stars 158, 315
X-rays 155–59, 265, 315
Yohkoh (spacecraft) 156
Yorke, James 145
Yuty (crater) 124
Zach, Franz von 64
Zanstra, Herman 229
Zeldovich, Yacob Borisovich 257
Zeldovich, Yakov Borisovich 253, 255–
56, 257, 258
Zeta Leporis 233
Zeta Perseid meteor shower 83
Zeta Tauri (star) 224
Zhevakin, S. A. 202–3
Zinner, Ernst 238
zodiac 25, 315
Zwicky, Fritz 171, 196–97, 226, 286–87, 288
On the cover: Picture of Neptune taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers used different colour filters to detect atmospheric features that cannot be seen when looking at the natural colours. Photo: Shutterstock.
First published in hardback in the United Kingdom in 2009 as Secrets of the Universe
ISBN 978-0-500-25155-3
by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181A High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX
Revised edition published in paperback in 2020
ISBN 978-0-500-29519-9
by Thames & Hudson Ltd, London
Secrets of the Universe © 2009 and 2020 Thames & Hudson Ltd, London
Text by Paul Murdin
This electronic version first published in 2020 by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181A High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX
This electronic version first published in 2020 in the United States of America by
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