Invisible Universe

From the discovery of entirely new kinds of galaxies to a window into cosmic ‘prehistory’, Bothwell shows us the Universe as we’ve never seen it before – literally. Since the dawn of our species, people all over the world have gazed in awe at the night sky. But for all the beauty and wonder of the stars, when we look with just our eyes we are seeing and appreciating only a tiny fraction of the Universe. What does the cosmos have in store for us beyond the phenomena we can see, from black holes to supernovas? How different does the invisible Universe look from the home we thought we knew? Dr Matt Bothwell takes us on a journey through the full spectrum of light and beyond, revealing what we have learned about the mysteries of the Universe. This book is a guide to the ninety-nine per cent of cosmic reality we can’t see – the Universe that is hidden, right in front of our eyes. It is also the endpoint of a scientific detective story thousands of years in the telling. It is a tour through our Invisible Universe.

Hidden from human view, accessible only to sensitive receivers attached to huge radio telescopes, the invisible universe beyond our senses continues to fascinate and intrigue our imaginations. Closer to home, in the Milky Way galaxy, radio astronomers listen patiently to the ticking of pulsars that tell of star death and states of matter of awesome densities. All of this happens out there in the universe hidden from our eyes, even when aided by the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the story of radio astronomy, of how radio waves are generated by stars, supernova, quasars, colliding galaxies and by the very beginnings of the universe itself. The author discusses what radio astronomers are doing in the New Mexico desert, in a remote valley in Puerto Rico, and in the green Pocahontas Valley in West Virginia, as well as dozens of other remote sites around the world. With each of these observatories, the scientists collect and analyze their data, "listening" to the radio signals from space in order to learn what, or perhaps who, is out there as well. The author specifically highlights enormous changes that have occurred in the field over the past 50 years, including the political reality of radio astronomy and what that could mean for the future.

This is a work of fiction. A novel based on a foundation of certain firm probabilities. The reader never knows if he has reached the end. He is unwilling to leave the Kingdom; he is unwilling to forget Princess Rajeswary; he does not want to leave the company of the ascetic Vishnushatry; he is willing to remain spellbound by the lectures of Professor Arjun and Catherine; he wants to visit the North Woods to have a glimpse of the majestic Promi Sierra; he wants to see how Suryawarma’s sword blazes. He wants to return again and again to the chapters that are so adorable and so realistic. He is caged within the pages… No, this is not a novel. It is a visit to an extraordinarily enchanting place. The stories are intertwined cohesively to present the story of a small civilization, and there is a shade of mystery! The kingdom of Promipur is a wealthy and advanced kingdom—advanced in terms of human progression in the absolute sense. At the conclusion, the reader is unwilling to keep the book down, wishing only that what happens at the end ought not to have happened.

"Why"? Why is the world, the Universe the way it is? Is space infinitely large? How small is small? What happens when one continues to divide matter into ever smaller pieces? Indeed, what is matter? Is there anything else besides what can be seen? Pursuing the questions employing the leading notions of physics, one soon finds that the tangible and visible world dissolves — rather unexpectedly — into invisible things and domains that are beyond direct perception. A remarkable feature of our Universe is that most of its constituents turn out to be invisible, and this fact is brought out with great force by this book. Exploring the Invisible Universe covers the gamut of topics in advanced modern physics and provides extensive and well substantiated answers to these questions and many more. Discussed in a non-technical, yet also non-trivial manner, are topics dominated by invisible things — such as Black Holes and Superstrings as well as Fields, Gravitation, the Standard Model, Cosmology, Relativity, the Origin of Elements, Stars and Planetary Evolution, and more. Just giving the answer, as so many books do, is really not telling anything at all. To truly answer the "why" questions of nature, one needs to follow the chain of reasoning that scientists have used to come to the conclusions they have. This book does not shy away from difficult-to-explain topics by reducing them to one-line answers and power phrases suitable for a popular talk show. The explanations are rigorous and straight to the point. This book is rarely mathematical without being afraid, however, to use elementary mathematics when called for. In order to achieve this, a large number of detailed figures, specially developed for this book and found nowhere else, convey insights that otherwise might either be inaccessible or need lengthy and difficult-to-follow explanations. After Exploring the Invisible Universe, a reader will have a deeper insight into our current understanding of the foundations of Nature and be able to answer all the questions above and then some. To understand Nature and the cutting edge ideas of contemporary physics, this is the book to have. Contents:SynopsisFieldsThe Geometry of SpaceGravityBlack HolesCosmologyDark UniverseGalaxies, Stars and PlanetsThe Life of StarsThe Origin of the ElementsElementary ParticlesFundamental InteractionsThe Standard ModelSuperstring UnificationSuperstring GravityEpilogue Readership: Students and general public with knowledge of high school level physics and mathematics, who are interested in theoretical physics including cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics. Key Features:Breadth, depth, rigor (without being mathematical)Keywords:Geometry;Gravity;Elementary Particles;Fundamental Forces;Star and Planetary Formation;Stellar Nucleosynthesis

This book describes some of the frontier problems of cosmology: our almost total ignorance of what the Universe is made up of, the mystery of its origin and its end. The book starts with a description of the historical events that led to the construction of the Big Bang model together with the stages that transformed the Universe from a very hot place to a very cold one, full with the structures that we observe today. These structures (stars, galaxies, etc.) constitute only 5% of the contents of the Universe. Concerning the remaining 95%, dubbed dark matter and dark energy, we know very little, and we have only indirect evidence of their existence. The text describes the story and the protagonists who showed the need for the existence of this 'missing matter', the observations, and puzzles they had to solve to understand that dark matter was not ordinary matter. The book describes the hunt for dark matter, carried out with instruments operating in space, on the Earth's surface, and in laboratories built in the bowels of the Earth. It also describes dark energy, which manifests itself in the accelerated expansion of the Universe, and appeared only a few billions of years ago. The book discusses why dark energy must exist and what its existence implies, especially for the future and the end of our Universe.

This is the story of radio astronomy, of how radio waves are generated by stars, supernova, quasars, colliding galaxies, and by the very beginnings of the universe itself. This revised book provides an update on the state of radio astronomy and those sections no longer regarded as cutting edge have been removed. With this book, aimed at a lay audience, you learn what astronomers are doing with those huge dishes. With each of these observatories, the scientists collect and analyze their data, "listening" to the radio signals from space, in order to learn what is out there, and perhaps even if someone else may be listening as well.

The 5 class sessions, of 45-60 minutes each, deepen student understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling students to detect and consider wavelengths other than visible light. Activities feature energy stations, including infrared (TV remote); microwave (pager); ultraviolet (black light) and other devices. Students come up with their own tests to see what blocks each wavelength, and what does not. They learn how these other wavelengths can be used to "see" things we cannot see with our eyes.