Mysteries Of Black Holes And Dark Matter

"What is a black hole? What is dark matter and what is it made of? How do scientists discover black holes and dark matter if they can't be seen? What do scientists know about these mysterious parts of the universe and what do they still hope to find out? Budding astronomers will learn the answers to these questions and more!"--

If scientists can’t touch the Sun, how do they know what it’s made of? And if we can’t see black holes, how can we be confident they exist? Gravitational physicist David Garfinkle and his brother, science fiction writer Richard Garfinkle, tackle these questions and more in Three Steps to the Universe, a tour through some of the most complex phenomena in the cosmos and an accessible exploration of how scientists acquire knowledge about the universe through observation, indirect detection, and theory. The authors begin by inviting readers to step away from the Earth and reconsider our Sun. What we can directly observe of this star is limited to its surface, but with the advent of telescopes and spectroscopy, scientists know more than ever about its physical characteristics, origins, and projected lifetime. From the Sun, the authors journey further out into space to explore black holes. The Garfinkle brothers explain that our understanding of these astronomical oddities began in theory, and growing mathematical and physical evidence has unexpectedly supported it. From black holes, the authors lead us further into the unknown, to the dark matter and energy that pervade our universe, where science teeters on the edge of theory and discovery. Returning from the depths of space, the final section of the book brings the reader back down to Earth for a final look at the practice of science, ending with a practical guide to discerning real science from pseudoscience among the cacophony of print and online scientific sources. Three Steps to the Universe will reward anyone interested in learning more about the universe around us and shows how scientists uncover its mysteries.

What happens when someone or something goes into a black hole? This book introduces some of the major ideas in cosmology, bringing quarks, preons, hypothetical subparticles, pulsars, galaxies, the Big Bang theory, dark energy, and gravitational waves into detailed focus through accessible language and vivid full-color art work. The text includes fascinating sidebars and fact boxes that add extra excitement to this look into deep space phenomena. Whether it's about Stephen Hawking or the James Webb telescope, even the most reluctant readers are sure to enjoy this book.

A theoretical astrophysicist explores the ideas that transformed our knowledge of the universe over the past century. The cosmos, once understood as a stagnant place, filled with the ordinary, is now a universe that is expanding at an accelerating pace, propelled by dark energy and structured by dark matter. Priyamvada Natarajan, our guide to these ideas, is someone at the forefront of the research—an astrophysicist who literally creates maps of invisible matter in the universe. She not only explains for a wide audience the science behind these essential ideas but also provides an understanding of how radical scientific theories gain acceptance. The formation and growth of black holes, dark matter halos, the accelerating expansion of the universe, the echo of the big bang, the discovery of exoplanets, and the possibility of other universes—these are some of the puzzling cosmological topics of the early twenty-first century. Natarajan discusses why the acceptance of new ideas about the universe and our place in it has never been linear and always contested even within the scientific community. And she affirms that, shifting and incomplete as science always must be, it offers the best path we have toward making sense of our wondrous, mysterious universe. “Part history, part science, all illuminating. If you want to understand the greatest ideas that shaped our current cosmic cartography, read this book.”—Adam G. Riess, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2011 “A highly readable, insider’s view of recent discoveries in astronomy with unusual attention to the instruments used and the human drama of the scientists.”—Alan Lightman, author of The Accidental Universe and Einstein's Dream

What is a black hole? What is dark matter and what is it made of? How do scientists discover black holes and dark matter if they can't be seen? What do scientists know about these mysterious parts of the universe and what do they still hope to find out? Budding astronomers will learn the answers to these questions and more!

What is dark matter? What are gravitational waves? From the Big Bang to the Big Rip, from quasars to the Eridanus Supervoid, this book traces the journey so far of scientific discoveries in black holes and other space phenomena, then takes a look at new technical advancements such as the use of infrared signals to study ancient stars.

The author concludes that the majority of the material the Universe is made up of is primordial black holes formed by the big bang. He recounts how he came to this conclusion, describing the evidence which solved the modern mystery of dark matter or the missing mass of the Universe and giving a history of the big bang theory. He also demonstrates how tenuous the ideas fought over by astronomers really are.