This book offers an intimate guide to the Milky Way, taking readers on a grand tour of our home Galaxy's structure, genesis, and evolution, based on the latest astronomical findings. In engaging language, it tells how the Milky Way congealed from blobs of gas and dark matter into a spinning starry abode brimming with diverse planetary systems--some of which may be hosting myriad life forms and perhaps even other technologically communicative species.
William Waller vividly describes the Milky Way as it appears in the night sky, acquainting readers with its key components and telling the history of our changing galactic perceptions. The ancients believed the Milky Way was a home for the gods. Today we know it is but one galaxy among billions of others in the observable universe. Within the Milky Way, ground-based and space-borne telescopes have revealed that our Solar System is not alone. Hundreds of other planetary systems share our tiny part of the vast Galaxy. We reside within a galactic ecosystem that is driven by the theatrics of the most massive stars as they blaze through their brilliant lives and dramatic deaths. Similarly effervescent ecosystems of hot young stars and fluorescing nebulae delineate the graceful spiral arms in our Galaxy's swirling disk. Beyond the disk, the spheroidal halo hosts the ponderous--and still mysterious--dark matter that outweighs everything else. Another dark mystery lurks deep in the heart of the Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole has produced bizarre phenomena seen at multiple wavelengths.
Waller makes the case that our very existence is inextricably linked to the Galaxy that spawned us. Through this book, readers can become well-informed galactic "insiders"--ready to imagine humanity's next steps as fully engaged citizens of the Milky Way.
William H. Waller is an astronomer, science educator, and writer. He lives with his family in Rockport, Massachusetts, where he can still see the Milky Way on dark moonless nights.
"The Milky Way is a good overview of our knowledge of the Milky Way. . . . [F]or those who want to get up to speed on the Milky Way, or simply refresh their knowledge of it, this book can help the reader become an insider about our galactic home."--Jeff Foust, Space Review
"[E]rudite, yet eminently accessible. . . . Another component of the author's winning strategy is evident in the book's subtitle; it's the most immediate example of Waller's playful and plainspoken use of language, an approach that helps make this exploration of our immediate stellar neighborhood a joy to read."--ForeWord
"The Milky Way: An Insider's Guide is a very comprehensive and up-to-date survey of its subject. The overall impression it leaves one with is of our galaxy as a very busy place, fizzing with what the author, in a particularly felicitous phrase, calls 'vigorous fecundity.' Our little burg may be a mere speck in the grand scheme of things, but there's a lot going on here."--John Derbyshire, American Spectator
"The breadth of material Waller covers is astonishing. . . . As a space journalist, I'll definitely keep this book on my shelf."--Elizabeth Howell, Universe Today
"[R]ich with fascinating detail. . . . The author delivers everything we need in a book about our Galaxy, bringing a welcome depth to our appreciation of those clear, dark nights."--Alastair Gunn, BBC Sky at Night
"[W]ell-written and accessible. . . . Strongly recommended, as this volume should have a wide readership among student and lay astronomers."--Library Journal
"[A] thrilling story of our home galaxy, quite the best I've seen in popular astronomy books."--Simon Mitton, Times Higher Education
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: First Impressions 1
Chapter 2: Historic Perceptions 10
Chapter 3: Panchromatic Vistas 53
Chapter 4: Neighbors of the Sun 82
Chapter 5: Beacons from Afar 102
Chapter 6: Star Birth 127
Chapter 7: Lives of the Stars 148
Chapter 8: Stellar Afterlives 171
Chapter 9: The Galactic Garden 194
Chapter 10: Monster in the Core 221
Chapter 11: Tales of Origin 236
Chapter 12: Life in the Milky Way 251
Selected Readings 303