The Making of History's Greatest Star Map (eBook)
XI, 282 Seiten
Springer Berlin (Verlag)
978-3-642-11602-5 (ISBN)
From prehistoric times, mankind has looked up at the night sky, and puzzled at the changing positions of the stars. How far away they are is a question that has confounded scientists for centuries. Over the last few hundred years, many scientific careers - and considerable resources - have been devoted to measuring their positions and motions with ever increasing accuracy. And in the last two decades of the 20th century, the European Space Agency developed and launched the Hipparcos satellite, around which this account revolves, to carry out these exacting measurements from space.
What has prompted these remarkable developments? Why have governments been persuaded to fund them? What are scientists learning from astronomy's equivalent of the Human Genome Project? This book traces the subject's history, explains why such enormous efforts are considered worthwhile, and interweaves these with a first-hand insight into the Hipparcos project, and how big science is conducted at an international level. The involvement of amateur astronomers, and the Hipparcos contributions to climate research, 'death stars' passing close to the Sun, and the search for extra-solar planets and even intelligent life itself, are some of the surprising facets of this unusual space mission.
Michael Perryman has spent a career in space science focused on Europe's ambitious programme to map the stars. For his scientific leadership of the Hipparcos project, the first star mapping programme carried out from space and the greatest leap in accuracy in history, he was awarded the Prix Janssen of the French Astronomical Society in 1996, and the Academic Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.
Michael Perryman has spent a career in space science focused on Europe’s ambitious programme to map the stars. For his scientific leadership of the Hipparcos project, the first star mapping programme carried out from space and the greatest leap in accuracy in history, he was awarded the Prix Janssen of the French Astronomical Society in 1996, and the Academic Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.
Preface 8
Contents 12
Prologue: Hipparcos Launch 13
Our Place in the Cosmos 26
Why Star Positions? 40
Early History 54
Developments 1850–1980 74
The Push to Space 96
FromConcept to Launch 110
Disaster Unfolds 136
Mission Recovery 144
Science in theMaking 156
The Finishing Touches 180
Our Galaxy 196
Inside the Stars 215
Our Solar System and Habitability 240
The Future 265
Epilogue 269
Notes 271
Stereo Views 275
Acknowledgments 279
Index 281
Erscheint lt. Verlag | 20.3.2010 |
---|---|
Reihe/Serie | Astronomers' Universe | Astronomers' Universe |
Zusatzinfo | XI, 282 p. |
Verlagsort | Berlin |
Sprache | englisch |
Themenwelt | Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik |
Technik | |
Schlagworte | Amateur astronomers in science • Astrometry explained • Astronomical satellite missions • Astronomy • Big science projects • climate research • Death Stars • extra-solar planets • Galaxy • Hipparcos satellite • Star • Star map • Stellar |
ISBN-10 | 3-642-11602-7 / 3642116027 |
ISBN-13 | 978-3-642-11602-5 / 9783642116025 |
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