On the Edge of the Cosmos : : A Century of Revolution in Astronomy / / Alain Omont.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus PP Package 2022 Part 2
• VerfasserIn: Omont, Alain,
• Place / Publishing House: Les Ulis : : EDP Sciences, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Current Natural Sciences
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.)

In a world where intergalactic wars are a common topic for movies, it is hard to imagine that the discovery of galaxies was made less than a century ago. In fact, it was one of the key astrophysical milestones of the first half of the 20th century, along with the revelation of the expansion of the Universe and the understanding of the source of the stars’ energy.The second half of last century saw the unexpected discovery of fantastic objects and extreme events in the Universe including neutron stars, black holes, radio galaxies, quasars, exoplanets, or stellar explosions. Modern cosmology was simultaneously established with the Big Bang model, leading to an astonishingly precise determination of the parameters of the Universe.The author here retraces the adventure of twentieth-century astronomy and describes how it has changed our vision of the cosmos. By assessing the major successes of this undertaking and highlighting the fundamental questions that still remain, he puts into perspective the recent progress at the dawn of the new millennium including the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe and dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, black hole mergers and gravitational waves, to name only the most spectacular discoveries. This book thus offers, in a concise and accessible form, a synthesis of our current knowledge of astrophysics, including many beautiful images from leading observatories.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- General Summary -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Part I A Century of Revolution in Our Vision of the Universe -- Chapter 1 General View of 20th Century Astronomy and Its Starting Point -- Chapter 2 Scientific and Technical Revolutions, Drivers of 20th Century Astronomy -- Part II Stars are Well Understood -- Chapter 3 How does a Star Work? -- Chapter 4 Complexities of Star Birth and Physics -- Part III The New World of Galaxies -- Chapter 5 Discovery of Galaxies -- Chapter 6 Our Galaxy and Its Interstellar Medium -- Chapter 7 Hundreds Billions of Galaxies -- Part IV Cosmology, the Science of the Universe as a Whole -- Chapter 8 Birth of Cosmology -- Chapter 9 Content of the Universe and Structure Formation -- Part V Singular Stars and Cataclysms in Extreme Physical Conditions -- Chapter 10 Explosions of Stars and Their Singular Residues -- Chapter 11 Black Holes and Their Power -- Part VI Planets, in the Solar System and Outside -- Chapter 12 Direct Exploration of the Planets -- Chapter 13 Entering the Dream World of Exoplanets -- Conclusion -- Chapter 14 A New Cosmos in the 21st Century? -- Glossary -- Acronyms and Space Missions -- References -- Index