Nearest Star
The Surprising Science of our Sun

An authoritative and readable introduction to the Sun, our nearest star, from two experienced astronomers, for general science readers.

Leon Golub (Author), Jay M. Pasachoff (Author)

9781107672642, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 February 2014

325 pages, 107 b/w illus. 16 colour illus. 1 map 2 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.62 kg

'The book is very readable … [it was] quite difficult to put down once I started it, the pages seeming to turn with alarming frequency … a great read!' Lyn Smith, Journal of the British Astronomical Association

How did the Sun evolve, and what will it become? What is the origin of its light and heat? How does solar activity affect the atmospheric conditions that make life on Earth possible? These are the questions at the heart of solar physics, and at the core of this book. The Sun is the only star near enough to study in sufficient detail to provide rigorous tests of our theories and help us understand the more distant and exotic objects throughout the cosmos. Having observed the Sun using both ground-based and spaceborne instruments, the authors bring their extensive personal experience to this story revealing what we have discovered about phenomena from eclipses to neutrinos, space weather, and global warming. This second edition is updated throughout, and features results from the current spacecraft that are aloft, especially NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, for which one of the authors designed some of the telescopes.

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Sun
2. The once and future Sun
3. What we see: the solar disk
4. What we don't see
5. Eclipses
6. Space missions
7. Between fire and ice
8. Space weather
Bibliography
Glossary
Index.

Subject Areas: The environment [RN], Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning [R], Physics [PH], Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS], Astronomy, space & time [PG]