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.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Springer-Verlag Berlin AND Heidelberg Gmbh & Co. KG
ISBN-13
9783642116018
eBay Product ID (ePID)
178347717
Product Key Features
Series
Astronomers' Universe
Author
Michael Perryman
Publication Name
The Making of History's Greatest Star Map
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Engineering & Technology, Astronomy, Physics
Publication Year
2010
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
282 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
235 mm
Item Width
155 mm
Item Weight
612 g
Additional Product Features
Country/Region of Manufacture
Germany
Title_Author
Michael Perryman
Topic
Astronomy
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