This book takes the reader on an exploration of the structure and evolution of our universe. The basis for our knowledge is the Big Bang theory of the expanding universe. This book then tells the story of our search for the first stars and galaxies using current and planned telescopes. These telescopes are marvels of technology far removed from Galileo's first telescope but continuing astronomy in his ground breaking spirit. We show the reader how these first stars and galaxies shaped the universe we see today. This story is one of the great scientific adventures of all time.
Cosmic Dawn describes a highly interdisciplinary tour of billions of years of cosmic history, an epochal saga drawing on every field of modern science — astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and anthropology — to address the two most fundamental problems of all: the origins of matter and life. Winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Award, the American Institute of Physics Award, and a National Book Award Nomination.
Astronomers have successfully observed a great deal of the Universe's history, from recording the afterglow of the Big Bang to imaging thousands of galaxies, and even to visualising an actual black hole. There's a lot for astronomers to be smug about. But when it comes to understanding how the Universe began and grew up we are literally in the dark ages. In effect, we are missing the first one billion years from the timeline of the Universe. This brief but far-reaching period in the Universe's history, known to astrophysicists as the 'Epoch of Reionisation', represents the start of the cosmos as we experience it today. The time when the very first stars burst into life, when darkness gave way to light. After hundreds of millions of years of dark, uneventful expansion, one by the one these stars suddenly came into being. This was the point at which the chaos of the Big Bang first began to yield to the order of galaxies, black holes and stars, kick-starting the pathway to planets, to comets, to moons, and to life itself. Incorporating the very latest research into this branch of astrophysics, this book sheds light on this time of darkness, telling the story of these first stars, hundreds of times the size of the Sun and a million times brighter, lonely giants that lived fast and died young in powerful explosions that seeded the Universe with the heavy elements that we are made of. Emma Chapman tells us how these stars formed, why they were so unusual, and what they can teach us about the Universe today. She also offers a first-hand look at the immense telescopes about to come on line to peer into the past, searching for the echoes and footprints of these stars, to take this period in the Universe's history from the realm of theoretical physics towards the wonder of observational astronomy.
The dawn of the first stars, galaxies and black holes signaled a fundamental milestone in our Universe’s evolution: the Epoch of Reionization. The light from these galactic ancestors began spreading out, ionizing virtually every atom in existence. Our Universe transitioned from darkness to light, from cold to hot, from simple and boring to the wondrous cosmic zoo we see around us today. Despite its importance, observations of reionization have been few, and their interpretation has been highly controversial. Fortunately, this is rapidly changing. We will soon enter the "Big Data” era of this mysterious epoch, driven by an upcoming wave of observations with state-of-the-art telescopes as well as new sophisticated analysis tools. The aim of this volume is to summarize the current status and future outlook of the reionization field. We bring together leading experts in many sub-disciplines, highlighting the measurements that will illuminate our understanding of reionization and the cosmic dawn: (i) 21cm interferometry; (ii) high-redshift quasar spectra; (iii) high-redshift galaxy surveys; (iv) primary and secondary anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background; (v) high-resolution studies of the metal content of early galaxies. We seek a roadmap to interpreting the wealth of upcoming observations. What is the best use of limited observational resources? How do we develop theoretical tools tailored for each observation? Ultimately, what will we learn about the epoch of reionization and our galactic ancestors?
This book presents several new, important explanations for dark matter, all dissimilar to the discredited subatomic particle-like but invisible matter. One chapter presents evidence that abundant cold hydrogen, baryonic matter, is the source of the missing gravity. Another chapter suggests that dark matter is better explained by stars in spiral galaxies that follow non-Keplerian orbits. A third chapter proposes that gravity attributed to dark matter is due to the sprinkling of black holes throughout galaxies, which is supported by LIGO/Virgo observations. Another chapter questions the assumptions of the Friedmann (FLRW) model, proposing a better method for handling astrophysical data. Additional chapters discuss cosmic ray propagation, axion decay, the cosmological scale factor, and the philosophical outlook of cosmologists when dealing with the questions of dark matter and dark energy.
This volume tells the tale of cosmology as seen by some of the finest cosmologists in the world. It starts with “Galaxy Formation from Start to Finish” and ends with “Understanding Dark Energy,” having a rich variety of themes in between. Designed for non-cosmological scientists, this up-to-date collection of review articles offers a general introduction to cosmology. If you are at all curious about where we came from and where we are going, this is the book for you.
One of today’s leading astronomers takes readers inside the decades-long search for the first galaxies and the origin of starlight Astronomers are like time travelers, scanning the night sky for the outermost galaxies that first came into being when our universe was a mere fraction of its present age. When Galaxies Were Born is Richard Ellis’s firsthand account of how a pioneering generation of scientists harnessed the world’s largest telescopes to decipher the history of the universe and witness cosmic dawn, the time when starlight first bathed the cosmos and galaxies emerged from darkness. In a remarkable career spanning more than forty years, Ellis has made some of the most spectacular discoveries in modern cosmology. He has traveled the world to conduct observations in locales as beautiful and remote as the Australian outback, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, and the Chilean desert. In this book, he brings to life a golden age of astronomy, describing the triumphs and the technical setbacks, the rivalries with competing teams, and the perennial challenge of cloudy nights. Ellis reveals the astonishing progress we have made in building ever larger and more powerful telescopes, and provides a tantalizing glimpse of cosmic dawn. Stunningly illustrated with a wealth of dramatic photos, When Galaxies Were Born is a bold scientific adventure enlivened by personal insights and anecdotes that enable readers to share in the thrill of discovery at the frontiers of astronomy.
