Title
The Orion Nebula : Where Stars Are Born / C. Robert O'Dell.
ISBN
9780674275966
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2022]
Copyright
©2003
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (192 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674275966 doi
Summary
The glowing cloud in Orion's sword, the Orion Nebula is a thing of beauty in the night sky; it is also the closest center of massive star formation--a stellar nursery that reproduces the conditions in which our own Sun formed some 4.5 billion years ago. The study of the Orion Nebula, focused upon by ever more powerful telescopes from Galileo's time to our own, clarifies how stars are formed, and how we have come to understand the process. C. Robert O'Dell has spent a lifetime studying Orion, and in this book he explains what the Nebula is, how it shines, its role in giving birth to stars, and the insights it affords into how common (or rare) planet formation might be. An account of astronomy's extended engagement with one remarkable celestial object, this book also tells the story of astronomy over the last four centuries. To help readers appreciate the Nebula and its secrets, O'Dell unfolds his tale chronologically, as astrophysical knowledge developed, and our knowledge of the Nebula and the night sky improved. Because he served as chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, O'Dell conveys a sense of continuity with his professional ancestors as he describes the construction of the world's most powerful observatory. The result is a rare insider's view of this observatory--and, from that unique perspective, an intimate observer's understanding of one of the sky's most instructive and magnificent objects.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jun 2022)
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
Preface
CHAPTER ONE Enter the Hunter
CHAPTER TWO Views of Our Universe
CHAPTER THREE Henry Draper and the Photographic Revolution
CHAPTER FOUR The Toolbox of the Astronomer
CHAPTER FIVE Opaque Skies on the Clearest Nights
CHAPTER SIX Why Is a Star a Star?
CHAPTER SEVEN Bengt Stromgren's Spheres
CHAPTER EIGHT The Explorers Set Sail
CHAPTER NINE Where Did All These Stars Come From?
CHAPTER TEN The Hubble Space Telescope
CHAPTER ELEVEN What Orion Really Looks Like
CHAPTER TWELVE What Is Happening in the Orion Nebula?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Are We Alone?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Outsmarting the Fickle Goddess of Science
Index
