This is the story of radio astronomy. You will learn what astronomers are doing with those huge dishes dotted around the world. Those sections no longer regarded as cutting edge have been removed from this revised edition.

Hidden from human view, accessible only to sensitive receivers attached to huge radio telescopes, giant versions of backyard satellite dishes, the invisible universe beyond our senses continues to fascinate and intrigue our imaginations. We cannot really comprehend what it means to say that a galaxy is exploding, yet that is the nature of some of the distant radio sources in the furthest reaches of space. Closer to home, in the Milky Way galaxy, radio astronomers listen patiently to the ticking of pulsars that tell of star death and states of matter of awesome densities. And between the stars, radio emission from a host of over 120 complex molecules radiate outward to reveal a tale about chemical processes that produce the very stuff of life. And all of this happens out there in the universe hidden from our eyes, even when aided by the Hubble Space Telescope.

This is the story of radio astronomy, of how radio waves are generated by stars, supernova, quasars, colliding galaxies, and by the very beginnings of the universe itself. In The Invisible Universe, you learn what astronomers are doing with those huge dishes in the New Mexico desert, in a remote valley in Puerto Rico, in the green Pocahontas Valley in West Virginia, as well as dozens of other remote sites around the world. With each of these observatories, the scientists collect and analyze their data, "listening" to the radio signals from space, in order to learn what is out there, and perhaps even if someone else may be listening as well.

Completely updated revision of the successful Springer book, The Invisible Universe Revealed, 1987 Will update the state of radio astronomy, world-wide, and remove those sections no longer regarded as cutting edge Is aimed at a lay audience

Autorentext

Dr. Gerrit Verschuur is the author of eight books, co-author or editor of 3 text books, has written over 80 scientific research articles, and 90 + popular astronomy articles. He lectures widely on astronomical topics, pioneered the study of the interstellar magnetic field and has been active in radio astronomical studies of interstellar matter for over 45 years. Dr. Verschuur published the first ever, full-length technical paper on the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence in 1973. He has taught in the physics departments of six different universities world-wide, most recently at the University of Memphis.

Inhalt
Introduction: Adventure, Imagination, and Curiosity.- What is Radio Astronomy?.- A Science is Born.- The Radio Sun and Planets.- The Galactic Radio Nebulae.- Radio Waves from the Milky Way.- Interstellar Hydrogen.- Interstellar Molecules.- Pulsars.- The Galactic Superstars.- Radio Galaxies.- Quasars.- The Grand Unification: Active Galactic Nuclei.- Beyond the QuasarsRadio Cosmology.- On the Radio Astronomical Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.- Radio Telescopes: The Future.- What's it All About?.