The impact of Einstein's relativity is perhaps most dramatic in astronomy, radically altering our interpretation of the observations of the stars and galaxies. Astronomers now encounter challenging phenomena that Einstein never lived to see, in which the bizarre effects of relativity played out on a cosmic scale. This accessible overview explains to general readers the many applications of relativity that have not been shown in earlier popular-level books. Using no mathematics beyond e=mc2, it explains how deeply relativistic ways of viewing the Universe have informed our interpretations of it, and how many of the amazing discoveries of these decades have made sense only as part of Einstein's universe. Some principal observers provide fresh commentary on their discoveries, accompanied by illustrations, newly produced from data in the archives of such observatories as Hubble and Chandra.

Specifically traces the impact of Einstein's ideas on astronomy, including the way we interpret observations of stars and galaxies Includes comments from principals in important discoveries, illuminating the processes behind these results Presents many applications of relativity that have not been shown in earlier popular-level books Highlights light-travel delays in cosmic jets, using gravitational lensing to trace cosmic mass distribution Illustrates how deeply physics permeates the way we interpret many astronomical phenomena Illustrations make good use of new and archival data from ground- and space-based observatories

Autorentext

Bill Keel, the author of The Road to Galaxy Formation (Springer-Praxis 2002), has been involved in many areas of extragalactic astronomy, and for the last 18 years has worked at the University of Alabama. Of particular relevance to this book is his study of gravitational lensing since 1980, early calculations on microlensing of quasars, and an ongoing Hubble survey for gravitational lensing effects in silhouetted galaxies as a constraint on massive dark-matter candidates. His experience in serving on 16 NASA review committees for various space-astrophysics missions and higher-level programmatic issues has broadened his view of relativity in astronomy triggering the idea for this book.

Inhalt
The sky at Einstein's feet.- Bookkeeping at the speed of light.- Relativistic Matter.- From shifting stars to multiple quasars.- Through the gravitational telescope.- The stars themselves.- Extreme spacetime bending: black holes.- The shape of Einstein's Universe.- The view from Einstein's shoulders.