Over the past 200 years, our knowledge of stars has expanded enormously. From seeing myriad dots of different brightnesses, we moved on to measure distances, temperatures, sizes, chemical compositions, even ages, finding stars that dwarf our Sun and are dwarfed by it, some in their youth, others ancient. First published in 2001, Extreme Stars describes the lives of stars from a fascinating perspective. It examines their amazing extremes and results in an engaging overview of stellar evolution, suitable for anyone interested in viewing or studying stars. Ten chapters, generously illustrated throughout, explain the natures of the brightest, the largest, the hottest, the youngest, and so on, ending with a selection of the strangest stars the Universe has to offer. Taken as a whole, the chapters show how stars develop and die and how each extreme turns into another under the inexorable twin forces of time and gravity.

Studies on the populations of luminous stars in nearby resolved galaxies have revealed a complex distribution in the luminosity–temperature plane (the HR diagram). The fundamentals of massive star evolution are mostly understood, but the roles of mass loss, episodic mass loss, rotation, and binarity are still in question. Moreover, the final stages of these stars of different masses and their possible relation to each other are not understood. The purpose of this volume is to provide a current review of the different populations of evolved massive stars. The emphasis is on massive stars in the Local Group, the Magellanic Clouds, and the nearby spirals M31 and M33.

From the Moon, Sun, and planets of our Solar System to space exploration, black holes, and dark matter, this completely revised and updated children's encyclopedia covers all you need to know about the cosmos. The most up-to-date images from space agencies such as NASA and ESA combine with info panels, timelines, interviews, diagrams, and activities you can do at home to help you understand the majesty and wonder of space. Learn about the Space Race, the Apollo Moon Landings, the Voyager craft that first probed the outer planets, the Hubble telescope, and the International Space Station (ISS) - the state-of-the-art laboratory orbiting Earth. Find out about future missions, space tourism, and the latest discoveries in the furthest reaches of our galaxy. Discover how to find constellations and where to look for stars and planets, including Venus and Mars, in the night sky. Learn how galaxies such as our Milky Way were formed. Part of a series of best-selling encyclopedias for children, Space: A Children's Encyclopedia is a rocket ride from the beginning of time to the near future, and from planet Earth out to the furthest reaches of the Universe.

While there are guides to the visible sky, this is the first book to encompass the most important stars known in the universe at a level accessible to the layperson. The noted astronomer James Kaler takes us on a tour of the 100 most interesting stars, describing their characteristics and importance in words and vivid pictures. James B. Kaler is an internationally recognized expert on stars and their formation. A professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, he is the author of "Stars and Their Spectra" (Cambridge), "Stars" (Freeman/Scientific American Library), "Cosmic Clouds" (Freeman/Scientific American Library), and numerous articles for popular and professional astronomy magazines.

How massive are the largest and smallest nuclear black holes in galaxies? Why are the masses of nuclear black holes proportional to those of their host galaxy bulges? How is nuclear activity triggered? What are the observational signatures of such processes? What are the connections between the active nucleus, stars and interstellar medium in galaxies? Answers to these questions are addressed in this book, which presents a compilation of 191 works covering recent observations from X-rays to radio wavelengths, as well as theoretical modeling of accretion disks, stellar populations and galaxy and black hole evolution. This volume presents the nuclear activity as a phase in the life of a galaxy, which is intimately connected to the evolution of its stars and interstellar medium. It brings together recent developments in topics covering most aspects of galaxy evolution, and is a valuable resource for astronomers and graduate students working in extragalactic astronomy.

This updated edition presents algorithms for shortest paths, maximum flows, dynamic programming and backtracking. Also discusses binary trees, heuristic and near optimums, matrix multiplication, and NP-complete problems. Includes 153 black-and-white illustrations and 23 tables.