At the end of a star's life, it wraps itself in a cocoon by spilling out gas and dust. Sometime later, a butterfly-like nebula emerges from the cocoon and develops into a planetary nebula. They are among the most beautiful of the celestial objects imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. Their structures, like bubbles floating in the void, are complemented by a kaleidoscope of colour emitted by glowing gases. Delicate, lacelike, streamers of gas add to their complexity. The production of a planetary nebula by a star is a milestone in the life of a star, an event that foretells the doom of the star when its central energy source runs out. In this book, Sun Kwok tells the story of the discovery process of the creation of planetary nebulae and of the future of the Sun. Full colour illustrations are included throughout the book.

If you have ever wanted to understand the basic principles of astronomy and celestial movements, you should read this book. Using pictures of the sky observed from different places on Earth, as well as drawings of ancient astronomical methods and tools, Prof. Sun Kwok tells this story in an entertaining and fascinating way. Since the beginning of human civilization, people have wondered about the structure of the cosmos and our place in the Universe. More than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors knew that the seasons were unequal, the Earth was an unattached object floating in space, and stars existed that they could not see. From celestial observations, they concluded that the Earth was round. Using simple tools and mathematics, ancient astronomers accurately determined the sizes of the Earth and Moon, the distance to the Moon, and the lengths of the months and year. With a clever device called the armillary sphere, Greek astronomers could predict the times of sunrise and sunset on any day of the year, at any place on Earth. They developed sophisticated mathematical models to forecast Mars’ motions hundreds of years into the future. Find out how ancient observers achieved these remarkable feats. With minimal use of mathematics, this book retraces the footsteps of our ancestors, explains their intellectual journeys in simple terms, and explores the philosophical implications of these discoveries.

Truly poetic and deeply esoteric, these lectures by Rudolf Steiner have been gathered here in a single volume for the first time, with an in-depth introduction that traces and explains the stages of butterfly metamorphosis. The emergence of the butterfly from its pupa is one of the most moving phenomena we can encounter in nature. We can experience a revelation of spirit in this creature's visible transformations. The butterfly, says Rudolf Steiner, is "a flower blossom lifted into the air by light and cosmic forces." It is a being that develops from and through light, via a process of incorporation and internalization. By gazing into the world of these special and rarefied creatures, we can intuit that they, "ray out something even better than sunlight; they shine spirit light out into the cosmos."

Cosmic Consciousness The Work Cosmic Consciousness is a tetralogy of books: 1) The Awakening 2) The Understanding 3) The Cure 4) The Integral Being, psychographically transmitted by the Blessings and Light Spiritual Team from 2008 to 2016. This work is a way to evolve within a broader awareness of the integrality of Being. In every evolution, several paths appear, and each being will be prepared to follow the most appropriate to its own mission. The following of a certain path will be given by the free will and the preparation of each one. The work is not limited to the threedimensional, it is not limited to the here and now. It has in its essence what is necessary for each dimension, and it will be understood by each being, according to the energetic level in which it is, determined by its own evolution. A work is often not prepared for the present moment of many people, but you can be sure that this work is prepared for these times and for times to come. The divine spark that gave you birth has cosmic integrity, but today it is limited by each individuality. There is no cure if we do not treat the Being in its entirety. Healing is the return of the Being to its own balance in each energetic state of its divine essence, from which it moved away by free will in its multiple existences, transforming its society, its world, the atmosphere where it breathes and thus determining its past, present and future as a multidimensional being. Trace your passage through the extraordinary adventure of life. Eternal journey...

Astrophysics made fun!' Pam Melroy, former astronaut and space shuttle commander 'The most enjoyable stroll through the cosmos' Gerry Griffin, former flight director, Apollo Mission Control We all know the Sun, the powerhouse of our solar system, but what about Luyten's Flare, the Rosino-Zwicky Object or Chanal's variable star? For those whose curiosity takes them far beyond Earth's atmosphere, The Secret Life of Stars offers a personal and readily understood introduction to some of the Galaxy's most remarkable stars. Each chapter connects us to the various different and unusual stars and their amazing characteristics and attributes, from pulsars, blue stragglers and white dwarfs to cannibal stars and explosive supernovae. With chapter illustrations by Eirian Chapman, this book brings to life the remarkable personalities of these stars, reminding readers what a diverse and unpredictable universe we live in and how fortunate we are to live around a stable star, our Sun.

Starting from Newton’s times this follow-up to the author’s Springer book “Our Place in the Universe - Understanding Fundamental Astronomy from Ancient Discoveries” addresses the question of “our place in the Universe” from astronomical, physical, chemical, biological, philosophical and social perspectives. Using the history of astronomy to illustrate the process of discovery, the emphasis is on the description of the process of how we learned and on the exploration of the impacts of discoveries rather than on the presentation of facts. Thus readers are informed of the influence of science on a broad scale. Unlike the traditional way of teaching science, in this book, the author begins by describing the observations and then discusses various attempts to find answers (including unsuccessful ones). The goal is to help students develop a better appreciation of the scientific process and learn from this process to tackle real-life problems.

In this fresh list, Stephen James O'Meara presents 109 new objects for stargazers to observe. The Secret Deep list contains many exceptional objects, including a planetary nebula whose last thermal pulse produced a circumstellar shell similar to the one expected in the final days of our Sun's life; a piece of the only supernova remnant known visible to the unaided eye; the flattest galaxy known; the largest edge-on galaxy in the heavens; the brightest quasar; and the companion star to one of the first black hole candidates ever discovered. Each object is accompanied by beautiful photographs and sketches, original finder charts, visual histories and up-to-date astrophysical information to enrich the observing experience. Featuring galaxies, clusters and nebulae not covered in other Deep-Sky Companions books, this is a wonderful addition to the series and an essential guide for any deep-sky observer.