Absolute Expert: Space: All the Latest Facts from the Field

by Joan Marie Galat

Overview

Discover everything you've ever wanted to know about space in a stellar book for aspiring experts, featuring exclusive astronomical insights and info from National Geographic explorer and astrophysicist Munazza Alam!

Ready to go on an out-of-this world adventure? Travel across the Milky Way and into new galaxies to explore every corner of space so YOU can become an absolute expert. Get up close to the sun and moon, asteroids and comets. Learn about the Oort Cloud, supernovas, black holes, and rockets and other spacecraft. Discover the incredible work of astronauts, astronomers, physicists, and other cool space scientists. On this journey across the universe, you'll make your way from our familiar home here on Earth to planets and solar systems that are many light-years away. Rub elbows with the stars on this cosmic adventure complete with special features, sidebars, wacky trivia, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426336690
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/26/2020
Series:	Absolute Expert
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	501,915
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

JOAN GALAT is the award-winning author of more than 20 books. Her most recent titles include Solve This! Wild and Wacky Challenges for the Genius Engineer in You (National Geographic Kids, 2018) and Stories in the Clouds (Dot to Dot series from Whitecap Books, 2018), which combines the science of the night sky with the ancient myths that give constellations and planets their names. Her books for children explore light pollution, ecology, nature, volcanoes, wildlife, engineering, printmaking, cultural traditions, and history. Her titles include both fiction and nonfiction, often with a focus on one or more STEM or STEAM topics.

MUNAZZA ALAM is an astrophysicist who studies low-mass stars and the atmospheric properties of unusual space objects known as brown dwarfs (objects form like stars, but cool and fade over time to look like gas giant planets such as Jupiter). She has collected data for her research by using world-class telescopes all over the globe, including Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona; Mauna Kea Observatories in Hilo, Hawai'i; and Las Campanas Observatory in La Serena, Chile.

Table of Contents

Foreword by National Geographic Explorer Munazza Alam 6

Chapter 1 What's Up? 8

Explorer Introduction 10

Where Does Space Begin? 12

Distances in Space 13

Everything Is Moving: Gravity's Influence 14

Motion in Space 16

What's Goin Round? 17

Our Place in Space 18

Over the Moon: What's Out There? 20

Elements 23

Sun Huggers and Gas Giants 24

Dwarf Planets and Beyond 36

Comets and Meteoroids 40

Space Watch: Spot a Meteor! 42

Space Lab: Gravity Games 44

Chapter 2 Beyond Our Solar System 46

Explorer Introduction 48

Stars Under Construction 50

Main Sequence Stars 50

Giant Stars 51

Dwarf Stars 52

When a Star Collapses 53

Invisible Stars 54

Bright Today, Dim Tomorrow 55

On the Bright Side 56

Seeing Double 57

Hot Jupiters 58

Brighter Than a Trillion Suns 60

Light From Gas 60

Neutron Stars 63

Space Watch: Spot These Bright Stars! 64

Space Lab: Make a Model of a Black Hole 66

Chapter 3 Journey to Space 68

Explorer Introduction 70

Why Explore Space? 72

Exploring From Earth 72

Exploring From Space 74

The international Space Station 81

Early Space Stations 82

Space Litter 83

Ready, Set, Go-to Space! 84

Space Technology Spin-Offs 85

Donning a Suit for Space 85

A Day on the ISS 86

How Can You Become an Astronaut? 87

Space Watch: Spot a Satellite or Space Junk! 88

Space Lab: Make a Rocket! 90

Chapter 4 Our Universe 92

Explorer Introduction 94

The Big Bang 96

Clusters of Galaxies 96

Dark Matter and Dark Energy 97

Hello Out There 98

Are We Alone? 98

Lights Out! 100

Space Jobs 101

Three Ways to See the Night Sky 103

Space Watch: Spot a Naked-Eye Galaxy! 104

Space Lab: Bend Light-Reflection and Refraction in Action 106

Glossary 108

Index 109

Credits 111