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The Universe Contents
Foreword
The Sun
Orientation
Atmosphere
Heliosphere
Solar Flares
History
In Popular Culture
Mercury
Orientation
Magnetosphere
History
BepiColombo Mission
In Popular Culture
Caloris Planitia
Pantheon Fossae
Raditladi Basin
Rachmaninoff Crater
Caloris Montes
Venus
Orientation
Atmosphere
History
In Popular Culture
Mariner 2
Magellan Mission
Signs of Life
Baltis Vallis
Maat Mons
Alpha Regio
Maxwell Montes
Aphrodite Terra
Earth
Orientation
Atmosphere
Magnetosphere
History
NASA Earth Science
Mt Everest
Challenger Deep
Atacama Desert
Mauna Kea
Chicxulub Crater
Silfra
Death Valley
Antarctica
Great Barrier Reef
Amazon Rainforest
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Great Wall of China
The Moon
Orientation
History
In Popular Culture
Apollo 11
Orbital Gateway
Lunar Eclipses
Sea of Tranquility
South Pole-Aitken Crater
Copernicus Crater
Montes Apenninus
Oceanus Procellarum
Mars
Orientation
Mapping Mars
Martian Moons
Atmosphere & Magnetosphere
History
In Popular Culture
Investigating Mars
Curiosity Rover
InSight Lander
Travelling to Mars
Polar Caps
Tharsis Montes
Olympus Mons
Valles Marineris
Hellas Planitia
Bagnold Dune Field
Gale Crater
Elysium Planitia
Syrtis Major Planum
Utopia Planitia
Vastitas Borealis
Jupiter
Orientation
Atmosphere
History
Great Red Spot
Ring System
Surface
Clouds
Oceans
Magnetosphere
Juno Mission
Io
Europa
Ganymede
Callisto
Saturn
Orientation
History
Cassini Mission
Saturn’s Rings
Magnetosphere
Surface
Titan
Enceladus
Rhea, Dione & Tethys
Iapetus
Mimas
Phoebe
Uranus
Orientation
History
Surface/Atmosphere
Aurorae
Magnetosphere
Ring Systems
Miranda
Ariel
Umbriel
Oberon
Titania
Shepherd Moons
Neptune
Orientation
Magnetosphere
History
In Popular Culture
Surface/Atmosphere
Rings
Proteus
Triton
Nereid
Other Moons
Asteroid Belt/Asteroids
Bennu
Ceres
Chariklo
EH1
Eros
Ida
Itokawa
Phaethon
Psyche
Vesta
Kuiper Belt
Dwarf Planets
Eris
Farout
The Goblin
Haumea
Makemake
Pluto
Comets
Borrelly
C/1861 G1 Thatcher
Churyamov-Gerasimenko
Hale-Bopp
Halley
Hartley 2
ISON
’Oumuamua
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Swift-Tuttle
Tempel 1
Tempel-Tuttle
Wild 2
Oort Cloud
Exoplanets
2MASS J2126-814b
51 Pegasi b
55 Cancri
Barnard’s Star b
CoRoT-7b
CVSO 30b and c
Epsilon Eridani
Fomalhaut b
Gliese 163 b, c & d
Gliese 176 b
Gliese 436 b
Gliese 504 b
Gliese 581 b, c & e
Gliese 625b
Gliese 667 cb & cc
Gliese 832 b & c
Gliese 876 b, c, d & e
Gliese 3470 b
GQ Lupi b
HAT-P-7b
HAT-P-11b
HD 40307 g
HD 69830 b, c & d
HD 149026 b
HD 189733 b
HD 209458 b
HIP 68468 b & c
Kapteyn b & c
KELT-9b
Kepler-10b & c
Kepler-11b to g
Kepler-16 (AB)-b
Kepler-22b
Kepler-62b to f
Kepler-70b & c
Kepler-78b
Kepler-90b
Kepler-186b to f
Kepler-444b to f
Kepler-1625b
Kepler-1647 (AB)-b
Lich System (PSR B1257+12)
Methuselah’s Planet
Pi Mensae b & c
Pollux b
Proxima b
PSO J318.5-22
Ross 128 b
TRAPPIST-1
TrES-2b
WASP-12b
WASP-121 b
Wolf 1061 b, c & d
YZ Ceti b, c & d
Stellar Objects
Nebula & Protostars
Main Sequence Stars
Giant Stars
Binaries & Clusters
End of Life
Life Cycle of Stars
Spectra Classification
1E 2259+586
3C 273
Achernar
Aldebaran
Algol
Alpha Centauri A
Alpha Centauri B
Altair
Antares
Arcturus
Barnard’s Star
Betelgeuse
California Nebula
Canopus
Capella
Cat’s Eye Nebula
Crab Nebula
Cygnus X-1
Deneb
Dumbbell Nebula
Epsilon Aurigae
Eta Carinae
Ghost of Jupiter
GRS 1915+105
HE 1256-2738
HE 2359-2844
Helix Nebula
Herschel’s Garnet Star
HLX-1
Horsehead Nebula
HV 2112
IGR J17091-3624
Iris Nebula
Kepler’s Supernova
Kes 75
Little Dumbbell Nebula
Mira
MY Camelopardalis
North America Nebula
Omega Centauri
Orion Nebula
Owl Nebula
Pleiades
Polaris
Procyon
RCW 86
Regulus
Rigel
Ring Nebula
Rosette Nebula
Sagittarius A*
SAO 206462
SDSSJ0927+2943
SGR 1806-20
Sirius
Spica
Tabby’s Star
T Tauri
ULAS J1120+0641
UY Scuti
Vega
Veil Nebula
VY Canis Majoris
W40
Galaxies
Andromeda Galaxy
Black Eye Galaxy
Bode’s Galaxy
Canis Major Dwarf
Cartwheel Galaxy
Centaurus A
Cigar Galaxy
Circinus Galaxy
Condor Galaxy
Grand Spiral Galaxy
Hoag’s Object
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds
Malin 1 Galaxy
Markarian 231
M77
M87
NGC 1512
NGC 3370
Pinwheel Galaxy
Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
Sculptor Galaxy
Sombrero Galaxy
Sunflower Galaxy
Tadpole Galaxy
Triangulum Galaxy
W2246-0526
Whirlpool Galaxy
Colliding Galaxies
Antennae Galaxies
Arp 273
Mayall’s Object
NGC 2207 & IC 2163
NGC 2623
NGC 3256
Galaxy Clusters
Abell 1689
Bullet Cluster
El Gordo
Fornax Cluster
Local Group
Musket Ball Cluster
Norma Cluster
Pandora’s Cluster
Perseus Cluster
Phoenix Cluster
Virgo Cluster
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Author Biographies
A star being distorted by its close passage to a supermassive black hole at the centre of a
galaxy.
© SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Welcome to the Universe
Bill Nye
Lonely Planet’s The Universe gives us more perspective, often
breathtaking, more insight, often deep – and more unusual facts,
often ones you can’t find anywhere else, regarding the profound
happenstance of our existence. Simply put, the remarkable sequence
of cosmic accidents required to enable us to be here on this planet
and publish books like this one is astonishing. Unique to these pages
are wonderful comparisons of Earth with the other worlds of our
solar system and even those exoplanets orbiting other stars. They
drive home the jaw-dropping idea that you and I, and everything we
can observe around us, are made of the dust and gas blasted
spaceward by exploding ancient Suns. And from the stardust and
drifting gas, the extraordinary diversity of living things, including
animals like you and me, emerged. You and I are at least one way that
the cosmos knows itself. An utterly amazing idea that fills me with
reverence every time I think on it.
While you are going about your business every day, thinking about
what’s happening on Earth right now, this book will help you think
about a much grander timeline as well. From the comfortable surface
of Earth, our deep-thinking ancestors observed our planet and its
relationship, their relationship, to the night sky and the Sun. They
learned where to live and how to survive. From the icy blackness of
space, our spacecraft, built by our best scientists and engineers, make
further observations that relentlessly show us Earth is like no other
place in the solar system, and remains the only place we can live and
thrive. By understanding the changes here over recent millennia, we
can see that, if we’re going to continue to thrive, we must preserve
our environment. Otherwise, we’ll go extinct, like 90% of the species
that gave it a go on Earth before we showed up.
This cosmic perspective induces all of us to compare Earth to our
neighbouring worlds out there. It’s one thing to consider Earth as a
pretty big place, especially if you tried to walk around it. It’s another
thing to think that 1300 Earths would fit inside a sphere the size of
Jupiter, and over a million Earths would fit inside the volume of the
Sun. While we’re appreciating the visible differences of the traditional
planets, what you might call their qualitative differences, this book
helps us take it all in by the numbers, the planets’ (and exoplanets’)
quantitative differences, and beyond that, the differences between our
own Sun and the uncountable stars above, visible and invisible. In
here, these essential distinctions are spelled out – or counted up.
The rocky and metallic compositions of Mars, Venus, and Mercury
are very much like Earth’s, but the environments of these other
worlds are completely different. The text and pictures here will help
you understand why. The unique chemical composition of the rocks,
craters, and sands of the other worlds in the solar system has caused
these extraterrestrial environments to have chemistries that are
literally other worldly. These processes have conspired to produce
radically different surface temperatures on Mars and Venus. Our
discoveries in planetary science offer us a planet-sized lesson in the
importance of the greenhouse effect, how our planet became
habitable, and how the biochemistry of life changed the chemistry of
the atmosphere and sea.
The story carries out away from the Sun, where we find the gas-
giant planets: Jupiter and Saturn. They don’t seem to even have
surfaces as such. There’s nowhere to stand, but they’re so massive
that, if you got too close, their gravity would crush you quick. On out
further from the Sun we find Uranus and Neptune. They’re very large
and very cold, with enormous icy storm systems and winds moving at
fantastic speeds. All of these other worlds in our solar system, the
ones that are not Earth are very different, very interesting – and
utterly hostile.
As you turn these pages, learning the facts of everything from our
solar system to the far reaches of intergalactic space, consider that
there’s no other planet that we know of anywhere, upon which you
could even catch a breath to be taken away, or seek a deciliter of
water to be sipped – let alone be afforded an opportunity to live long
and prosper. The Earth is unique, amazing, and our home.
From a cosmic perspective, we are a pretty big deal. We’ve changed
the climate of a whole planet. Run the numbers for yourself. Climate
change is our doing. If we’re going to make it much farther on this
world, we’re going to have to engage in some un-doing. Right now, it’s
our chance to change things. We are but a speck in the cosmic
scheme. But it’s our speck, and the more we know and appreciate it,
the better chance we have keeping it hospitable for species like us.
When we leave the solar system, we find our star and its planets
are just one small part of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way is a
huge city of stars, so big that even at the speed of light, it would take
100,000 years to travel across it. All the stars in the night sky,
including our Sun, are just some of the residents of this galaxy, along
with millions of other stars too faint to be seen.
The further away a star is, the fainter it looks. Astronomers use this
as a clue to figure out the distance to stars that are very far away. But
how do you know if the star really is far away, or just not very bright
to begin with? This problem was solved in 1908 when Henrietta
Leavitt discovered a way to tell the ‘wattage’ of certain stars that
changed their pulse rate linked to their wattage. This allowed their
distances to be measured all the way across the Milky Way.
Beyond our own galaxy lies a vast expanse of galaxies. The deeper
we see into space, the more galaxies we discover. There are billions of
galaxies, the most distant of which are so far away that the light
arriving from them on Earth today set out from the galaxies billions
of years ago. So we see them not as they are today, but as they looked
long before there was any life on Earth.
Finding the distance to these very distant galaxies is challenging,
but astronomers can do so by watching for incredibly bright
exploding stars called supernovae. Some types of exploding stars have
a known brightness – wattage – so we can figure out how far they are
by measuring how bright they appear to us, and therefore the
distance to their home galaxy. These are called ‘standard candles’.
So how big is the Universe? No one knows if the Universe is
infinitely large, or even if ours is the only Universe that exists. And
other parts of the Universe, very far away, might be quite different
from the Universe closer to home. At the time of publication using
our most advanced technology and given the current size of the ever-
expanding Universe, scientists estimate it is roughly 46 billion light
years, or 440 sextillion km (274 sextillion mi). If it’s hard to wrap your
head around that number, welcome to the club. The Universe is
almost inconceivably big, and we have only observed a small portion
of it (astronomers estimate we have observed roughly 4% of the
known Universe).
This Hubble Space Telescope image captures the effect of gravitational lensing by dark
matter in a galaxy cluster.
© SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Modern Observational Methods
In 1609 an Italian physicist and astronomer named Galileo became
the first person to point a telescope skyward. Although that telescope
was small and the images fuzzy, Galileo was able to make out
mountains and craters on the moon, as well as a ribbon of diffuse
light arching across the sky – which would later be identified as our
Milky Way Galaxy. After Galileo’s and, later, Sir Isaac Newton’s time,
astronomy flourished as a result of larger and more complex
telescopes. With advancing technology, astronomers discovered many
faint stars and the calculation of stellar distances. In the 19th century,
using a new instrument called a spectroscope, astronomers gathered
information about the chemical composition and motions of celestial
objects.
Twentieth century astronomers developed bigger and bigger
telescopes and, later, specialised instruments that could peer into the
distant reaches of space and time. Eventually, enlarging telescopes no
longer improved our view, because the atmosphere which helps
sustain life on Earth causes substantial distortion and reduction in
our ability to view distant celestial objects with clarity.
Hubble Space Telescope in orbit.
© JURGEN FALCHLE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Today’s observatories have significantly larger apertures than the basic telescopes of
Galileo’s day, but the principle is the same.
© ALEXANDER CASPARI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Today’s Telescopes
Around the world, astronomers, space scientists and astrophysicists
plying the depths of the Universe work in a variety of scientific fields,
combining physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences to advance
human knowledge of space. Much of their work relies on data from
telescopes devoted to the observation of celestial objects. These can
be either ground-based (located here on our planet) or space-based,
rotating in orbit around Earth.
Ground-based telescopes are typically located in places around the
world that meet a certain set of observing conditions. Broadly
speaking, this includes locations with good air quality, low light
pollution, and often high altitude to reduce the impact of the
atmosphere on observations. Generally, you’ll find the world’s top
observatories on mountains, in deserts, and/or on islands –
sometimes a combination of all three. Well-known locations with
multiple ground-based telescopes include Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the
Atacama Desert in Chile, and the Canary Islands.
Space-based telescopes are, as their name suggests, located outside
the Earth’s atmosphere in orbit. As such, they often have much
greater ability to capture high-resolution images of celestial objects,
unaffected by the interference of our atmosphere. The most popular
space telescopes include the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes,
both operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in California. Other
space telescopes include the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS) and forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope (which will
replace the Hubble).
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upon such terms, conditions, and limitations as to its
internal status as may best subserve the interests of the
United States, and it is not necessary to invest such
territory with the full status of an integral part of the
Union.
{671}
"The Government of the United States has been vested not with
all powers but only with certain particular powers. These
particular delegated powers are in some respects limited and
confined in scope and operation, but in other respects they
are entirely unlimited. So that the real and practical
question is whether there is any limitation preventing the
particular thing here complained of.
{672}
"This was the form in which the article stood when the whole
draft was referred to the committee of eleven, but when
reported back September 12, it constituted the second clause
of the sixth article and declared that the Constitution and
laws and the treaties made and to be made should be 'the
supreme law of the land,' and so it now stands as part of the
Constitution. If the clause had been adopted in the form
agreed to in the committee and inserted in the first draft,
there would have been at least a certain degree of
plausibility in the argument made here for the Government, but
even in that case we think the powers of Congress would have
been limited whenever and wherever it might attempt to
exercise them. But it is argued here that the history of the
Constitution and the language employed in the preamble, and in
some other places, show that it was intended to establish a
government only for such of the States then existing as might
ratify it, and such other States as might thereafter be
admitted into the Union, and that, therefore, while it confers
power upon Congress to govern Territories, it does not require
that body to govern them in accordance with the supreme law of
the land; that is, in accordance with the instrument from
which the power to govern is derived. Even if the premises
were true, the conclusion would not follow; but is it true
that the Constitution was ordained and established for the
government of the States only? If so, how did it happen that
the great men who framed that instrument made it confer the
power to govern Territories as well as States? It is true that
the Constitution was ordained and established by the people of
the States, but it created a National Government for national
purposes, not a mere league or compact between the States, and
jurisdiction was conferred upon that Government over the whole
national domain, whatever its boundaries might be. It is not
true that the Government was established only for the States,
their inhabitants or citizens, but if it were true, then it
could exercise no power outside of the States, and this court
would have to put a new construction upon that provision which
authorizes Congress to dispose of and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting the territory, or other property,
belonging to the United States. The necessary construction of
that clause would be that it conferred power only to dispose
of land or other property, and to make necessary rules and
regulations respecting land or other property belonging to the
United States; that is, belonging to the several States
composing the Union. It would confer no power whatever to
govern the people outside of the States."
{673}
"Nor is it true that at the time this declaration was made all
independent states or nations claimed and exercised the right
to acquire, hold and govern foreign dependencies, and no state
or nation then recognized its obligation to confer on the
people of such acquired territory the privileges and
immunities enjoyed by the people of the home government,
except at its own will and discretion. It is true that all
independent states claimed and exercised the right to acquire
territory, but if it were important in this case I think the
arguments of Pitt, Camden and Barre could be used to establish
the proposition that under the British Constitution as it
then was, that nation had, from the time of King John and the
Great Charter until King George, recognized that its subjects
had essential rights not dependent upon the 'will and
discretion' of the home government. It is unnecessary to
follow that subject here. It is sufficient that the
Declaration of Independence was brought about by the assertion
on the part of King George and his ministers of precisely the
present doctrine of this administration and its
representatives in this court. If value is to be attached to
contemporary history that fact cannot be lost sight of. The
speeches of Grenville and Townshend in favor of unlimited
power on the part of Parliament over the American colonists
and their affairs have been substantially parodied in Congress
by the advocates of unrestrained power over our 'colonies,' as
it is now unfortunately fashionable to denominate them. The
signers of the Declaration of Independence held that as
subjects of the British Constitution there was no right to
impose taxes upon them without their consent, to deprive them
of trial by jury, to deprive them of their legislatures, and
to declare Parliament in vested with power to legislate for
them 'in all cases whatsoever.' These and other grievances
were held denials of rights belonging to every British subject
as such and to justify rebellion and war. It seems impossible
that a people who rebelled for such reasons established a
State invested with the very power which they had denied to
the British government and the assertions of which made
rebellion necessary.
"In fact, we submit that this court has already held that
sovereign power in the sense that the words are used in the
law of nations as prerogative rights of the King or Emperor,
not only is not vested in the United States or in any branch
of its government, but cannot be so vested. The sovereign
power is with the people. In leaving it with the people our
government marked a departure from all that had previously
existed."
Supreme Court of the United States,
October Term, 1900, Number 419:
C. H. Aldrich, Argument in reply.
{674}
{675}
Said another: "How would anybody find out how many people in
the State of Mississippi were disfranchised for the reasons
stated in this resolution? There is there an educational
qualification. How are you to determine how many of the men in
the State of Mississippi who did not vote, did not vote
because they were disfranchised under the educational
qualification? Then there is a qualification in extension and
not in limitation of the suffrage, saying that even those who
can not read and write may still vote, provided they can give
an understanding interpretation of the Constitution or any
part of it. How are you going to determine how many are
disqualified by that? And then there is a qualification which
says that those can not vote who shall not by a certain time
have paid their poll tax. Out of the number of people who did
not vote, how are you going to determine which of them have
not voted because of the educational qualification? Which
because of the understanding qualification? Which because of
the poll-tax qualification? Which because of the registration
qualification? How many because of the pure Australian ballot
which exists in the State of Mississippi? … There is not a
State in the Union which has the Australian ballot which by
the very fact and the necessity of voting according to that
Australian ballot does not prevent the citizen who can not
read and write from voting if he votes a split ticket of any
sort."
"We will not review the past by any discussion of the question
as to whether the provisions of the fourteenth amendment
should have been made effective when the last apportionment
was made ten years ago. We find to-day conditions existing
which make its enforcement imperative. I do not propose to
discuss at this time whether the reasons given for these
abridgments by the people of the various States are valid or
not. … I am simply pointing out the conditions as they exist;
I am simply pointing out that the time has come when the
tendency of the States to abridge their electorates has grown
to such proportions as to demand that this Congress shall
proceed in a constitutional manner in making the new
apportionment. I do not say that States have not the right to
establish educational qualifications for their electors, but I
do maintain that when they have done so they must pay the penalty
prescribed in the Constitution, and have their representation
abridged proportionately.
{676}
I do not say that we shall punish only Louisiana;
I do not say that we shall punish only Massachusetts;
I do not say that we shall punish only California;
but I do say and insist, as the representative of a State in
which every male member 21 years of age and over is guaranteed
the sacred right of franchise, that there is a constitutional
remedy prescribed for their acts, and I do demand that that
remedy be applied."
STATES.
REQUIREMENTS AS TO CITIZENSHIP. [First paragraph]
ALABAMA.
Citizen of United States, or alien who has declared intention.
ARKANSAS.
Citizen of United States, or alien who has declared intention.
CALIFORNIA.
Citizen by nativity, naturalization, or treaty of Queretaro.