Before the astonishing revolution in astronomy of the last few years the universe was almost the exclusive property of astronomers and astrophysicists. Speculation about the nature of the stars, the origin and nature of the quasars, the possibility of life on other planets , pulsars, supernovae and white dwarfs had filtered down to us almost as science fiction. Now the universe is common property, and this book presents portraits of the most unusual, remarkable, extreme and interesting objects near and far. Each object is described in terms anyone can understand and illustrated with spectacular photographs. |