Rebel Star, Colin Stuart
Rebel Star, Colin Stuart
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Rebel Star
Our Quest to Solve the Great Mysteries of the Sun

Author: Colin Stuart

Narrator: Bruce Mann

Unabridged: 9 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/26/2019


Synopsis

A fascinating and comprehensive guide to the sun—our home star—and why understanding it is pivotal to our future existence here on Earth.

In 1869, a great mystery was born. As astronomers observed a total solar eclipse, for the first time they saw the faint glow of the solar corona, the sun's outer atmosphere. Measurements of a previously unknown wavelength that made up this solar light sparked hot debate among scientists, but it was another sixty years before they discovered that this wavelength was in fact iron being burned at a staggering 3 million degrees Celsius. With the sun's surface only 6,000 degrees, this shouldn't be possible. What we now knew about the sun appeared to defy the laws of physics—and nature.

But as well as being shrouded in intriguing mystery, the unpredictable nature of the sun's corona poses a serious threat to our life here on earth—the destructive potential of solar storms, caused by solar material traveling out into space at around 1 million miles an hour, is huge. Remaining beyond our reach until now, a new generation of ambitious solar missions are currently traveling closer to the sun than any previous spacecraft in history. As we enter this unprecedented era of heliophysics, there has never been a better time to get to grips with the workings of our home star.

About Colin Stuart

Colin Stuart is an astronomy journalist and author. He has written for the Guardian, the European Space Agency, and New Scientist, and is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He has also recently had an asteroid named after him. He is the author of 13 Journeys Through Space and Time and How to Live in Space.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on October 04, 2019

It would only be fair to expect that we knew everything there is to know about our friendly neighbourhood star, the Sun. After all, without it we certainly wouldn't be here, it's extremely close in astronomical turns and it has been studied for millennia. Yet, as Colin Stuart reveals, there's plenty......more

Goodreads review by Lois on September 08, 2020

Everything about the Sun in one book! Well, okay, not everything, there are still plenty of mysteries they are figuring out, and it's not a textbook, but hey, if you want to touch on some of the major ideas behind our sun, and stars in general since the sun is one, this is a good one to check out.......more

Goodreads review by Rudi on May 09, 2021

4 sterren , ik had op sommige stukken een kennisgebrek om goed te volgen , Mooi boek , 1 rebel ster minder dan 5 omdat ik het soms wat verwarrend vond met Europese miljoen miljard en dan eens Amerikaanse biljoen , en Fahrenheit/ Celsius het zou beter in 1 uitgelegd zijn ofwel duidelijk in het voorwo......more

Goodreads review by Hendrik on May 01, 2023

Helder boek voor mensen met een wetenschappelijke achtergrond. Zeer veel info en afkortingen maar schrijfstijl maakt dat het leesbaar blijft. Ik miste een duidelijk beeld van lopende projecten en de hypotheses die ze trachten te verifiëren.......more

Goodreads review by Luke on July 28, 2021

A pretty accessible entry into the science of the Sun and other stars. A good mix of hard science, biography of the scientists involved, as well as diagrams which help to elucidate some of the harder to grasp concepts. An all round introduction to stellar science.......more