Unveiling Galaxies: The Role of Images in Astronomical Discovery

by Jean-René Roy

Overview

Galaxies are known as the building blocks of the universe, but arriving at this understanding has been a thousand-year odyssey. This journey is told through the lens of the evolving use of images as investigative tools. Initial chapters explore how early insights developed in line with new methods of scientific imaging, particularly photography. The volume then explores the impact of optical, radio and x-ray imaging techniques. The final part of the story discusses the importance of atlases of galaxies; how astronomers organised images in ways that educated, promoted ideas and pushed for new knowledge. Images that created confusion as well as advanced knowledge are included to demonstrate the challenges faced by astronomers and the long road to understanding galaxies. By examining developments in imaging, this text places the study of galaxies in its broader historical context, contributing to both astronomy and the history of science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108266246
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/12/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	44 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jean-René Roy is a retired astronomer who was a professor at Université Laval, Québec, from 1977 to 2000. Since then he has served as Deputy Director and Head of Science at the Gemini Observatory in Hawai'i and Chile and worked at the Large Facilities Office of the National Science Foundation and finally at the Space Telescope Science Institute. He has done research on the Sun, the interstellar medium, and the evolution of gas-rich galaxies. A new edition of his previous book, A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy, was published in 2017.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Images and the Cosmos: 1. Viewing heavenly mist; 2. Portraying cosmic whirlpools; 3. Taking celestial snapshots to photographing the realm of Galaxies; 4. Picturing 'nebulae' for the mind; Part II. Images as Galaxy Discovery Engines: 5. The one-thousand years journey; 6. Galaxies in focus; 7. A symphony of waves; 8. Imaging the invisible; Part III. Organizing the World of Galaxies: 9. The Galaxy classification play-off; 10. Atlases of Galaxies, picturing island-universes; 11. Galaxy Atlases viewed by their users; Conclusion.