The Little Book of Stars

Following on the success of the first of the "Little Books...: (Hogan, Little Book of the Big Bang), Kaler examines all aspects of the nature, birth, life and death of stars, and their meaning for us. Technical detail is kept to a minimum. The book is meant to be read by interested laypeople.

From the reviews:

"Everything a popular science book should beit is a delight to read and is packed with accurate yet easy-to-digest scientific information." Physics World

Klappentext

The Little Book of Stars answers, in the clearest language, the questions anyone might have about our heavenly canopy. How are stars born? How do they die? Why do they shine? How long do they shine? Is our star, the Sun, dying? How can you tell time from the stars? Or navigate? What are the measures of stars? Can we ever travel to other stars? In this engagingly written and concise book, the second in the Little Book series, noted astronomer James B. Kaler shows us "the significance that the stars have had in human life, how we have used them to tell our stories, and how we use them to find who and where we are."

Inhalt
Stars: Beginnings. Defining a star. Chemical composition. Age. Gravitational compression. Nuclear reactions.- Collections: Distances and luminosities. Doubles, multiples, and masses. Clusters. Our Galaxy. Other galaxies. The universe of galaxies.- Kinds: The Sun. Spectra and classes. The HR diagram. Dwarfs and giants. Supergiants. White dwarfs.- Parade: The night sky. Constellations. Naming the stars. Your fortune please. Timekeepers. The navigator.- Bazaar: Variable stars. Pitch and catch. Strange. chemistries. Planetary nebulae. Supernovae. Neutron stars.- Linkages: Main sequence evolution. Growth. Transformation. Cataclysm. Darkness.- Dawn: Nebulae. Building blocks. Collapse. Birth. Disks and planets. Looking outward.