Pocket Genius: Space: Facts at Your Fingertips

Description

From marvelous galleries of the Big Dipper, Little Dipper and other constellations to in-depth looks at Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and to the moons of Jupiter, comets, and galaxies -- not to mention entries on rockets and spacecraft -- Pocket Genius: Space opens up the vast and mysterious expanse of space. What is a nebula? Why does an eclipse occur? How does a telescope work? Featuring more than 170 planets, stars, rockets, and rovers, Pocket Genius: Space answers the questions young readers want to know. Redesigned in paperback, DK's best-selling Pocket Genius series is now available in an engaging compact and economical format that is ideal for both browsing and quick reference for use in school and at home. Catalog entries packed with facts provide at-a-glance information, while locator icons offer immediately recognizable references to aid navigation and understanding, and fact files round off the book with fun facts such as record breakers and timelines. Each pocket-size encyclopedia is filled with facts on subjects ranging from animals to history, cars to dogs, and Earth to space and combines a child-friendly layout with engaging photography and bite-size chunks of text that will encourage and inform even the most reluctant readers. 3 Contents 4 What is out there? 6 The scale of the universe 8 The Big Bang 10 What is the universe made of? 12 The electromagnetic spectrum 14 Mapping the night sky 16 The northern sky 18 The southern sky 22 Studying Space 24 How telescopes work 26 Ground-based telescopes 30 Space telescopes 34 The Solar System 36 The Sun’s family 38 The rocky planets 40 The giant planets 44 Planetary features 56 The Moon 58 Moons 66 Dwarf planets 68 Asteroids 70 Comets 72 Meteorites 74 Stars and Nebulae 76 Life cycle of a star 78 Stars 82 Star clusters 86 Exoplanets 88 Nebulae 98 Galaxies 100 What is a galaxy? 102 Galaxies 116 Exploring Space 118 Types of spacecraft 120 Rockets 124 Spacecraft 138 Manned missions 142 Space stations 146 Timeline of space exploration 148 Amazing facts 150 Glossary 152 Index 155 Acknowledgments