"A non-fiction introduction to the massive scale of the known universe"--

Introduces black holes, describing their physical features, how they were discovered, what causes them, and where they exist in space.

Describes an imaginary journey through the night sky, from joining Orion on a hunt to hitching up the North Star for a ride. Includes facts about astronomy, the solar system, and constellations.

Author has found clever devices to scale down everything from time lines (the history of Earth compressed into one year), to quantities (all the wealth in the world divided into one hundred coins), to size differences (the planets shown as different types of balls).

Do you wonder if humans are the only beings who wonder if they are alone in the universe? Our Sun is a star. In the night sky are all kinds of stars, and orbiting those stars are planets like the ones in our own solar system. Some of those planets are too big to be habitable. Or too small. Too hot or too cold. Planet Earth is not too big, not too small, not too hot, and not too cold. It's just right - our very own Goldilocks planet. But there are...

"This revised edition provides exciting new information and spectacular photographs of planets, moons, stars and galaxies ..."--Cover back.

Provides an introduction to astronomy, discussing how planets get their names, the best time to spot a "shooting star," and why the moon changes shape.

Provides information about black holes, explaining how stars become black holes, looking at the types of black holes, and discussing what is inside a black hole and how scientists study them.

Discusses the work that astronomers do as they study the stars to learn more about the universe.