Disney Wonderful World of Space Book

Introduction 6

Planets & Moons 10

Mercury: The Heavy-Metal Planet 12

Venus: Too Hot to Handle! 14

Earth & Its Moon: Our Home Base 16

Mars: The Red Desert Planet 18

Jupiter: The Great Gas Giant 20

Stars 32

Constellations: Maps to the Stars 34

The Sun: Our Nearest Star 36

A Star is Born 38

Star Light, Star Bright 40

Red Giants 42

White Dwarfs & Supernovae 44

Black Holes 46

Star Pairs & Clusters 48

The Faraway Stars 50

Stars and Life on Earth 52

The Universe & Its Galaxies 54

The Big Bang 56

Galaxies: Islands in Space 58

A Cosmic Photo Album 60

The Milky Way Galaxy 62

The Local Group 64

Galaxy Clusters: The "Swiss Cheese" Universe 66

Galaxy Collisions and Mergers 68

Quasars: Tunnels to the Past 70

The Expanding Universe 72

Measuring Time: The Cosmic Year 74

Exploration & Discovery 76

Early Astronomy 78

Telescopes 80

Visible & Invisible Waves 82

Telescopes in Space 84

Radio Telescopes 86

Space Travelers 88

Robot Probes & Landers 90

The Search for Intelligent Life 92

Unsolved Mysteries 94

Astronomy All-Stars 96

Everyday Astronomy 98

Marking Time 100

Seasons 102

Phases of the Moon 104

Moon Madness & Lore 106

Eclipses of the Sun & Moon 108

Shooting Stars & Meteor Showers 110

Auroras & Other Lights 112

Finding the Constellations 114

A Sky Watcher's Calendar 116

Family Astronomy Activities 118

Star Maps 120

Conclusion 122

Glossary 123

Index 125