The Milky Way: An Insider's Guide

This book offers an intimate guide to the Milky Way, taking readers on a grand tour of our home Galaxy's structure, genesis, and evolution, based on the latest astronomical findings. In engaging language, it tells how the Milky Way congealed from blobs of gas and dark matter into a spinning starry abode brimming with diverse planetary systems--some of which may be hosting myriad life forms and perhaps even other technologically communicative species.

William Waller vividly describes the Milky Way as it appears in the night sky, acquainting readers with its key components and telling the history of our changing galactic perceptions. The ancients believed the Milky Way was a home for the gods. Today we know it is but one galaxy among billions of others in the observable universe. Within the Milky Way, ground-based and space-borne telescopes have revealed that our Solar System is not alone. Hundreds of other planetary systems share our tiny part of the vast Galaxy. We reside within a galactic ecosystem that is driven by the theatrics of the most massive stars as they blaze through their brilliant lives and dramatic deaths. Similarly effervescent ecosystems of hot young stars and fluorescing nebulae delineate the graceful spiral arms in our Galaxy's swirling disk. Beyond the disk, the spheroidal halo hosts the ponderous--and still mysterious--dark matter that outweighs everything else. Another dark mystery lurks deep in the heart of the Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole has produced bizarre phenomena seen at multiple wavelengths.

Waller makes the case that our very existence is inextricably linked to the Galaxy that spawned us. Through this book, readers can become well-informed galactic "insiders"--ready to imagine humanity's next steps as fully engaged citizens of the Milky Way.

"Clearly written, splendidly up-to-date, and full of delightful analogies, this book is the natural heir to Bok's The Milky Way. It explores and explains our Galaxy in a way accessible to all readers and will excite anyone who craves an adventure of the mind and imagination."--Andrew Fraknoi, professor of astronomy, Foothill College

"The Milky Way takes readers on a nontechnical journey through our Galaxy, and strikes a nice balance between the personal, the poetic, and the educational--it also moves at a good pace. Waller communicates the true wonder of nature, but he is also quite thorough and deep in his coverage of the latest science."--Mark Whittle, University of Virginia

"Waller presents a careful overview of the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, with informative asides into the history of astronomy, galaxy formation and evolution, and more recent observations. There is much of value here."--Gerry Gilmore, University of Cambridge

William H. Waller is an astronomer, science educator, and writer. He lives with his family in Rockport, Massachusetts, where he can still see the Milky Way on dark moonless nights.

Preface vii

Chapter 1: First Impressions 1

Chapter 2: Historic Perceptions 10

Chapter 3: Panchromatic Vistas 53

Chapter 4: Neighbors of the Sun 82

Chapter 5: Beacons from Afar 102

Chapter 6: Star Birth 127

Chapter 7: Lives of the Stars 148

Chapter 8: Stellar Afterlives 171

Chapter 9: The Galactic Garden 194

Chapter 10: Monster in the Core 221

Chapter 11: Tales of Origin 236

Chapter 12: Life in the Milky Way 251

Glossary 277

Notes 295

Selected Readings 303

Index 311