The biggest questions in astronomy are those of how the planets, stars, galaxies
and the Universe were formed. Origins describes how over the last decade astronomers
have discovered the answers to three of these fundamental questions. Starting with
the space missions that uncovered the haphazard history of our own planetary system,
the book travels out into space and backwards in time. It describes the discovery of
other planetary systems and their connection to extraterrestrial life, the first
moments in the life of a star, the birth of galaxies and the biggest question of all -
the origin of the Universe itself. Origins also tells the human stories behind the
discoveries: of the pioneers of the last electromagnetic frontier, of the cosmic
archaeologists who deciphered the history of galaxies, and of BOOMERANG, the telescope
that bounced back and showed that space is flat. The book also contains the first
account in print of how astronomers showed that Pluto is not a planet.

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