A 21st-Century introduction to the mysteries of space and the universe.

Robin Kerrod was a major contributor to the DK Science Encyclopedia and co-authored The Way Science Works. Giles Sparrow is a professional science writer and was a contributor to DK's Space Encyclopedia. Dr. Jacqueline Mitton has a doctorate in astronomy and has written several titles including The Penguin Dictionary of Astronomy.

Looking at the Universe: the story of astronomy; our place in space; building blocks; universal forces; radiation; tools of the trade; backyard astronomy; the night sky; northern stars; southern stars; the changing heavens; exploring space. The solar system: empire of the sun; orbiting the sun; birth of the solar system; inside the planets; craters and volcanoes; planetary atmospheres; moons and rings; asteroids and ice dwarfs; comets; meteors and meteorites; life in the solar system. The planets: family of planets; Mercury; Venus; Earth; inside Earth; the Moon; the lunar world; Mars - the red planet; the Martian surface; Jupiter; Jupiter's moons; Saturn; Uranus; Neptune; Pluto and Charon. The stars: stars near and far; our local star; the stormy sun; space weather; distant stars; starlight; a star is born; varieties of stars; stars with planets; clusters and binaries; between the stars; death of sunlike stars; death of massive stars; pulsars and black holes. Galaxies: star islands; our home galaxy; inside the Milky Way; galaxies galore; active galaxies; our galactic neighbours; galaxy clusters. Mysterious universe: the shape of the universe; spacetime and relativity; the big bang; dark matter; space and time travel; life in the universe?. Space data.