Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space

  • Kevin Peter Hand
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS: 2020. 304PP. £22.00

Oceans are the cradle of life on Earth. Kevin Hand starts his story at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, only to catapult us towards the different kinds of oceans found in our Solar System. From Europa to Titan and beyond, this book discusses the relevance and variety of oceans in the Solar System and their potential for astrobiology. The author discusses how we look for and study alien oceans and what the future holds for this increasingly popular field of research. This is a book well suited to the general public, with very accessible prose, and science interspersed with personal anecdotes and witty analogies.

Star Clusters: From the Milky Way to the Early Universe

  • Angela Bragaglia,
  • Melvyn Davies,
  • Alison Sills &
  • Enrico Vesperini
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS: 2020. 576PP. £98.00

Stellar clusters are the perfect bridge between galaxies and their stars. This International Astronomical Union symposium book of proceedings records discussions on topics ranging from stellar populations and galactic archaeology, to stellar clusters and dwarf galaxies and their role in building larger galaxies. Particular emphasis was given to the comparison of local and high-redshift stellar clusters, made possible by the ever-increasing sensitivity of new telescopes and dedicated surveys, as well as results from Gaia and the Hubble Space Telescope that revealed the internal dynamics of these systems and what they can tell us about their evolution.

Galaxies: Inside the Universe’s Star Cities

  • David J. Eicher
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE: 2020. 256PP. US$30.00

Galaxies are made of billions of stars, and their formation and evolution have long occupied astronomers. In five easy-to-follow chapters, David Eicher explains what galaxies are and what we know about them, from the Milky Way to our neighbours, like Andromeda, and those further away. The book is equal parts text and spectacular pictures. The author tackles most of the key astrophysical concepts relating to the properties of galaxies, how they form and how they evolve. This book is an accessible visual guide to the field of galaxies for the layperson, and a compendium of some of the most beautiful cosmic vistas available today.