15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun

Description

One of the world's brightest science stars explains that there's more to the Sun than meets the eye. 110 times wider than Earth; 15 million degrees at its core; an atmosphere so huge that Earth is actually within it- come and meet the star of our solar system Light takes eight minutes to reach Earth from the surface of the Sun. But its journey within the Sun takes hundreds of thousands of years. What is going on in there? What are light and heat? How does the Sun produce them and how on earth did scientists discover this? In this astonishing and enlightening adventure, you'll travel millions of miles from inside the Sun to its surface and to Earth, where the light at the end of its journey is allowing you to read right now. You'll discover how the Sun works (including what it sounds like), the latest research in solar physics and how a solar storm could threaten everything we know. And you'll meet the groundbreaking scientists, including the author, who pieced this extraordinary story together.

Professor Lucie Green is a solar physicist at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory and regularly appears on the BBC's Star Gazing Live with Brian Cox, the Today programme, The Infinite Monkey Cage, BBC Breakfast, Sky at Night and 10 O'clock Live. She works with the world's major space agencies (including NASA), and is helping build Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency spacecraft that will gradually work its way into an orbit that takes in closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury.

This is a fabulous introduction to our home star, written with an insight and an enthusiasm that makes it very approachable... there's far more to the Sun than you might suspect -- Helen Czerski, author of 'The Storm in a Teacup' Wonderful...makes you simply gaze out of the window pondering for a while. The future of solar science is bright, and Lucie Green an inspiring guide -- Lewis Dartnell * Daily Telegraph * This book takes a fascinating look at a literally brilliant subject... one of the most enjoyable books about science you could hope to find -- Paul Sutherland * Book of the Month - BBC Sky at Night Magazine * Thrilling ... Lucie Green's huge enthusiasm for the Sun is apparent throughout -- Pippa Goldschmidt * Spectator * Green, a solar physicist at University College London, is an engaging and careful companion. She is clearly enamoured of her subject and keen to acknowledge those who have gone before her ... Reading this book confirms what I felt as a student: that truly understanding the Sun is as much about philosophy as it is about physics -- Anjana Ahuja * Financial Times * Green's enthusiasm for her subject is infectious ... [a] fine book -- Marcus Chown * Times Higher Education * The author's passionate enthusiasm for her subject shines through on every page ... an outstanding and eminently readable book which conveys a remarkably comprehensive and wide-ranging account of our nearest star -- Iain Nicholson * Astronomy Now * Professor Green has been studying the sun for 20 years and her passion for her 'favourite star' burns from every page -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *