The Pillars of Creation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Reading the Sky

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 1-46

3. In the Eye of the Beholder

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 47-88

4. The Dark Clouds Revealed

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 89-120

5. The Hyperfine Split and Atomic Jitters

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 121-178

6. In the Grip of Gravity

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 179-233

7. It’s a Far Flung Life

   • Martin Beech

   Pages 235-256

8. Back Matter

   Pages 257-269

   PDF

This book explores the mechanics of star formation, the process by which matter pulls together and creates new structures. Written for science enthusiasts, the author presents an accessible explanation of how stars are born from the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds. Stars produce the chemicals that lead to life, and it is they that have enabled the conditions for planets to form and life to emerge.

Although the Big Bang provided the spark of initiation, the primordial universe that it sired was born hopelessly sterile. It is only through the continued recycling of the interstellar medium, star formation, and stellar evolution that the universe has been animated beyond a chaotic mess of elementary atomic particles, radiation, dark matter, dark energy, and expanding spacetime. Using the Milky Way and the Eagle Nebula in particular as case studies, Beech follows every step of this amazing process.

• Interstellar medium
• Formation of chemicals in star factories
• Stellar evolution
• how do stars form?
• Intro to star creation
• What happens in nebula
• Nebula star formation
• Birth of stars
• Chemical molecules and stars

“The Pillars of Creation is an excellent mix of the history of astronomy and physics together with modern astronomy and chemistry without too many difficult terms or equations … . Reading this book was an enjoyable experience, as various angles on the same topic or same astronomical object were presented … . All in all though, it's an excellent account of how molecular clouds form, how stars are born and how they end their lives … .” (AstroMadness.com, October 30, 2019)

• Campion College, At The University of Regina, Regina, Canada

  Martin Beech

Martin Beech is a Professor and Department Head of Astronomy at Campion College, The University of Regina, Canada. He has an MSc from Sussex, UK, and earned his PhD at Western Ontario. He has written several books for Springer, most recently "Alpha Centauri: Unveiling the Secrets of Our Nearest Stellar Neighbor" (2015).

Policies and ethics