All of science springs from the observation of nature. In this classic book, the late Professor Minnaert accompanies the reader on a tour of nature's light and color and reveals the myriad phenomena that may be observed outdoors with no more than a pair of eyes and an enquiring mind. From the intriguing shape of the dapples beneath a tree on a sunny day, via rainbows, mirages, and haloes, the colors of liquid, ice, and the sky, to the appearance of the sun, moon, planets, and stars - Minnaert describes and explains them all in a clear language accessible to laymen. This new English edition is supplemented by 80 plates, over half of them in color, taken by the acclaimed photographer Pekka Parviainen, illustrating many of the phenomena - ordinary and exotic - discussed in the book.

An important, open research topic today is to understand the relevance that dark matter halo substructure may have for dark matter searches. In the standard cosmological model, halo substructure or subhalos are predicted to be largely abundant inside larger halos, for example, galaxies such as ours, and are thought to form first and later merge to form larger structures. Dwarf satellite galaxies—the most massive exponents of halo substructure in our own galaxy—are already known to be excellent targets for dark matter searches, and indeed, they are constantly scrutinized by current gamma-ray experiments in the search for dark matter signals. Lighter subhalos not massive enough to have a visible counterpart of stars and gas may be good targets as well, given their typical abundances and distances. In addition, the clumpy distribution of subhalos residing in larger halos may boost the dark matter signals considerably. In an era in which gamma-ray experiments possess, for the first time, the exciting potential to put to test the preferred dark matter particle theories, a profound knowledge of dark matter astrophysical targets and scenarios is mandatory should we aim for accurate predictions of dark matter-induced fluxes for investing significant telescope observing time on selected targets and for deriving robust conclusions from our dark matter search efforts. In this regard, a precise characterization of the statistical and structural properties of subhalos becomes critical. In this Special Issue, we aim to summarize where we stand today on our knowledge of the different aspects of the dark matter halo substructure; to identify what are the remaining big questions, and how we could address these; and, by doing so, to find new avenues for research.

"The art of war. Your artistic skills will be tested, Spartan. Arm yourself and prepare for intense coloring action as you drop into forty-four black-and-white original illustrations filled with your favorite characters and vehicles from the Halo® franchise. Create patterns and add some color to Master Chief, the UNSC Infinity, and more!"--Page 4 of cover

In Endless Andness, Mieke Bal pioneers a new understanding of the political potential of abstract art which does not passively yield its meaning to the viewer but creates it anew - an art perceived not only through the retina but experienced viscerally. In this book, the third of her companion volumes on art's political agency, Bal explores perception through an intense engagement with the work of Belgian sculptor Ann Veronica Janssens. In a series of vividly-recalled encounters with Janssen's practice over a number of years, Balpresents a new conception of embodied perception - art experienced in a body conjured into participation and transformed by the experience. From Janssens' 'mist room' works and the CorpsNoir sculptures through to the fugitive, porous Aerogel, Bal traces an art which eludes the subject-object distinction to alter our ideas about the potential of political art in abstract and figurative forms. Enticing us simultaneously to lose ourselves and to come home, the tenuous materiality of installation art empowers those who live in the permanently lost and migratoryc ondition that characterizes contemporary experience. In celebrating and interrogating the work of this prolific and innovative artist, Mieke Baltransforms our understanding of non-representational art to create a new awareness of perception and performance in the shared spaces of our world.

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to the Second Edition The development of astronomy in the last ten years has been nothing short of explosive. This second edition of The New Cosmos, considerably revised and enlarged, tries to share this development with its readers. Let us mention a few key words: from mo on landings, planetary probes, aild continental drift through pulsars, X-ray and y-ray sources, interstellar molecules, quasars, and the structure and evolution of stars and stellar systems right up to cosmological models. As before, the most important task of this book is to give a not too difficult introduction to present-day astronomy and astrophysics, both to the student of astronomy and to the specialist from a neighboring discipline. We therefore draw to the attention of the reader, as an essential part of our description, the numerous illustrations-many of them new-and their detailed captions. As far as possible we link a description of important observations with basic features of the theory. On the other hand, when it comes to detail we often content ourselves with abrief description, leaving the detailed explanation to the specialist literature. The transition to the specialist literature should be eased by the Bibliography at the end of the book. Important new investigations are noted in the text by their year, not so much for historical reasons as to enable the original work to be found in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts (1969 on).

Star clusters are at the heart of astronomy, being key objects for our understanding of stellar evolution and galactic structure. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and other modern equipment have revealed fascinating new facts about these galactic building blocks. This book provides two comprehensive and up-to-date, pedagogically designed reviews on star clusters by two well-known experts in the field. Bruce Carney presents our current knowledge of the relative and absolute ages of globular clusters and the chemical history of our Galaxy. Bill Harris addresses globular clusters in external galaxies and their use as tracers of galaxy formation and cosmic distance indicators. The book is written for graduate students as well as professionals in astronomy and astrophysics.