Cien mil millones de soles

by Rudolf Kippenhahn

How are the nuclear power plants we call "stars" formed? Where do they get their energy and how do they die-- and what does this suggest about the future of the universe? One of the most popular books written on astrophysics, 100 Billion Suns provides an exhilarating and authoritative life history of the stars.How are the nuclear power plants we call "stars" formed? Where do they get their energy and how do they die-- and what does this suggest about the future of the universe? One of the most popular books written on astrophysics, 100 Billion Suns provides an exhilarating and authoritative life history of the stars.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Space

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 1983

Reviews

[Travis Hull · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were all born in stars (really!), so it only seems natural for us to want to know how stars themselves are born. 100 Billion Suns is an good lay-description of how that happens. It does get a bit physics-y at times, but it is easily accessible to anyone who is willing to put a little effort into it. He talks about how stars die, but for a more complete, and more recent, discussion of that topic, I recommend Kip Thorne's "Black Holes and Time Warps"

[Guruprasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

After my perusal with Kip Thorne's "Black Holes and Time Warps", which dealt more about the stellar graveyard and the fate of stars, i picked this book to learn about what happens in the stellar nursery during ie, the birth of stars in nebulae, i would also recommend the book by Kip Thorne about Stellar death - "Black Holes and Time Warps" to completely know about the birth and death of stars from the beginning till the end - both the books can be understood with little effort.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was written 40 years ago yet it is compelling. Written from the perspective of someone on the front lines of discovery this is a fun and educational read. Many of the unknowns from the time of this book have been solved but damn it it was not a rip roaring good read. The best explanation of H-R diagrams I have come across. I want a 2020 version of this book!

Stellar astrophysics is amazing.

[Remo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro sobre astrofísica estelar que cuenta todo sobre la vida de las estrellas: formación, evolución y muerte, dependiendo de su masa. Nos hablan de quásares y púlsares, del diagrama H-R, de todos os conceptos básicos. Está muy bien explicado y es muy completo. Muy bueno.

[Siegfried · Rating 5 out of 5]

---Notes---

End of Ch. 11 "It appears that a star is fated to end either as a trusty, cooling white dwarf or as a neutron star that in its early stages sends out radio impulses and then, if for any reason matter rains down on it, calls attention to itself by turning into an X-ray star. If, at the end of a star's evolution, a great amount of matter is left over, too much to make a white dwarf and too much for the equilibrium of a neutron star, this remnant is fated to collapse forever and ever in a black hole. Stars end their lives as compact structures in which matter remains bound together forever, although prior to their demise they emit a portion of their mass into space. This mass becomes available for the formation of new stars. The matter of which our human bodies are made up was beyond any doubt at one time a seething mass in the interior of a star and somehow has escaped from that place and from the fate of the rest of the star's matter. In almost every case stars turn into compact bodies, and perhaps ultimately all matter in the cosmos will condense into cooling white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes orbited by listless cooled-off planets. The universe appears to be heading toward very boring times."

[Sherrill Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

See Jeff and James' reviews.

Written in 1983. A very good translation (and sometimes funny / clever!) of the birth-life-death of stars / suns. Not much on planets, black holes, only a few color photos; many charts. A good intro to astronomy, but dated. Only 259pp.

[Pablo Lista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buen libro. Es del año 1986, y es muy interesante ver cómo ha evolucionado la astrofísica desde entonces. Esto no le exime de ser una explicación clara de cómo nacen, evolucionan y mueren las estrellas. Es un libro dedicado a nuestros orígenes, a nuestras madres celestes. Muy recomendable.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although somewhat dated, this book is a good introduction the the stellar astronomy and evolution.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non-technical treatise on life and death of stars. Some of the information is out of date with current research but the basic information is still valid.

[Jose Moa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A monographic book on stars,the diferent classes of stars their diferent evolution and cores,the HR diagram,de two diferent clases of novas and the formation of stars exaustive and easy reading