The Rough Guide to the Universe
The truth may not be out there, but space is the place to look, and this guide takes it all in, from our own moon to the furthest frontiers of the known universe - and then speculates what lies beyond. To explore space is also to explore time: when we look at the Andromeda galaxy what we see is light that left the galaxy two million years ago; we are literally looking back in time.
This guide is not meant to delve too deeply, but instead the idea is to give the reader the grounding they will need to appreciate the sky. Travel-based information on planetariums, observatories and "deep sky" sites is provided, as well as a list of Internet resources.
John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II (born 1969) is an American science fiction author and online writer, and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Old Man's War series, three novels of which have been nominated for the Hugo Award, and for his blog Whatever, at which he has written daily on a number of topics since 1998. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fanwriter in 2008 based predominantly on that blog, which he has also used for several prominent charity drives. His novel Redshirts won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. He has written non-fiction books and columns on diverse topics such as finance, video games, films, astronomy, and writing, and served as a creative consultant for the TV series Stargate Universe.