Includes index

"In Exploding Stars and Invisible Planets, Fred Watson, an award-winning astronomer, presents the most up-to-date knowledge on hot topics in astronomy and space science, providing a fascinating and entertaining account of the latest research. Watson explains how to find invisible planets around other stars, why dark matter matters, and the future of citizen space travel, all while recounting the seismic shifts in understanding that have taken place during his illustrious forty-year career"--

Restless Earth : the way of the world -- Terminator : a user's guide to nightfall -- Starring citizen science : research by the people -- Catch a falling star : meteors, meteorites and space dust -- Radio silence : the quietest place in the world -- Off-planet economy : doing business in space -- Moonstruck : where did our satellite come from? -- Telescope troubles : astronomers in court -- Space bugs : rules for planetary protection -- Climate change : what happened to Mars? -- Not our planet B? : colonizing Mars -- Ringing in the changes : the vanishing rings of Saturn -- Stormy weather : weird worlds of the Saturnian system -- Stalking an invisible planet : the search for planet nine -- Nature's barcode : a user's guide to light -- Reverberations : exploding stars and light echoes -- Signals from the unknown : the fast radio burst mystery -- Eye of the storm : black holes inside and out -- Through gravity's lens : the curious matter of dark matter -- Ripples in space : probing the birth of the universe -- Unrequited love : is anyone there?