Includes index

Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Your home zone: Earth and its cosmic environment -- Planets, their moons, and other cosmic debris: The rest of the solar system -- Stars, near and far: the sun and its stellar siblings -- Galaxies, near and far: The Milky Way and its galactic cousins -- A look at the day sky: for those who sleep at night -- A look at the night sky: for those who sleep in the day -- The world of light: a key to cosmic knowledge -- The world of physical laws: some of the ways in which the universe works -- Time & space: you've never experienced one without the other -- Our universe: up close and personal -- One step beyond: reaching and exceeding the bounds of imagination -- The world of Merlin: getting intimate with the omniscian -- Appendix -- Acknowledgements -- Index

From Neil deGrasse Tyson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, comes a spirited journey to the planets and stars, revealing the answers to many mysteries of our galaxy and beyond. In this companion volume to Merlin's Tour of the Universe, we visit again with Merlin, a timeless space traveler from Planet Omniscia, who answers a collection of imaginative questions about the cosmos from curious stargazers. Whether waxing poetic about Earth and its environs, the Sun and its stellar siblings, the world of light, physical laws, or galaxies near and far, Merlin's remarks are engaging, humorous, and clear as a starry night sky. Merlin tackles such conundrums as: If aliens exploded Earth's moon, what effect would it have on us? Are black holes gathering matter in preparation for another Big Bang in another time and dimension? Why does the Moon look bigger on the horizon? Lively and entertaining, Just Visiting This Planet is an indispensable guidebook to the universe