Astronomy Site
	Mona Evans BellaOnline's Astronomy Editor

Andromeda the Chained Princess
Andromeda stands in the northern sky eternally chained to her rock. She is one of the five constellations that Ptolemy described in the second century, all part of one particular ancient Greek myth. In the constellation is a quadruple star, a blue snowball, exoplanets and spiral galaxies.

Bang! - The Universe Verse - book review
What would it take to explain the Big Bang Theory? James Lu Dunbar´s "Bang!" might do it - and amuse you and your children at the same time. It´s a splendid little book which tells the story of the universe in verse and appealing graphics.

Cats in the Sky
There are three constellations named for dogs, but what about cats in the sky? There is astrocat Felicette who went into space and returned safely to Earth, but also constellations of big cats and a pawprint 50 light years across.

Cosmic Collisions
We no longer see the heavens as perfect and the stars as eternal and unchanging. Even the Universe had a beginning, and everything that we observe changes and evolves. Many of these changes involve cosmic collisions.

Empire of the Stars - Book Review
A fateful meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society in London adversely affected the lives of two scientists and hindered progress in the study of black holes for a half a century. So says the author of Empire of the Stars. BellaOnline´s astronomy editor liked the book, but wasn´t convinced.

George´s Secret Key to the Universe - book review
In Lucy & Stephen Hawking´s book, the hero George used to have a quiet life, but now he´s trying to rescue his next door neighbor from a black hole. Here´s a lively illustrated story, beautiful color images of the universe, and from the man who knows, a great explanation of what a black hole is.

Halloween
Halloween falls midway between an equinox and a solstice. In the ancient Celtic world it was new year´s eve and the start of winter - time to prepare for survival in the darkening days. But also a time when the boundary between our world and the otherworld weakened. Who knew what might cross it?

Icarus at the Edge of Time book review
Icarus flew too close to the Sun with wings of wood and wax. The wax melted and he fell to his death. Brian Greene´s Icarus of the future flies too close to a black hole and finds that he should have paid more attention to Einstein.

It´s Alive - book review
The Universe Verse is back. Book 1 was the Big Bang Theory in verse and drawings. Now stars and planets have formed, but something new is happening: Life. Book 2 is about evolution by natural selection. In its cheerful verse and lovely color drawings, it´s also a love poem to our beautiful Earth.

Mother´s Day - An Astronomy Bouquet
Flowers from the florist are popular for Mother´s Day. But for really stellar mothers, here is a cosmic floral tribute with links to some dazzling astronomical images.

Nebulae
Nebulae are titanic clouds of gas and dust - celestial gossamer in the spaces between the stars. They're stellar nurseries, stellar graveyards and dark constellations. Some of their mysteries have been penetrated by infrared telescopes, but the cloaking dust still keeps some secrets.

The Magic Furnace - book review
What is everything made of? What makes the Sun shine? "The Magic Furnace" relates the tale of how science answered these questions. The book tells a good detective story with great characters, and clues include the Big Bang and the biggest explosions in the universe.

What Herschel Found in a Dark Nebula
What´s hiding within an impenetrable dark cloud in the constellation of the Eagle? A stunning stellar nursery. Find out how the Herschel Space Observatory was able to photograph it.

Who Let the Dogs out?
Someone must have left the door open, because the skies are full of dogs. You can see the dogs of Orion and the hunting dogs of the shepherd Bootes in pursuit of the Great Bear. There is also the Running Dog Nebula and the memory of poor Laika, the first cosmonaut, who perished in space.