MILKY WAY: An Autobiography of our Galaxy

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. In the racy style of a tell-all confession addressed to us poor uncomprehending humans, Moiya McTier takes on the personality of the galaxy to tell its story, turning it into a lively, fun-loving character that wreaks havoc in the day to day life of the heavens and just happens to know all the secrets of the universe. The author developed a love for night-time as a small child, and at university her passion for the celestial aesthetic became a fascination with the logical, data-driven nature of astronomy. Her study of astrophysics led her more and more to listen to what the universe was saying. At the same time her interest in mythology led her to the stories that educate, entertain and explain in all cultures, and she found that science and myth were not as contradictory as seemed on the surface. So "Every time you use your phone to find the nearest coffee shop - and I make at least five new stars and move ten billion miles every year, but you don't see me chugging caffeine every morning - you interact with satellites." With the latest discoveries, "the sky isn't the limit any more, it's the sensitivity of your telescopes" and this has allowed astronomers to make observations of galaxies at redshifts (increasing wavelengths) even greater than eleven, which was previously the extent of observable distance. GN-z11 is 13.4 billion light years away, and Milky Way has observed that numbers of this kind make humans disheartened by their meaninglessness. But to cheer us up, she points out that in the light of such vastness everything, including the programmes of world leaders, is meaningless too. Solace can be found in mythology, where a pervasive modern myth is the united human race beloved of sci-fi. Back in the present, Milky Way is impressed by the good-looking galaxy Andromeda, and starts to make approaches. Should we be worried? 244pp, illustrations. Remainder mark.