A Star Is Born

Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy.

Infrared radiation was discovered by William Herschel two centuries ago, but only recently has infrared astronomy come of age. Infrared is able to peer inside dark clouds that mask regions of the galaxy such as the Orion Nebula from optical telescopes. Within these clouds we can now see the processes through which the gas clouds contract, heat up and ignite to give birth to a new generation of stars.

Readers are Timothy West, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.