With astronomers able to peer ever deeper into space, discoveries that fundamentally change our understanding of the universe continue to accelerate. Dark energy is the new anti-gravity, and strange cosmic explosions don't behave according to theory. The future is now. Find out why, in spite of gravity, the universe appears to be expanding, what happened during the big bang, why Pluto is maybe not a bona-fide planet (particularly in Manhattan), and answers to 1,200 other very interesting questions in The Handy Space Answer Book. Just what is a light year? Why is gazing across the universe like looking back into time? An easy-to-use general reference for anyone seeking to satisfy their heavenly curiosity or improve their space literacy, it tackles hundreds of technical concepts -- space-time continuum, quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, dark matter, red giants, super-novas, cosmic strings, bright nebula, neutrinos, interstellar gas, spiral galaxies, planetary motion, solar flares -- in everyday language accompanied by a bevy of illustrations.