Stars: A journey through stellar birth, life and death by Raman Prinja, is a comprehensive look at the latest developments in our understanding of the birth, life and death of stars.
Helix planetary nebula
© NASA, ESA, C R O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M Meixner and P McCullough (STScI)The Helix planetary nebula is constructed from matter ejected by a dying Sun-like star, almost 690 light-years away.

It features many colour images from NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The author is a professor of astrophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London.

See a slideshow of images of stars