Marc J. Kuchner is the author of the new children's book Cosmic Collisions: Supergiant vs. Neutron Star. His other books include Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet. He is an astrophysicist, and he lives in Rhode Island.
Q: What inspired you to write Supergiant vs. Neutron Star?
A: Back when I was in graduate school studying to be an astronomer, I got interested in a hypothetical kind of object called a Thorne-Zytkow object. It’s a special kind of supergiant star that has a neutron star in its belly. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by both supergiants and neutron stars!
Q: What do you see as the relationship between this new book and your book Asteroid vs. Comet?
A: Asteroids and comets are awesome. But they are also sort of familiar. When they collide, it’s at insane speeds but it’s also sort of a normal splat of snow against rock.
After writing about them, I wanted to dive into something where the physics is really extreme, really far out. There is absolutely nothing like a neutron star in our daily lives. Those monsters are just barely within the realm of human imagination.
Q: What do you think Matt Schu’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Matt takes you on a ride into outer space, but on his tour bus you never find yourself lost in a vast lonely vacuum. It’s more like an adventure in your backyard with your friends and a flashlight, not far from your bed with fresh flannel sheets.
Plus he does these adorable hermits—little old men—that he sneaks into every book…see if you can find them!
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: It’s great if readers learn a bit about astrophysics from the Cosmic Collisions. But the main point is to get kids to try out the process of making hypotheses--the step in the scientific method where you take an educated guess. When you start a new science project, you really need to have some kind of hypothesis in mind. Otherwise, it’s hard to figure out what kind of data you want to collect, or how much data you need.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: The manuscript for the third book in the Cosmic Collisions series is already done. I’m working on the fourth book in the series! After that, I’m taking requests.... What do you want me to crash together?
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes! I’m messing around on TikTok and Instagram, making little videos and answering astronomy questions. Come find me! I’m @marckuchner on TikTok, or @marckuchner on Instagram or @marckuchner.bluesky.social on Bluesky.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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