Discovering the Universe & CD-Rom featuring Starry Night Backyard: with CD-ROM featuring Starry Night® Backyard

by Comins; Krause

• ISBN13: 9780716796732
• ISBN10: 0716796732
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Package
• Copyright: 2002-07-05
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman

Summary

Discovering the Universe is the bestselling brief text for descriptive one-term astronomy courses (especially those with no mathematics prerequisites). Carried along by the book's vibrant main theme--the process of scientific discovery--readers will encounter spectacular sights, landmark experiments, and recent discoveries, while learning to avoid the pitfalls created by common misconceptions about astronomy. Now enhanced with a powerful technology and image projection package, this is the most exciting and effective edition yet. The accompanying CD-ROM features a special student version of the award-winning virtual planetarium software, Starry Night(TM) Backyard.

Table of Contents

Contents	vi
Preface	xiii
I ESSENTIALS FOR UNDERSTANDING ASTRONOMY	1	(114)
An Astronomer's Almanac	12	(2)
Discovering the Night Sky	14	(29)
What If... Earth's Axis Tilted on the Ecliptic?	42	(1)
Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets	43	(21)
Light and Telescopes	64	(31)
What If...Humans Had Infrared-Sensitive Eyes?	94	(1)
The Origin and Nature of Light	95	(20)
II ESSENTIALS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SOLAR SYSTEM	115	(156)
An Astronomer's Almanac	132	(2)
Earth and Moon	134	(27)
What If...The Moon Didn't Exist?	160	(1)
The Other Terrestrial Planets	161	(28)
The Outer Planets	189	(35)
What If...We Lived on a Metal-Poor Earth?	223	(1)
Vagabonds of the Solar System	224	(24)
The Sun	248	(23)
III ESSENTIALS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE STARS	271	(94)
An Astronomer's Almanac	280	(2)
The Nature of Stars	282	(16)
The Lives of Stars from Birth Through Middle Age	298	(28)
What If...The Earth Orbited a 1.5-M Sun?	325	(1)
The Deaths of Stars	326	(25)
What If...A Supernova Exploded near Earth?	350	(1)
Black Holes	351	(14)
IV ESSENTIALS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE	365
An Astronomer's Almanac	372	(2)
The Milky Way Galaxy	374	(13)
Galaxies	387	(25)
What If...The Solar System Were Located Closer to the Center of the Galaxy?	411	(1)
Quasars, Active Galaxies, and Gamma-Ray Bursters	412	(15)
Cosmology	427	(22)
The Search for Extraterrestrial Life	449
What If...Life Had Begun on an Older Earth?	457
Appendix: Tables of Data	1	(1)
Glossary	1	(1)
Answers to Computation Questions and ``Try these questions'' in Astronomer's Toolboxes	1	(1)
Index	1