Astronomy Today

by Chaisson, Eric; McMillan, Steve

• ISBN13: 9780130915429
• ISBN10: 0130915424
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

This straightforward volume presents a broad view of astronomy spanning known facts, evolving ideas, and frontier discoveries. The authors combine qualitative reasoning and analogies with familiar objects and phenomena to awaken readers to the excitement of the universe around them. Incorporates new understanding and emphases in contemporary astronomy, including the latest data on topics ranging from adaptive optics and solar system formation to extrasolar planets and the recent missions to Mars. Top-notch illustration program exploits the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum, including images taken at radio, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray, or gamma-ray wavelengths, in addition to visible-light photographs. For anyone interested in learning more about astronomy.

Table of Contents

PART 1 ASTRONOMY AND THE UNIVERSE
Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy	3	(30)
The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science	33	(28)
Radiation: Information from the Cosmos	61	(24)
Spectroscopy: The Inner Workings of Atoms	85	(22)
Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy	107	(36)
PART 2 OUR PLANETARY SYSTEM
The Solar System: An Introduction to Comparative Planetology	143	(22)
Earth: Our Home in Space	165	(30)
The Moon and Mercury: Schorched and Battered Worlds	195	(32)
Venus: Earth's Sister Planet	227	(22)
Mars: A Near Miss for Life?	249	(26)
Jupiter: Giant of the Solar System	275	(26)
Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious Moons	301	(26)
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto: The Outer Worlds of the Solar System	327	(28)
Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin	355	(28)
The Formation of Planetary Systems: The Birth of Our World	383	(22)
PART 3 STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION
The Sun: Our Parent Stars	405	(32)
Measuring the Stars: Giants, Dwarfs, and the Main Sequence	437	(30)
The Interstellar Medium: Gas and Dust Among the Stars	467	(22)
Star Formation: A Traumatic Birth	489	(26)
Stellar Evolution: The Life of a Star	515	(28)
Stellar Explosions: Novae, Supernovae, and the Formation of the Heavy Elements	543	(24)
Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter	567	(32)
PART 4 GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY
The Milky Way Galaxy: A Grand Design	599	(30)
Normal Galaxies: The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe	629	(32)
Active Galaxies and Quasars: Limits of the Observable Universe	661	(30)
Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe	691	(24)
The Early Universe: Toward the Beginning of Time	715	(24)
Life in the Universe: Are We Alone?	739