Astronomy : A Visual Guide

by Garlick, Mark A.

• ISBN13: 9781552979587
• ISBN10: 155297958X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-30
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

An introductory illustrated and comprehensive guide to observing and understanding the night sky.This book provides a survey of science's growing understanding of space and includes details of the latest space probes. The most recent photographs from the world's finest observatories and space-based cameras capture the wonder and beauty of the universe.Astronomy covers a wide variety of heavenly phenomenon: Distant stars Planets of the Solar System Comets and shooting stars Eclipses Black holes.Vivid cross-sections of the planets with a concise description and a chart of their relative distance from the sun provide at-a-glance information. A series of monthly sky charts point out constellations, star clusters, galaxies, nebula and more.The sky maps use easy-to-read symbols to identify open and globular star clusters, galaxies and planetary nebula. The constellations are labeled and diagramed. Spectacular images of space phenomenon are further explained with colorful digital graphics.Nebula, clusters, galaxies, etc. are profiled with color images and short descriptions. A pictograph tells whether binoculars or a telescope is required.Astronomy is a fascinating and easy-to-use illustrated reference for amateur astronomers of all levels.

Author Biography

Mark A. Garlick, PhD, is a science writer, astronomical illustrator and a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. He is the author of The Story of the Solar System.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Searching the Heavens

Ever since humans first gathered in groups, people have searched the heavens

Our ancestors looked to the skies for messages from the gods to guide them, celestial signs telling when to reap and sow

And even today, thousands of years later, we retain a fascination with the sky, though for different reasons

Astronomy through the ages

Sky gods

Archaeostronomy

Scientific beginnings

The development of astronomy tools

Observatories

Major space centers

Space observatories

Hubble Space Telescope

Radio astronomy

Infrared astronomy

UV astronomy

X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy

The space race

Mission milestones

Space disasters

Spacecraft

Space stations

A history of unmanned probes

Solar and lunar probes

Asteroid and comet probes

Terrestrial planet probes

Gas planet probes

The Solar System

The Solar System is our home in space, a prime piece of celestial real estate some 4600 million years old

This is the planetary system that contains the Sun, the nine known planets

Earth among them- and countless small but equally interesting chunks of debris called comets and asteroids

Formation of the Solar System

The modern Solar System

Future of the Solar System

The planets

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

The Sun

The Moon

Solar eclipses

Lunar eclipses

Meteors and meteorites

Asteroids

Comets

Beyond Pluto

Stars, Galaxies and Celestial Light

Beyond the Solar System, things take on an extremely new scale

Stars are strewn across the Milky Way

Galaxy like grains of sand many miles apart

They share their home with a whole host of celestial lights called nebulae

And then, beyond our own galaxy, there are hundreds of billions of others

Celestial clouds

What is a star?

Lifecycle of a star

Binaries, multiples and variables

Star clusters

Star death: planetary nebulae

Star death: supernovae

Star death: black wholes

Galaxy classification

Spiral galaxies

Elliptical galaxies

Lenticular galaxies

Irregular galaxies

Active and radio galaxies

Quasars

Galaxy clusters

Galaxy birth

Galaxy evolution

The Night Sky

The night sky is more than just the Moon and a few dozen constellations of stars

Planets, nebulae, clusters of stars and even a few galaxies are all visible with the unaided eye

And with modest equipment such as a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, the celestial dome takes on a whole new dimension

Understanding the night sky

Mapping the heavens

The spinning Earth

Constellations and the zodiac

Beginning astronomy

Choosing and using binoculars

Choosing and using telescopes

Reading the star maps

Whole sky overview

Monthly stars of the northern skies

Monthly stars of the southern skies

The Universe

Our understanding of the Universe today is very different from what it was just 10 years ago

The very fabric of space and time is now seen as inextricably interwoven with a mysterious "dark energy" about which we know next to nothing

And this is just one example of the many unknowns that astronomers struggle with daily

Formation of the Universe

Evidence for the Big Bang

Our place in the Universe

Life in the Universe

Gamma ray bursters

Wormholes

Dark matter

Dark energy

Future of the Universe

Factfile

Glossary

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

IntroductionAstronomy has fascinated us as far back in our history as we care to explore. At first, the interest stemmed from religious beliefs. The stars, and planets were considered deities -- indeed, this is true even today. Later, as we learned to domesticate animals and grow crops, the sky served as a celestial agricultural calendar, its constant motions reminding us when to sow and reap.Today, our interest in astronomy is no less profound, and some might argue it is even more deep-rooted, perhaps because we know so much more about it. Or perhaps it's the human desire to explore, and to understand that which we currently do not. Whatever the reason, astronomy is a subject of research at universities across the globe. The more time our scientists spend peering into the depths of space, the greater the wonders -- and mysteries -- they uncover. Exploding stars called supernovae shine, just briefly, with the power of hundreds of billions of our Sun. They produce superdense neutron stars, shiny balls of matter the size of a city, and yet containing the mass of an entire planetary system, spinning hundreds of times every second. Enigmatic black holes twist time and space and suck in light. At the edge of the known Universe, quasars spew jets of charged particles millions of light-years into space. And then there is the material we cannot see but which we know must exist -- dark matter and the newly discovered, bizarre and poorly understood dark energy.Join us on a cosmic journey in which we will meet all of these marvels and many more, in stunning words and pictures.