Preface p. xv
Acknowledgments p. xix
Introduction to Astronomy
Why Learn Astronomy?
Starting with a Spark of Interest p. 3
Science Is a Way of Viewing the World p. 9
Patterns Make Our Lives and Science Possible p. 13
Bending Your Brain into Shape p. 16
Let the Journey Begin p. 17
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 17
Student Questions p. 18
Patterns in the Sky--Motions of Earth
A View from Long Ago p. 19
Earth Spins on Its Axis p. 22
Revolution About the Sun Leads to Changes During the Year p. 33
The Motions and Phases of the Moon p. 43
Eclipses: Passing Through a Shadow p. 47
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 52
Student Questions p. 52
Gravity and Orbits--A Celestial Ballet
Gravity! p. 54
An Empirical Beginning: Kepler's Laws Describe the Observed Motions of the Planets p. 55
The Rise of Scientific Theory: Newton's Laws Govern the Motion of All Objects p. 60
Gravity Is a Force Between Any Two Objects Due to Their Masses p. 67
Orbits Are One Body "Falling Around" Another p. 73
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 82
Student Questions p. 83
Light
Then God Said, "Let There Be Light" p. 85
Our Picture of Light Evolved with Time p. 86
The Speed of Light Is a Very Special Value p. 97
Light Is a Wave, but It Is Also a Particle p. 103
Why Mercury Is Hot and Pluto Is Not p. 115
Twice as Far Means One-Fourth as Bright p. 121
Radiation Laws Allow Us to Calculate the Equilibrium Temperatures of the Planets p. 122
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 125
Student Questions p. 125
The Solar System
A Brief History of the Solar System
Forming Stars and Evolving Planets p. 129
In the Beginning Was a Disk p. 131
Small Objects Stick Together to Become Large Objects p. 135
The Inner Disk Is Hot, but the Outer Disk Is Cold p. 136
A Tale of Nine Planets p. 140
There Is Nothing Special About It p. 143
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 144
Student Questions p. 144
The Terrestrial Planets and Earth's Moon
How Are Planets the Same, and How Are They Different? p. 146
Four Main Processes Shape Our Planet p. 148
Impacts Help Shape the Evolution of the Planets p. 149
The Interiors of the Terrestrial Planets Tell Their Own Tale p. 155
Tectonism--How Planetary Surfaces Evolve p. 162
Igneous Activity: A Sign of a Geologically Active Planet p. 168
Gradation: Wearing Down the High Spots and Filling in the Low p. 171
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 174
Student Questions p. 175
Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets
Atmospheres Are Oceans of Air p. 177
A Tale of Three Planets p. 180
Earth's Atmosphere--The One We Know Best p. 186
Venus Has a Hot, Dense Atmosphere p. 195
Mars Has a Cold, Thin Atmosphere p. 197
Mercury and the Moon Have Hardly Any Atmosphere p. 198
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 198
Student Questions p. 199
Worlds of Gas--the Giant Planets
The Giant Planets--Distant Worlds, Different Worlds p. 201
How Giant Planets Differ from Terrestrial Planets p. 203
A View of the Cloud Tops p. 207
A Journey into the Clouds p. 210
Winds and Storms--Violent Weather on the Giant Planets p. 211
Some Thermal Energy Comes from Within p. 215
The Interiors of the Giant Planets Are Hot and Dense p. 216
The Giant Planets Are Magnetic Powerhouses p. 219
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 225
Student Questions p. 226
Gravity Is More than Kepler's Laws
Gravity Once Again p. 227
Gravity Differs from Place to Place Within an Object p. 228
Tides Tie an Object's Rotation to Its Orbit p. 235
More than Two Objects Can Join the Dance p. 241
Such Wondrous Complexity Comes from Such a Simple Force p. 246
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 246
Student Questions p. 247
Planetary Moons and Rings, and Pluto
Moons and Rings--Galileo's Legacy p. 249
Rings Surround the Giant Planets p. 251
Moons as Small Worlds p. 262
Pluto: Tiny Planet or Gigantic Comet? p. 269
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 271
Student Questions p. 272
Asteroids, Meteorites, Comets, and Other Debris
Ghostly Apparitions and Rocks Falling from the Sky p. 273
Asteroids and Comets: Pieces of the Past p. 274
Meteorites: A Chip Off the Old Asteroid Block p. 275
Asteroids Are Fractured Rock p. 279
Asteroids Viewed Up Close p. 280
The Comets: Clumps of Ice p. 283
Collisions Still Happen Today p. 293
Solar System Debris p. 296
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 299
Student Questions p. 300
Stars and Stellar Evolution
Taking the Measure of Stars
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, How I Wonder What You Are p. 303
The First Step Is Measuring the Distance, Brightness, and Luminosity of Stars p. 304
Radiation Tells Us the Temperature, Size, and Composition of Stars p. 309
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 326
Student Questions p. 326
A Run-of-the-Mill G Dwarf: Our Sun
The Sun Is More Than Just a Light in the Sky p. 328
The Structure of the Sun Is a Matter of Balance p. 329
The Standard Model of the Sun Is Well Tested p. 337
The Sun Can Be Studied Up Close and Personal p. 340
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 350
Student Questions p. 351
Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium
Whence Stars? p. 352
The Interstellar Medium p. 353
Molecular Clouds Are the Cradle of Star Formation p. 361
The Protostar Becomes a Star p. 363
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 373
Student Questions p. 373
Stars in the Slow Lane
This, Too, Shall Pass Away p. 375
The Life and Times of a Main Sequence Star p. 376
A Star Runs Out of Hydrogen and Leaves the Main Sequence p. 380
Helium Begins to Burn in the Degenerate Core p. 383
The Low-Mass Star Enters the Last Stages of Its Evolution p. 387
Many Stars Evolve as Pairs p. 394
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 398
Student Questions p. 399
Live Fast, Die Young
There Be Dragons... p. 400
High-Mass Stars Follow Their Own Path p. 401
High-Mass Stars Go Out with a Bang p. 406
The Spectacle and Legacy of Supernovae p. 409
Star Clusters Are Snapshots of Stellar Evolution p. 416
Gravity Is a Distortion of Space-Time p. 419
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 430
Student Questions p. 431
Galaxies, The Universe, and Cosmology
Galaxies
Twentieth-Century Astronomers Discovered the Universe of Galaxies p. 435
Galaxies Are Classified Based on Their Appearance p. 437
Stars Form in the Spiral Arms of a Galaxy's Disk p. 442
Galaxies Are Mostly Dark Matter p. 445
There Is a Beast at the Centers of Galaxies p. 448
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 457
Student Questions p. 458
The Milky Way--A Normal Spiral Galaxy
We Look Up and See Our Galaxy p. 459
Measuring the Milky Way p. 460
Studying the Milky Way Galaxy Up Close and Personal p. 468
The Milky Way Offers Clues About How Galaxies Form p. 475
Seeing the Forest Through The Trees p. 476
Student Questions p. 477
Our Expanding Universe
The Cosmological Principle Shapes Our View of the Universe p. 479
We Live in an Expanding Universe p. 481
The Universe Began in the Big Bang p. 486
The Major Predictions of the Big Bang Theory Are Resoundingly Confirmed p. 492
The Universe Has a Destiny and a Shape p. 498
Problems Lead to New Understanding p. 503
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 507
Student Questions p. 508
The Origin of Structure
Whence Structure? p. 509
Galaxies Form Groups, Clusters, and Larger Structures p. 510
Gravity Forms Large-Scale Structure p. 511
The Earliest Moments p. 522
Life Is Another Form of Structure p. 527
The Future, Near and Far p. 537
Seeing the Forest Through the Trees p. 539
Student Questions p. 540
Epilog: We Are Stardust in Human Form
The Long and Winding Road p. 1
We Are Stardust in Human Form p. 2
The Future Arrives Every Day p. 4
Glossary p. 1
Appendices p. 1
Credits p. 1
Index p. 1