9780077899783

Pathways to Astronomybreaks down introductory astronomy into its component parts. The huge and fascinating field of astronomy is divided into 86 units. These units are woven together to flow naturally for the person who wants to read the text like a book, but it is also possible to assign them in different orders, or skip certain units altogether. Professors can customize the units to fit their course needs. They can select individual units for exploration in lecture while assigning easier units for self-study, or they can cover all the units in full depth in a content-rich course. With the short length of units, students can easily digest the material covered in an individual unit before moving onto the next unit.

Looking Up Illustrations
Preface
PART I THE COSMIC LANDSCAPE
Unit 1 Our Planetary Neighborhood
Unit 2 Beyond the Solar System
Unit 3 Astronomical Numbers
Unit 4 Foundations of Astronomy
Unit 5 The Night Sky
Unit 6 The Year
Unit 7 The Time of Day
Unit 8 Lunar Cycles
Unit 9 Calendars
Unit 10 Geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun
Unit 11 Planets: The Wandering Stars
Unit 12 The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy
Unit 13 Observing the Sky
PART II PROBING MATTER, LIGHT, AND THEIR INTERACTIONS
Unit 14 Astronomical Motion: Inertia, Mass, and Force
Unit 15 Force, Acceleration, and Interaction
Unit 16 The Universal Law of Gravity
Unit 17 Measuring a Body’s Mass Using Orbital Motion
Unit 18 Orbital and Escape Velocities
Unit 19 Tides
Unit 20 Conservation Laws
Unit 21 The Dual Nature of Light and Matter
Unit 22 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Unit 23 Thermal Radiation
Unit 24 Identifying Atoms by Their Spectra
Unit 25 The Doppler Shift
Unit 26 Special Relativity
Unit 27 General Relativity
Unit 28 Detecting Light
Unit 29 Collecting Light
Unit 30 Focusing Light
Unit 31 Telescope Resolution
Unit 32 The Earth’s Atmosphere and SpaceObservatories
Unit 33 Amateur Astronomy
PART III THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Unit 34 The Structure of the Solar System
Unit 35 The Origin of the Solar System
Unit 36 Other Planetary Systems
Unit 37 The Earth as a Terrestrial Planet
Unit 38 Earth's Atmosphere and Hydrosphere
Unit 39 Our Moon
Unit 40 Mercury
Unit 41 Venus
Unit 42 Mars
Unit 43 Asteroids
Unit 44 Comparative Planetology
Unit 45 Jupiter and Saturn
Unit 46 Uranus and Neptune
Unit 47 Satellite Systems and Rings
Unit 48 Ice Worlds, Pluto, and Beyond
Unit 49 Comets
Unit 50 Impacts on Earth
PART IV STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION
Unit 51 The Sun, Our Star
Unit 52 The Sun’s Source of Power
Unit 53 Solar Activity
Unit 54 Surveying the Stars
Unit 55 The Luminosities of Stars
Unit 56 The Temperatures and Compositions of Stars
Unit 57 The Masses of Orbiting Stars
Unit 58 The Sizes of Stars
Unit 59 The H-R Diagram
Unit 60 Overview of Stellar Evolution
Unit 61 Star Formation
Unit 62 Main-Sequence Stars
Unit 63 Giant Stars
Unit 64 Variable Stars
Unit 65 Mass Loss and Death of Low-Mass Stars
Unit 66 Exploding White Dwarfs
Unit 67 Old Age and Death of Massive Stars
Unit 68 Neutron Stars
Unit 69 Black Holes
Unit 70 Star Clusters
PART V GALAXIES AND THE UNIVERSE
Unit 71 Discovering the Milky Way
Unit 72 Stars of the Milky Way
Unit 73 Gas and Dust in the Milky Way
Unit 74 Mass and Motions in the Milky Way
Unit 75 A Universe of Galaxies
Unit 76 Types of Galaxies
Unit 77 Galaxy Clustering
Unit 78 Active Galactic Nuclei
Unit 79 Dark Matter
Unit 80 Cosmology
Unit 81 The Edges of the Universe
Unit 82 The Curvature of the Universe
Unit 83 The Beginnings of the Universe
Unit 84 Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe
Unit 85 Astrobiology
Unit 86 The Search for Life Elsewhere
Answers to Test Yourself Questions
Glossary
Credits
Index

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Combo: Pathways to Astronomy with ConnectPlus Access Card

Combo: Pathways to Astronomy with ConnectPlus Access Card

0077899784

Summary

Table of Contents

Preface

PART I THE COSMIC LANDSCAPE

Unit 1 Our Planetary Neighborhood

Unit 2 Beyond the Solar System

Unit 3 Astronomical Numbers

Unit 4 Foundations of Astronomy

Unit 5 The Night Sky

Unit 6 The Year

Unit 7 The Time of Day

Unit 8 Lunar Cycles

Unit 9 Calendars

Unit 10 Geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun

Unit 11 Planets: The Wandering Stars

Unit 12 The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy

Unit 13 Observing the Sky

PART II PROBING MATTER, LIGHT, AND THEIR INTERACTIONS

Unit 14 Astronomical Motion: Inertia, Mass, and Force

Unit 15 Force, Acceleration, and Interaction

Unit 16 The Universal Law of Gravity

Unit 17 Measuring a Body’s Mass Using Orbital Motion

Unit 18 Orbital and Escape Velocities

Unit 19 Tides

Unit 20 Conservation Laws

Unit 21 The Dual Nature of Light and Matter

Unit 22 The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Unit 23 Thermal Radiation

Unit 24 Identifying Atoms by Their Spectra

Unit 25 The Doppler Shift

Unit 26 Special Relativity

Unit 27 General Relativity

Unit 28 Detecting Light

Unit 29 Collecting Light

Unit 30 Focusing Light

Unit 31 Telescope Resolution

Unit 32 The Earth’s Atmosphere and SpaceObservatories

Unit 33 Amateur Astronomy

PART III THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Unit 34 The Structure of the Solar System

Unit 35 The Origin of the Solar System

Unit 36 Other Planetary Systems

Unit 37 The Earth as a Terrestrial Planet

Unit 38 Earth's Atmosphere and Hydrosphere

Unit 39 Our Moon

Unit 40 Mercury

Unit 41 Venus

Unit 42 Mars

Unit 43 Asteroids

Unit 44 Comparative Planetology

Unit 45 Jupiter and Saturn

Unit 46 Uranus and Neptune

Unit 47 Satellite Systems and Rings

Unit 48 Ice Worlds, Pluto, and Beyond

Unit 49 Comets

Unit 50 Impacts on Earth

PART IV STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION

Unit 51 The Sun, Our Star

Unit 52 The Sun’s Source of Power

Unit 53 Solar Activity

Unit 54 Surveying the Stars

Unit 55 The Luminosities of Stars

Unit 56 The Temperatures and Compositions of Stars

Unit 57 The Masses of Orbiting Stars

Unit 58 The Sizes of Stars

Unit 59 The H-R Diagram

Unit 60 Overview of Stellar Evolution

Unit 61 Star Formation

Unit 62 Main-Sequence Stars

Unit 63 Giant Stars

Unit 64 Variable Stars

Unit 65 Mass Loss and Death of Low-Mass Stars

Unit 66 Exploding White Dwarfs

Unit 67 Old Age and Death of Massive Stars

Unit 68 Neutron Stars