Megan Donahue is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University (MSU), a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was the President of the American Astronomical Society from 2018-2020. Her research, published in over 200 articles, exploits x-ray, UV, infrared, and visible light to study galaxies and clusters of galaxies: their contents -- dark matter, hot gas, galaxies, active galactic nuclei -- and what they reveal about the contents of the universe and how galaxies form and evolve. She grew up on a farm in Nebraska and received an SB in physics from MIT, where she began her research career as an x-ray astronomer. She has a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado. Her PhD thesis on theory and optical observations of intergalactic and intracluster gas won the 1993 Robert Trumpler Award from the Astronomical Society for the Pacific for an outstanding astrophysics doctoral dissertation in North America. She continued postdoctoral research as a Carnegie Fellow at Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California, and later as an STScI Institute Fellow at Space Telescope. Megan was a staff astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute until 2003, when she joined the MSU faculty. She is also actively involved in advising national and international astronomical facilities and NASA, including planning future NASA missions. Megan is married to Mark Voit. They collaborate on many projects, including this textbook series, many peer-reviewed jointly-authored astrophysics papers, and the adventure of parenting of three adult children, Michaela, Sebastian, and Angela. Megan has run three full marathons, including Boston. These days she runs trails with friends and plays piano and bass guitar in garage bands for fun and no profit.

Nicholas Schneider is a full professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado and a researcher in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. He received his BA in physics and astronomy from Dartmouth College in 1979 and his PhD in planetary science from the University of Arizona in 1988. His research interests include planetary atmospheres and planetary astronomy. One research focus is the odd case of Jupiter's moon Io. Another is the mystery of Mars's lost atmosphere, which he is helping to answer by leading the Imaging UV Spectrograph team on NASA's MAVEN mission now orbiting Mars. Nick enjoys teaching at all levels and is active in efforts to improve undergraduate astronomy education. Over his career he has received the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award, NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, in addition to university and national teaching awards. Off the job, Nick enjoys exploring the outdoors with his family and figuring out how things work.

Mark Voit is a full professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at Michigan State University. He earned his AB in astrophysical sciences at Princeton University and his PhD in astrophysics at the University of Colorado in 1990. He continued his studies at the California Institute of Technology, where he was a research fellow in theoretical astrophysics, and then moved on to Johns Hopkins University as a Hubble Fellow. Before going to Michigan State, Mark worked in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope, where he developed museum exhibitions about the Hubble Space Telescope and helped design NASA's award-winning HubbleSite. His research interests range from interstellar processes in our own galaxy to the clustering of galaxies in the early universe, and he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is married to coauthor Megan Donahue and cooks her terrific meals. Mark likes getting outdoors whenever possible and particularly enjoys running, mountain biking, canoeing, orienteering, and adventure racing. He is also author of the popular book Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe.

PART II: KEY CONCEPTS FOR ASTRONOMY
4. Making Sense of the Universe: Understanding Motion, Energy, and Gravity
5. Light: The Cosmic Messenger

PART III: LEARNING FROM OTHER WORLDS
6. Formation of the Solar System
7. Earth and the Terrestrial Worlds
8. Jovian Planet Systems
9. Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets: Their Nature, Orbits, and Impacts
10. Other Planetary Systems: The New Science of Distant Worlds

PART IV: STARS
11. Our Star
12. Surveying the Stars
13. Star Stuff
14. The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard

PART V: GALAXIES AND BEYOND
15. Our Galaxy
16. A Universe of Galaxies
17. The Birth of the Universe
18 .Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Universe

PART VI: LIFE ON EARTH AND BEYOND
19. Life in the Universe

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