Astronomy Notes

Astronomy Strobel: Astronomy Notes, 2007 Edition =>? McGraw-Hill McGraw−Hill Primis ISBN: 0−390−81392−3 Text: Astronomy Notes, 2007 Edition Strobel This book was printed on recycled paper. Astronomy http://www.primisonline.com Copyright ©2008 by The McGraw−Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. This McGraw−Hill Primis text may include materials submitted to McGraw−Hill for publication by the instructor of this course. The instructor is solely responsible for the editorial content of such materials. 111 ASTYGEN ISBN: 0−390−81392−3 Astronomy Contents Strobel • Astronomy Notes, 2007 Edition Frontmatter 1 Preface 1 Chapters 5 1. Introduction to Astronomy 2. Method for Finding Scientific Truth 3. Astronomy Without a Telescope 4. History of Astronomy 5. Newton’s Law of Gravity 6. Einstein’s Relativity 7. Electromagnetic Radiation (Light) 8. Telescopes 9. Planetary Science 10. Solar System Fluff 11. Stellar Properties 12. Our Sun and Stellar Structure 13. Lives and Deaths of Stars 14. The Interstellar Medium and the Milky Way 15. Other Galaxies and Active Galaxies 16. Cosmology 17. Life Beyond the Earth 5 19 29 69 91 115 125 145 163 223 255 287 311 345 373 413 439 Appendices 449 Appendix A: Angular Momentum Appendix B: Mathematics Review Appendix C: Tables Appendix D: Glossary 449 453 459 465 Backmatter 479 Index Illustration Credits 479 490 iii Strobel: Astronomy Notes, 2007 Edition Preface viii © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2007 Preface Preface I wrote this textbook for the introductory astronomy course at Bakersfield College, a community college in southern California. The course is a one-semester general education class primarily intended for non-science majors. A general education science course gives a survey of a particular field of science with the main goal of showing how science works. Therefore, the book covers just the primary concepts at a basic level with a minimum of mathematics. I focus on how astronomers figure out how the universe and its numerous parts work. I strive to show the student the thinking process behind the scientific discoveries. Astronomy is the oldest of the sciences and it provides a fascinating way to show the process of science to the non-scientist. The text will probably present a new way of thinking and viewing the world to the non-science major student. That is the main goal of a college general education science course. Throughout the text, I draw connections between different parts of astronomy to show how one process of understanding or technique of measurement is used in a variety of seemingly very different areas of astronomy. If after studying this textbook, the reader has an understanding of the scientific method and is able to take a recent news item about something in astronomy and see how it connects with other parts of astronomy, then I will consider the text successful. The main content is in the central 5-inch wide block of text on the page. I use the remaining outermost 3 inches of the page for brief notes—pointers to the first usage of vocabulary terms or to the introduction of a particular concept. You are encouraged to make additional notes in the margins that will help you understand the material such as brief summaries, marks flagging a topic that you need clarification, or whatever else your heart desires! Text Website This hardcopy version