Contents
- Preface
1Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour
2Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy
7Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
13Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
14Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
18The Stars: A Celestial Census
20Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space
21The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar System
27Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes
- AHow to Study for an Introductory Astronomy Class
- BAstronomy Websites, Images, and Apps
- CScientific Notation
- DUnits Used in Science
- ESome Useful Constants for Astronomy
- FPhysical and Orbital Data for the Planets
- GSelected Moons of the Planets
- HFuture Total Eclipses
- IThe Nearest Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs
- JThe Brightest Twenty Stars
- KThe Chemical Elements
- LThe Constellations
- MStar Chart and Sky Event Resources
- Index
Review Questions
Review Questions
A friend of yours who has not taken astronomy sees a meteor shower (she calls it a bunch of shooting stars). The next day she confides in you that she was concerned that the stars in the Big Dipper (her favorite star pattern) might be the next ones to go. How would you put her mind at ease?
In what ways are meteorites different from meteors? What is the probable origin of each?
How are comets related to meteor showers?
What do we mean by primitive material? How can we tell if a meteorite is primitive?
Describe the solar nebula, and outline the sequence of events within the nebula that gave rise to the planetesimals.
Why do the giant planets and their moons have compositions different from those of the terrestrial planets?
How do the planets discovered so far around other stars differ from those in our own solar system? List at least two ways.
Explain the role of impacts in planetary evolution, including both giant impacts and more modest ones.
Why are some planets and moons more geologically active than others?
Summarize the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars.
Why do meteors in a meteor shower appear to come from just one point in the sky?