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
Figuring for Yourself
Figuring for Yourself
What is the wavelength of the carrier wave of a campus radio station, broadcasting at a frequency of 97.2 MHz (million cycles per second or million hertz)?
What is the frequency of a red laser beam, with a wavelength of 670 nm, which your astronomy instructor might use to point to slides during a lecture on galaxies?
You go to a dance club to forget how hard your astronomy midterm was. What is the frequency of a wave of ultraviolet light coming from a blacklight in the club, if its wavelength is 150 nm?
If the emitted infrared radiation from Pluto, has a wavelength of maximum intensity at 75,000 nm, what is the temperature of Pluto assuming it follows Wien’s law?
What is the temperature of a star whose maximum light is emitted at a wavelength of 290 nm?