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
What is the thickest interior layer of Earth? The thinnest?
What are Earth’s core and mantle made of? Explain how we know.
Describe the differences among primitive, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock, and relate these differences to their origins.
Explain briefly how the following phenomena happen on Earth, relating your answers to the theory of plate tectonics
- earthquakes
- continental drift
- mountain building
- volcanic eruptions
- creation of the Hawaiian island chain
What is the source of Earth’s magnetic field?
Why is the shape of the magnetosphere not spherical like the shape of Earth?
Although he did not present a mechanism, what were the key points of Alfred Wegener’s proposal for the concept of continental drift?
List the possible interactions between Earth’s crustal plates that can occur at their boundaries.
List, in order of decreasing altitude, the principle layers of Earth’s atmosphere.
In which atmospheric layer are almost all water-based clouds formed?
What is, by far, the most abundant component of Earth’s atmosphere?
In which domain of living things do you find humankind?
Describe three ways in which the presence of life has affected the composition of Earth’s atmosphere.
Briefly describe the greenhouse effect.
How do impacts by comets and asteroids influence Earth’s geology, its atmosphere, and the evolution of life?
Why are there so many impact craters on our neighbor world, the Moon, and so few on Earth?
Detail some of the anthropogenic changes to Earth’s climate and their potential impact on life.