Expert TA: Astronomy 2e
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Table of Contents

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Topic Page #
Chapter 1 – Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour
1.1 – The Nature of Astronomy 11-11
1.2 – The Nature of Science 11-12
1.3 – The Laws of Nature 12-13
1.4 – Numbers in Astronomy 13-15
1.5 – Consequences of Light Travel Time 15-16
1.6 – A Tour of the Universe 16-21
1.7 – The Universe on the Large Scale 21-24
1.8 – The Universe of the Very Small 24-26
1.9 – A Conclusion and a Beginning 26-28
Chapter 2 – Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy
2.1 – The Sky Above 30-39
2.2 – Ancient Astronomy 39-46
2.3 – Astrology and Astronomy 46-50
2.4 – The Birth of Modern Astronomy 50-56
Chapter 3 – Orbits and Gravity
3.1 – The Laws of Planetary Motion 64-69
3.2 – Newton’s Great Synthesis 69-74
3.3 – Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation 74-78
3.4 – Orbits in the Solar System 78-81
3.5 – Motions of Satellites and Spacecraft 81-83
3.6 – Gravity with More Than Two Bodies 84-87
Chapter 4 – Earth, Moon, and Sky
4.1 – Earth and Sky 96-99
4.2 – The Seasons 99-105
4.3 – Keeping Time 105-108
4.4 – The Calendar 108-110
4.5 – Phases and Motions of the Moon 111-115
4.6 – Ocean Tides and the Moon 116-119
4.7 – Eclipses of the Sun and Moon 119-125
Chapter 5 – Radiation and Spectra
5.1 – The Behavior of Light 136-142
5.2 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum 142-149
5.3 – Spectroscopy in Astronomy 150-154
5.4 – The Structure of the Atom 154-159
5.5 – Formation of Spectral Lines 159-163
5.6 – The Doppler Effect 163-167
Chapter 6 – Astronomical Instruments
6.1 – Telescopes 176-182
6.2 – Telescopes Today 182-192
6.3 – Visible-Light Detectors and Instruments 192-195
6.4 – Radio Telescopes 195-202
6.5 – Observations outside Earth’s Atmosphere 202-207
6.6 – The Future of Large Telescopes 207-209
Chapter 7 – Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
7.1 – Overview of Our Planetary System 218-229
7.2 – Composition and Structure of Planets 229-233
7.3 – Dating Planetary Surfaces 233-236
7.4 – Origin of the Solar System 236-238
Chapter 8 – Earth as a Planet
8.1 – The Global Perspective 246-250
8.2 – Earth’s Crust 250-257
8.3 – Earth’s Atmosphere 257-261
8.4 – Life, Chemical Evolution, and Climate Change 261-266
8.5 – Cosmic Influences on the Evolution of Earth 266-271
Chapter 9 – Cratered Worlds
9.1 – General Properties of the Moon 280-285
9.2 – The Lunar Surface 286-290
9.3 – Impact Craters 290-295
9.4 – The Origin of the Moon 296-297
9.5 – Mercury 297-303
Chapter 10 – Earthlike Planets: Venus and Mars
10.1 – The Nearest Planets: An Overview 311-317
10.2 – The Geology of Venus 317-322
10.3 – The Massive Atmosphere of Venus 322-324
10.4 – The Geology of Mars 325-334
10.5 – Water and Life on Mars 334-345
10.6 – Divergent Planetary Evolution 345-346
Chapter 11 – The Giant Planets
11.1 – Exploring the Outer Planets 354-359
11.2 – The Giant Planets 359-365
11.3 – Atmospheres of the Giant Planets 365-373
Chapter 12 – Rings, Moons, and Pluto
12.1 – Ring and Moon Systems Introduced 382-383
12.2 – The Galilean Moons of Jupiter 383-392
12.3 – Titan and Triton 392-397
12.4 – Pluto and Charon 397-404
12.5 – Planetary Rings (and Enceladus) 404-414
Chapter 13 – Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
13.1 – Asteroids 422-432
13.2 – Asteroids and Planetary Defense 432-435
13.3 – The “Long-Haired” Comets 436-445
13.4 – The Origin and Fate of Comets and Related Objects 445-452
Chapter 14 – Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
14.1 – Meteors 460-464
14.2 – Meteorites: Stones from Heaven 465-470
14.3 – Formation of the Solar System 470-476
14.4 – Comparison with Other Planetary Systems 476-480
14.5 – Planetary Evolution 480-485
Chapter 15 – The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
15.1 – The Structure and Composition of the Sun 494-504
15.2 – The Solar Cycle 504-509
15.3 – Solar Activity above the Photosphere 509-513
15.4 – Space Weather 513-519
Chapter 16 – The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse
16.1 – Sources of Sunshine: Thermal and Gravitational Energy 527-530
16.2 – Mass, Energy, and the Theory of Relativity 530-539
16.3 – The Solar Interior: Theory 539-545
16.4 – The Solar Interior: Observations 545-550
Chapter 17 – Analyzing Starlight
17.1 – The Brightness of Stars 557-561
17.2 – Colors of Stars 561-563
17.3 – The Spectra of Stars (and Brown Dwarfs) 563-570
17.4 – Using Spectra to Measure Stellar Radius, Composition, and Motion 570-578
Chapter 18 – The Stars: A Celestial Census
18.1 – A Stellar Census 585-588
18.2 – Measuring Stellar Masses 589-596
18.3 – Diameters of Stars 596-601
18.4 – The H-R Diagram 601-609
Chapter 19 – Celestial Distances
19.1 – Fundamental Units of Distance 618-621
19.2 – Surveying the Stars 621-630
19.3 – Variable Stars: One Key to Cosmic Distances 630-636
19.4 – The H-R Diagram and Cosmic Distances 636-639
Chapter 20 – Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space
20.1 – The Interstellar Medium 648-651
20.2 – Interstellar Gas 651-659
20.3 – Cosmic Dust 659-666
20.4 – Cosmic Rays 666-667
20.5 – The Life Cycle of Cosmic Material 668-669
20.6 – Interstellar Matter around the Sun 670-671
Chapter 21 – The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar System
21.1 – Star Formation 680-689
21.2 – The H-R Diagram and the Study of Stellar Evolution 689-691
21.3 – Evidence That Planets Form around Other Stars 692-695
21.4 – Planets beyond the Solar System: Search and Discovery 695-703
21.5 – Exoplanets Everywhere: What We Are Learning 703-709
21.6 – New Perspectives on Planet Formation 709-712
Chapter 22 – Stars from Adolescence to Old Age
22.1 – Evolution from the Main Sequence to Red Giants 720-725
22.2 – Star Clusters 726-729
22.3 – Checking Out the Theory 729-735
22.4 – Further Evolution of Stars 735-743
22.5 – The Evolution of More Massive Stars 743-746
Chapter 23 – The Death of Stars
23.1 – The Death of Low-Mass Stars 754-759
23.2 – Evolution of Massive Stars: An Explosive Finish 759-765
23.3 – Supernova Observations 766-772
23.4 – Pulsars and the Discovery of Neutron Stars 772-779
23.5 – The Evolution of Binary Star Systems 779-782
23.6 – The Mystery of the Gamma-Ray Bursts 782-790
Chapter 24 – Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
24.1 – Introducing General Relativity 800-805
24.2 – Spacetime and Gravity 805-808
24.3 – Tests of General Relativity 808-810
24.4 – Time in General Relativity 811-813
24.5 – Black Holes 813-820
24.6 – Evidence for Black Holes 820-824
24.7 – Gravitational Wave Astronomy 824-828
Chapter 25 – The Milky Way Galaxy
25.1 – The Architecture of the Galaxy 836-844
25.2 – Spiral Structure 844-847
25.3 – The Mass of the Galaxy 848-850
25.4 – The Center of the Galaxy 851-857
25.5 – Stellar Populations in the Galaxy 857-859
25.6 – The Formation of the Galaxy 859-864
Chapter 26 – Galaxies
26.1 – The Discovery of Galaxies 872-874
26.2 – Types of Galaxies 875-880
26.3 – Properties of Galaxies 880-883
26.4 – The Extragalactic Distance Scale 883-887
26.5 – The Expanding Universe 887-893
Chapter 27 – Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes
27.1 – Quasars 899-906
27.2 – Supermassive Black Holes: What Quasars Really Are 907-915
27.3 – Quasars as Probes of Evolution in the Universe 915-921
Chapter 28 – The Evolution and Distribution of Galaxies
28.1 – Observations of Distant Galaxies 928-935
28.2 – Galaxy Mergers and Active Galactic Nuclei 935-942
28.3 – The Distribution of Galaxies in Space 942-955
28.4 – The Challenge of Dark Matter 955-962
28.5 – The Formation and Evolution of Galaxies and Structure in the Universe 962-968
Chapter 29 – The Big Bang
29.1 – The Age of the Universe 978-985
29.2 – A Model of the Universe 985-993
29.3 – The Beginning of the Universe 993-999
29.4 – The Cosmic Microwave Background 999-1006
29.5 – What Is the Universe Really Made Of? 1006-1011
29.6 – The Inflationary Universe 1012-1016
29.7 – The Anthropic Principle 1016-1018
Chapter 30 – Life in the Universe
30.1 – The Cosmic Context for Life 1028-1030
30.2 – Astrobiology 1030-1039
30.3 – Searching for Life beyond Earth 1039-1047
30.4 – The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 1047-1057
Appendices
Appendix A How to Study for an Introductory Astronomy Class 1065-1066
Appendix B Astronomy Websites, Images, and Apps 1067-1072
Appendix C Scientific Notation 1073-1076
Appendix D Units Used in Science 1077-1078
Appendix E Some Useful Constants for Astronomy 1079-1080
Appendix F Physical and Orbital Data for the Planets 1081-1082
Appendix G Selected Moons of the Planets 1083-1086
Appendix H Future Total Eclipses 1087-1088
Appendix I The Nearest Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs 1089-1092
Appendix J The Brightest Twenty Stars 1093-1094
Appendix K The Chemical Elements 1095-1100
Appendix L The Constellations 1101-1106
Appendix M Star Chart and Sky Event Resources 1107-1108