Expert TA: Astronomy
with OpenStax

Table of Contents

Download the Full Book here.

Topic Page #
Chapter 1 – Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour
1.1 – The Nature of Astronomy 13
1.2 – The Nature of Science 13 – 14
1.3 – The Laws of Nature 15
1.4 – Numbers in Astronomy 15 – 17
1.5 – Consequences of Light Travel Time 17 – 18
1.6 – A Tour of the Universe 18 – 23
1.7 – The Universe on the Large Scale 23 – 26
1.8 – The Universe of the Very Small 27 – 28
1.9 – A Conclusion and a Beginning 28 – 30
Chapter 2 – Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy
2.1 – The Sky Above 32 – 41
2.2 – Ancient Astronomy 42 – 49
2.3 – Astrology and Astronomy 49 – 54
2.4 – The Birth of Modern Astronomy 54 – 61
Chapter 3 – Orbits and Gravity
3.1 – The Laws of Planetary Motion 70 – 75
3.2 – Newton’s Great Synthesis 76 – 80
3.3 – Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation 81 – 85
3.4 – Orbits in the Solar System 85 – 88
3.5 – Motions of Satellites and Spacecraft 88 – 90
3.6 – Gravity with More Than Two Bodies 91 – 95
Chapter 4 – Earth, Moon, and Sky
4.1 – Earth and Sky 104 – 107
4.2 – The Seasons 107 – 113
4.3 – Keeping Time 114 – 117
4.4 – The Calendar 117 – 120
4.5 – Phases and Motions of the Moon 120 – 124
4.6 – Ocean Tides and the Moon 125 – 128
4.7 – Eclipses of the Sun and Moon 129 – 135
Chapter 5 – Radiation and Spectra
5.1 – The Behavior of Light 146 – 153
5.2 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum 153 – 161
5.3 – Spectroscopy in Astronomy 161 – 166
5.4 – The Structure of the Atom 166 – 172
5.5 – Formation of Spectral Lines 172 – 176
5.6 – The Doppler Effect 176 – 180
Chapter 6 – Astronomical Instruments
6.1 – Telescopes 190 – 196
6.2 – Telescopes Today 196 – 206
6.3 – Visible-Light Detectors and Instruments 206 – 209
6.4 – Radio Telescopes 210 – 217
6.5 – Observations outside Earth’s Atmosphere 217 – 222
6.6 – The Future of Large Telescopes 222 – 224
Chapter 7 – Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
7.1 – Overview of Our Planetary System 234 – 246
7.2 – Composition and Structure of Planets 246 – 251
7.3 – Dating Planetary Surfaces 251 – 254
7.4 – Origin of the Solar System 254 – 257
Chapter 8 – Earth as a Planet
8.1 – The Global Perspective 266 – 270
8.2 – Earth’s Crust 270 – 278
8.3 – Earth’s Atmosphere 278 – 282
8.4 – Life, Chemical Evolution, and Climate Change 283 – 288
8.5 – Cosmic Influences on the Evolution of Earth 288 – 294
Chapter 9 – Cratered Worlds
9.1 – General Properties of the Moon 303 – 309
9.2 – The Lunar Surface 310 – 314
9.3 – Impact Craters 315 – 320
9.4 – The Origin of the Moon 320 – 321
9.5 – Mercury 321 – 328
Chapter 10 – Earthlike Planets: Venus and Mars
10.1 – The Nearest Planets: An Overview 335 – 342
10.2 – The Geology of Venus 342 – 347
10.3 – The Massive Atmosphere of Venus 347 – 349
10.4 – The Geology of Mars 350 – 359
10.5 – Water and Life on Mars 359 – 371
10.6 – Divergent Planetary Evolution 371 – 372
Chapter 11 – The Giant Planets
11.1 – Exploring the Outer Planets 381 – 387
11.2 – The Giant Planets 387 – 393
11.3 – Atmospheres of the Giant Planets 393 – 403
Chapter 12 – Rings, Moons, and Pluto
12.1 – Ring and Moon Systems Introduced 410 – 411
12.2 – The Galilean Moons of Jupiter 411 – 420
12.3 – Titan and Triton 420 – 425
12.4 – Pluto and Charon 425 – 432
12.5 – Planetary Rings 432 – 443
Chapter 13 – Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
13.1 – Asteroids 452 – 463
13.2 – Asteroids and Planetary Defense 463 – 466
13.3 – The “Long-Haired” Comets 466 – 476
13.4 – The Origin and Fate of Comets and Related Objects 476 – 484
Chapter 14 – Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
14.1 – Meteors 494 – 499
14.2 – Meteorites: Stones from Heaven 499 – 504
14.3 – Formation of the Solar System 504 – 510
14.4 – Comparison with Other Planetary Systems 510 – 515
14.5 – Planetary Evolution 515 – 519
Chapter 15 – The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
15.1 – The Structure and Composition of the Sun 528 – 539
15.2 – The Solar Cycle 539 – 544
15.3 – Solar Activity above the Photosphere 544 – 548
15.4 – Space Weather 548 – 554
Chapter 16 – The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse
16.1 – Sources of Sunshine: Thermal and Gravitational Energy 563 – 566
16.2 – Mass, Energy, and the Theory of Relativity 566 – 576
16.3 – The Solar Interior: Theory 576 – 582
16.4 – The Solar Interior: Observations 582 – 587
Chapter 17 – Analyzing Starlight
17.1 – The Brightness of Stars 595 – 599
17.2 – Colors of Stars 599 – 602
17.3 – The Spectra of Stars (and Brown Dwarfs) 602 – 609
17.4 – Using Spectra to Measure Stellar Radius, Composition, and Motion 609 – 617
Chapter 18 – The Stars: A Celestial Census
18.1 – A Stellar Census 625 – 629
18.2 – Measuring Stellar Masses 629 – 636
18.3 – Diameters of Stars 636 – 641
18.4 – The H–R Diagram 641 – 650
Chapter 19 – Celestial Distances
19.1 – Fundamental Units of Distance 659 – 663
19.2 – Surveying the Stars 663 – 672
19.3 – Variable Stars: One Key to Cosmic Distances 672 – 679
19.4 – The H–R Diagram and Cosmic Distances 679 – 682
Chapter 20 – Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space
20.1 – The Interstellar Medium 692 – 695
20.2 – Interstellar Gas 696 – 704
20.3 – Cosmic Dust 704 – 711
20.4 – Cosmic Rays 711 – 713
20.5 – The Life Cycle of Cosmic Material 714 – 716
20.6 – Interstellar Matter around the Sun 716 – 718
Chapter 21 – The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar System
21.1 – Star Formation 728 – 737
21.2 – The H–R Diagram and the Study of Stellar Evolution 737 – 740
21.3 – Evidence That Planets Form around Other Stars 740 – 744
21.4 – Planets beyond the Solar System: Search and Discovery 744 – 753
21.5 – Exoplanets Everywhere: What We Are Learning 753 – 759
21.6 – New Perspectives on Planet Formation 759 – 762
Chapter 22 – Stars from Adolescence to Old Age
22.1 – Evolution from the Main Sequence to Red Giants 772 – 778
22.2 – Star Clusters 778 – 782
22.3 – Checking Out the Theory 782 – 789
22.4 – Further Evolution of Stars 789 – 797
22.5 – The Evolution of More Massive Stars 798 – 801
Chapter 23 – The Death of Stars
23.1 – The Death of Low-Mass Stars 810 – 815
23.2 – Evolution of Massive Stars: An Explosive Finish 815 – 822
23.3 – Supernova Observations 822 – 829
23.4 – Pulsars and the Discovery of Neutron Stars 830 – 836
23.5 – The Evolution of Binary Star Systems 836 – 839
23.6 – The Mystery of the Gamma-Ray Bursts 839 – 847
Chapter 24 – Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
24.1 – Introducing General Relativity 857 – 863
24.2 – Spacetime and Gravity 863 – 866
24.3 – Tests of General Relativity 866 – 869
24.4 – Time in General Relativity 869 – 871
24.5 – Black Holes 871 – 879
24.6 – Evidence for Black Holes 879 – 882
24.7 – Gravitational Wave Astronomy 882 – 887
Chapter 25 – The Milky Way Galaxy
25.1 – The Architecture of the Galaxy 896 – 905
25.2 – Spiral Structure 905 – 908
25.3 – The Mass of the Galaxy 909 – 911
25.4 – The Center of the Galaxy 911 – 918
25.5 – Stellar Populations in the Galaxy 918 – 920
25.6 – The Formation of the Galaxy 921 – 926
Chapter 26 – Galaxies
26.1 – The Discovery of Galaxies 936 – 938
26.2 – Types of Galaxies 939 – 945
26.3 – Properties of Galaxies 945 – 948
26.4 – The Extragalactic Distance Scale 948 – 950
26.5 – The Expanding Universe 951 – 958
Chapter 27 – Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes
27.1 – Quasars 965 – 973
27.2 – Supermassive Black Holes: What Quasars Really Are 973 – 981
27.3 – Quasars as Probes of Evolution in the Universe 981 – 987
Chapter 28 – The Evolution and Distribution of Galaxies
28.1 – Observations of Distant Galaxies 996 – 1003
28.2 – Galaxy Mergers and Active Galactic Nuclei 1003 – 1010
28.3 – The Distribution of Galaxies in Space 1010 – 1024
28.4 – The Challenge of Dark Matter 1024 – 1031
28.5 – The Formation and Evolution of Galaxies and Structure in the Universe 1031 – 1037
Chapter 29 – The Big Bang
29.1 – The Age of the Universe 1048 – 1055
29.2 – A Model of the Universe 1055 – 1064
29.3 – The Beginning of the Universe 1064 – 1070
29.4 – The Cosmic Microwave Background 1070 – 1078
29.5 – What Is the Universe Really Made Of? 1078 – 1083
29.6 – The Inflationary Universe 1084 – 1088
29.7 – The Anthropic Principle 1089 – 1091
Chapter 30 – Life in the Universe
30.1 – The Cosmic Context for Life 1102 – 1104
30.2 – Astrobiology 1105 – 1114
30.3 – Searching for Life beyond Earth 1114 – 1122
30.4 – The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 1123 – 1133
Appendix
A – How to Study for an Introductory Astronomy Class 1141 – 1142
B – Astronomy Websites, Images, and Apps 1143 – 1148
C – Scientific Notation 1149 – 1152
D – Units Used in Science 1153 – 1154
E – Some Useful Constants for Astronomy 1155 – 1156
F – Physical and Orbital Data for the Planets 1157 – 1158
G – Selected Moons of the Planets 1159 – 1162
H – Future Total Eclipses 1163 – 1166
I – The Nearest Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs 1167 – 1170
J – The Brightest Twenty Stars 1171 – 1172
K – The Chemical Elements 1173 – 1178
L – The Constellations 1179 – 1184
M – Star Chart and Sky Event Resources 1185 – 1186