Astronomy 101

From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe

Carolyn Collins Petersen

• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781440563591
• eBook ISBN: 9781440563607
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Astronomy & Astrophysics

Explore the curiosities of our galaxy with this comprehensive, digestible guide to astronomy!

Too often, textbooks obscure the beauty and wonder of outer space with tedious discourse that even Galileo would oppose. Astronomy 101 cuts out the boring details and lengthy explanations, and instead, gives you a lesson in astronomy that keeps you engaged as you discover what's hidden beyond our starry sky.

From the Big Bang and nebulae to the Milky Way and Sir Isaac Newton, this celestial primer is packed with hundreds of entertaining astronomy facts, charts, and photographs you won't be able to get anywhere else.

So whether you’re looking to unravel the mystery behind black holes, or just want to learn more about your favorite planets, Astronomy 101 has all the answers—even the ones you didn’t know you were looking for.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / REFERENCES

Print references used throughout the book:

Beatty, J. K., C. C. Petersen, and A. C. Chaikin, The New Solar System, Fourth Ed., Cambridge University Press/Sky Publishing, 1998.

Bennett, Jeffrey O., Nicholas Schneider, and Mark Volt, Cosmic Perspective, Addison Wesley, 2004.

Brown, M. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, Spiegel and Grau, 2010.

Hartmann, W. K., A Traveler’s Guide to Mars, Workman Press, 2003.

Lankford, J., ed., History of Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Pasachoff, J., A Field Guide to Stars and Planets, Fourth Ed., Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Petersen, C., and J. Brandt, Hubble Vision, Second Ed., Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Petersen, C., and J. Brandt, Visions of the Cosmos, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Rees, M., Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide, Smithsonian Press/DK, 2012.

Sagan, C. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Random House, 1994.

Rey, H. A. Find the Constellations, Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

Rey, H. A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

Strom, R. G., and A. L. Sprague, Exploring Mercury, Springer/Praxis, 2003.

Recommended Periodicals

Astronomy magazine (www.astronomy.com)

Sky & Telescope magazine (www.skyandtelescope.com)

Online References

The Solar System

www.solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm

www.starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/solar_system.html

www.universetoday.com/15959/interesting-facts-about-the-solar-system

The Sun

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/index.html

www.solarsysteemm.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cf...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Astronomy Lingo
• The Solar System
• The Sun
• Space Weather
• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• The Moon
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Pluto
• Comets
• Meteors and Meteorites
• Asteroids
• The Stars
• Star Clusters
• Star Birth
• Star Death
• Black Holes
• Galaxies
• Galaxy Formation
• The Milky Way
• Active Galaxies and Quasars
• Dark Matter
• The Structure of the Universe
• Gravitational Lenses
• The Big Bang
• A Science-Fiction Universe
• Extraterrestrial Life
• The History of Astronomy
• Nicolaus Copernicus
• Galileo Galilei
• Johannes Kepler
• The Herschels
• Isaac Newton
• Henrietta Swan Leavitt
• Edwin P. Hubble
• Albert Einstein
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell
• Vera Cooper Rubin
• Clyde Tombaugh
• Mike Brown
• Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Astrobiology
• Planetary Science
• Cosmic Time Machines
• Hubble Space Telescope
• The Kepler Mission
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory
• Spitzer Space Telescope
• Fermi
• The Future of Astronomy
• You Can Do Astronomy
• Bibliography/References
• Acknowledgments
• Copyright
• Tables