Preface  (Page 2/4)

Coverage and scope

Astronomy was written, updated, and reviewed by a broad range of astronomers and astronomy educators in a strong community effort. It is designed to meet scope and sequence requirements of introductory astronomy courses nationwide.

• Chapter 1: Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour
• Chapter 2: Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy
• Chapter 3: Orbits and Gravity
• Chapter 4: Earth, Moon, and Sky
• Chapter 5: Radiation and Spectra
• Chapter 6: Astronomical Instruments
• Chapter 7: Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
• Chapter 8: Earth as a Planet
• Chapter 9: Cratered Worlds
• Chapter 10: Earthlike Planets: Venus and Mars
• Chapter 11: The Giant Planets
• Chapter 12: Rings, Moons, and Pluto
• Chapter 13: Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
• Chapter 14: Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
• Chapter 15: The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
• Chapter 16: The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse
• Chapter 17: Analyzing Starlight
• Chapter 18: The Stars: A Celestial Census
• Chapter 19: Celestial Distances
• Chapter 20: Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space
• Chapter 21: The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar System
• Chapter 22: Stars from Adolescence to Old Age
• Chapter 23: The Death of Stars
• Chapter 24: Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
• Chapter 25: The Milky Way Galaxy
• Chapter 26: Galaxies
• Chapter 27: Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes
• Chapter 28: The Evolution and Distribution of Galaxies
• Chapter 29: The Big Bang
• Chapter 30: Life in the Universe
• Appendix A: How to Study for Your Introductory Astronomy Course
• Appendix B: Astronomy Websites, Pictures, and Apps
• Appendix C: Scientific Notation
• Appendix D: Units Used in Science
• Appendix E: Some Useful Constants for Astronomy
• Appendix F: Physical and Orbital Data for the Planets
• Appendix G: Selected Moons of the Planets
• Appendix H: Upcoming Total Eclipses
• Appendix I: The Nearest Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs
• Appendix J: The Brightest Twenty Stars
• Appendix K: The Chemical Elements
• Appendix L: The Constellations
• Appendix M: Star Charts and Sky Event Resources

Currency and accuracy

Astronomy has information and images from the New Horizons exploration of Pluto, the discovery of gravitational waves, the Rosetta Mission to Comet C-G, and many other recent projects in astronomy. The discussion of exoplanets has been updated with recent information—indicating not just individual examples, but trends in what sorts of planets seem to be most common. Black holes receive their own chapter, and the role of supermassive black holes in active galaxies and galaxy evolution is clearly explained. Chapters have been reviewed by subject-matter experts for accuracy and currency.

Flexibility

Because there are many different ways to teach introductory astronomy, we have made the text as flexible as we could. Math examples are shown in separate sections throughout, so that you can leave out the math or require it as you deem best. Each section of a chapter treats a different aspect of the topic being covered; a number of sections could be omitted in shorter overview courses and can be included where you need more depth. And, as we have already discussed, you can customize the book in a variety of ways that have never been possible in traditional textbooks.