Unveiling the Universe: An Introduction to AstronomyMany books on general astronomy have been published in recent years, but this one is exceptional in several respects. It not only provides the complete newcomer to astronomy with a broad picture, covering all aspects - historical, observational, space research methods, cosmology - but it also presents enough more advanced material to enable the really interested student to take matters further. Astronomy is essentially a mathematical science, but there are many people who are anxious to take more than a passing interest and yet are not equipped to deal with mathematical formulae. In this book, therefore, the mathematical sections are deliberately separated out, so that they can be passed over without destroying the general picture. The result is that the book will be equally useful to beginners, to more advanced readers, and to those who really want to go deeply into the subject - for instance at university level. The whole text is written with admirable clarity, and there are excellent illustrations, together with extensive appendices which give lists of objects of various types together with more detailed mathematical explanations. All in all, the book may be said to bridge the gap between purely popular works and more advanced treatises; as such it deserves a very wide circulation, and it will undoubtedly run to many future editions. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Dawn of Astronomy | 13 |
The Formulation of Laws | 19 |
Instruments | 33 |
Fundamental Measurements | 47 |
Surveying the Planets | 57 |
New Planets Comets and Meteors | 71 |
Exploring the Solar System | 97 |
Stars and Double Stars | 157 |
Variable Stars | 195 |
The Milky Way Galaxy | 221 |
Beyond the Milky Way | 237 |
From the Big Bang to the Present | 259 |
Appendices | 273 |
| 315 | |
| 317 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute magnitude Alpha Centauri Andromeda angle apparent magnitude Appendix arc seconds astronomers atmosphere atoms axis binaries bolometric bolometric magnitude bright calculated carbon centre Cepheids clouds comet constellation corona craters degrees diameter discovered distance double stars Earth eclipse Ecliptic electrons emission energy equal equator Figure formed galaxies gas and dust gases giant globular clusters gravitational helium hydrogen ionised Jupiter Jupiter's km s¹ layers lens light curve luminosity Lyrae magnetic field Main Sequence Mars measured Mercury metres Milky million km mirror Moon Moon's move nebula nucleus Observatory orbit Orion parallax parsecs particles period photograph photosphere pole position protons quasars radial velocity radiation radio radius rays redshift revolve right ascension rings rotation satellites Saturn shows Sirius solar masses space spectral type spectrum speed spiral arms Sun's sunspot supernova surface telescope temperature thousand million triangle Uranus variables Venus visual magnitude wavelength waves