Pathways to Astronomy

Pathways to Astronomy breaks down introductory astronomy into its component parts. The huge and fascinating field of astronomy is divided into 84 units. These units are woven together to flow naturally for the person who wants to read the text like a book, but it is also possible to assign them in different orders, or skip certain units altogether. Professors can customize the units to fit their course needs. They can select individual units for exploration in lecture while assigning easier units for self-study, or they can cover all the units in full depth in a content-rich course. With the short length of units, students can easily digest the material covered in an individual unit before moving onto the next unit. Pathways to Astronomy offers the most complete technology media support package available. That technology media package includes: Starry Night Planetarium Software; ARIS (text web site providing a complete online electronic homework and course management system); 23 Interactives (on ARIS); Animations (on ARIS). Electronic Media Integration has been incorporated throughout the text by the use of icons to indicate where additional understanding can be gained through an animation or interactive.

Table of Contents:
Preface Looking Up Illustrations PART I THE COSMIC LANDSCAPE Unit 1 Our Planetary Neighborhood Unit 2 Beyond the Solar System Unit 3 Astronomical Numbers Unit 4 Foundations of Astronomy Unit 5 The Night Sky Unit 6 The Year Unit 7 The Time of Day Unit 8 Lunar Cycles Unit 9 Calendars Unit 10 Geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun Unit 11 Planets: The Wandering Stars Unit 12 The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy Unit 13 Observing the Sky PART II PROBING MATTER, LIGHT, AND THEIR INTERACTION Unit 14 Astronomical Motion: Inertia, Mass, and Force Unit 15 Force, Acceleration, and Interaction Unit 16 The Universal Law of Gravity Unit 17 Measuring a Body’s Mass Using Orbital Motion Unit 18 Orbital and Escape Velocities Unit 19 Tides Unit 20 Conservation Laws Unit 21 Light, Matter, and Energy Unit 22 The Electromagnetic Spectrum Unit 23 Thermal Radiation Unit 24 Atomic Spectra: Identifying Atoms by Their Light Unit 25 The Doppler Shift Unit 26 Detecting Light Unit 27 Collecting Light Unit 28 Focusing Light Unit 29 Telescope Resolution Unit 30 The Earth’s Atmosphere and Space Observatories Unit 31 Amateur Astronomy PART III THE SOLAR SYSTEM Unit 32 The Structure of the Solar System Unit 33 The Origin of the Solar System Unit 34 Other Planetary Systems Unit 35 The Earth as a Terrestrial Planet Unit 36 Earth's Atmosphere and Hydrosphere Unit 37 Our Moon Unit 38 Mercury Unit 39 Venus Unit 40 Mars Unit 41 Asteroids Unit 42 Comparative Planetology Unit 43 Jupiter and Saturn Unit 44 Uranus and Neptune Unit 45 Satellite Systems and Rings Unit 46 Ice Worlds, Pluto, and Beyond Unit 47 Comets Unit 48 Impacts on Earth PART IV STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION Unit 49 The Sun, Our Star Unit 50 The Sun’s Source of Power Unit 51 Solar Activity Unit 52 Surveying the Stars Unit 53 Special Relativity Unit 54 Light and Distance Unit 55 The Temperatures and Compositions of Stars Unit 56 The Masses of Orbiting Stars Unit 57 The Sizes of Stars Unit 58 The H-R Diagram Unit 59 Overview of Stellar Evolution Unit 60 Star Formation Unit 61 Main-Sequence Stars Unit 62 Giant Stars Unit 63 Variable Stars Unit 64 Mass Loss and Death of Low-Mass Stars Unit 65 Exploding White Dwarfs Unit 66 Old Age and Death of Massive Stars Unit 67 Neutron Stars Unit 68 Black Holes Unit 69 Star Clusters PART V GALAXIES AND THE UNIVERSE Unit 70 Discovering the Milky Way Unit 71 Stars of the Milky Way Unit 72 Gas and Dust in the Milky Way Unit 73 Mass and Motions in the Milky Way Unit 74 A Universe of Galaxies Unit 75 Types of Galaxies Unit 76 Galaxy Clustering Unit 77 Active Galactic Nuclei Unit 78 Dark Matter Unit 79 Cosmology Unit 80 The Edges of the Universe Unit 81 The Beginnings of the Universe Unit 82 The Fate of the Universe Unit 83 Astrobiology Unit 84 The Search for Life Elsewhere Glossary Answers to Test Yourself Questions Credits Index

About the Author :
Steve Schneider became interested in astronomy at the amateur level when he was a child. He studied astronomy as an undergraduate at Harvard and obtained his Ph.D. from Cornell. His dissertation work received the Trumpler Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and he was named a Presidential Young Investigator. In addition to teaching introductory astronomy, he works closely with science teachers, presenting workshops and special courses. He also loves to draw and paint. Tom Arny is an Emeritus professor in the Astronomy Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was associated there with the Five College Astronomy Program(comprising faculty from U-Mass, Amhurst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges). Dr. Arny received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Arizona. In addition to his interest in astronomy, he has a long-standing fascination with the natural world: weather (especially atmospheric optics such as rainbows), birds, wildflowers, and butterflies. Visit Dr. Arny's website at: http://www.astro.umass.edu/~arny/astro100.html