Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance Plus Mastering Astronomy with eText -- Access Card Package

Key Benefit: A modular and highly visual approach to introductory astronomy ¿ Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance takes readers on a spectacular journey across the vast cosmos. The Universe at a Glance introduces the structure and nature of the universe while emphasizing both the latest scientific findings and the process of scientific discovery. This new book by trusted authors Eric Chaisson and Steve McMillan reimagines their classic texts in a modularly organized, visual approach to learning. Here, the essential ideas, concepts, and discoveries of contemporary astronomy are presented in 15 chapters, each chapter composed of richly illustrated, two-page spreads designed to visually engage and instruct readers. ¿ Complete with spectacular graphics and concise, compelling chapters, The Universe at a Glance packs an immense amount of awe-inspiring insights into a brief modular volume. Uniting engaging prose, fascinating details, and easy-to-follow Learning Outcomes, this accessible account of astronomy is flexible and fun. The text is integrated with MasteringAstronomy to create an unrivalled learning suite for curious readers. ¿ Key Topics: The Night Sky; Light and Telescopes; The Solar System; Earth And Its Moon; The Eight Planets; Small Bodies In The Solar System; Formation of Planetary Systems; The Sun; Measuring The Stars; Star Formation and Evolution; Stellar Explosions; Black Holes; The Milky Way Galaxy; Galaxies; Cosmology and The Universe. ¿ Market:¿ This book is a useful reference for anyone curious about the science and beauty of our universe. ¿ 0321792998 / 9780321792990 Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance Plus MasteringAstronomy with eText -- Access Card Package, 1/e: Package consists of: 0321799763 / 9780321799760 Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance, 1/e 0321977432 / 9780321977434 MasteringAstronomy with Pearson eText -- ValuePack Access Card -- for Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance, 1/e

Table of Contents:
About the Authors Preface 1. The Night Sky   1.1 The Big Picture   1.2 The “Obvious” View   1.3 Earth’s Orbital Motion   1.4 The Motion of the Moon    1.5 Eclipses    1.6 The Scientific Method   2. Light and Telescopes   2.1 Radiation  2.2 The Electromagnetic Spectrum   2.3 The Radiation Laws   2.4 Spectroscopy  2.5 Atoms and Molecules   2.6 Optical Telescopes  2.7 Radio Telescopes  2.8 Space-Based Astronomy  3. The Solar System  3.1 Planetary Motion  3.2 Heliocentric Solar System  3.3 The Birth of Modern Astronomy   3.4 The Laws of Planetary Motion  3.5 Newton’s Laws  3.6 Measuring Our Planetary System   3.7 Solar System Overview  4. Earth And Its Moon   4.1 Bulk Properties of Earth and the Moon  4.2 The Moon and Tides  4.3 Inside Earth and the Moon  4.4 Earth’s Atmosphere  4.5 Surface Activity on Earth  4.6 The Surface of the Moon  4.7 Magnetospheres 5. The Eight Planets   5.1 Surfaces of the Terrestrial Planets  5.2 Water on the Terrestrial Worlds  5.3 Terrestrial Atmospheres   5.4 Jovian Atmospheres   5.5 Water in the Outer Solar System   5.6 Planetary Interiors  5.7 Jovian Magnetic Fields  6. Small Bodies In The Solar System  6.1 The Galilean Moons of Jupiter   6.2 Io: A Moon of Volcanoes   6.3 Moons of the Outer Jovian Planets   6.4 The Medium-Size Jovian Moons   6.5 Saturn’s Rings   6.6 Formation of Planetary Rings  6.7 Interplanetary Debris   6.8 Beyond Neptune 7. Formation of Planetary Systems  7.1 Formation of Planetary Systems  7.2 Planetesimals and Protoplanets  7.3 Formation of the Jovian Planets  7.4 Searching for Extrasolar Planets   7.5 Exoplanet Properties   7.6 Is Our Solar System Unusual?  8. The Sun   8.1 Properties of the Sun  8.2 The Solar Interior   8.3 Energy Transport in the Sun  8.4 The Solar Atmosphere  8.5 Sunspots  8.6 The Active Sun  8.7 Solar Energy  8.8 Solar Neutrinos  9. Measuring The Stars  9.1 The Solar Neighborhood   9.2 Stellar Luminosities   9.3 Stellar Temperatures   9.4 Stellar Sizes   9.5 The Hertzsprung—Russell Diagram   9.6 Extending the Cosmic Distance Scale   9.7 Stellar Masses  10. Star Formation and Evolution   10.1 Interstellar Matter  10.2 Theory of Star Formation  10.3 Observations of Star Formation   10.4 Evolution of a Sun-like Star   10.5 Red Giants, White Dwarfs  10.6 Stars More Massive than the Sun  10.7 Star Clusters 11. Stellar Explosions  11.1 Novae  11.2 Supernovae  11.3 Supernova Remnants  11.4 Formation of the Heaviest Elements  11.5 Neutron Stars and Pulsars  11.6 Gamma-Ray Bursts  11.7 The Cycle of Stellar Evolution 12. Black Holes   12.1 Gravitational Collapse  12.2 Einstein’s Theory of Relativity  12.3 A New View of Gravity  12.4 Curved Spacetime  12.5 Space Travel Near Black Holes  212  12.6 Observational Evidence for Black Holes  13. The Milky Way Galaxy  13.1 Our Parent Galaxy  13.2 The Size and Shape of the Milky Way  13.3 Surveying the Milky Way  13.4 Formation of the Milky Way  13.5 Galactic Spiral Arms  13.6 The Mass of the Galaxy  13.7 The Galactic Center  14. Galaxies   14.1 Observations of Normal Galaxies  14.2 Maps of Galaxies in Space   14.3 Galaxy Collisions   14.4 Hubble’s Law    14.5 Active Galaxies   14.6 Supermassive Black Holes  14.7 Dark Matter  14.8 Galaxy Origin and Evolution 15. Cosmology and The Universe   15.1 The Universe on the Largest Scales    15.2 The Expanding Universe   15.3 The Fate of the Cosmos    15.4 Cosmic Microwave Background    15.5 The Early Universe  15.6 Cosmic Inflation    15.7 Formation of Large-Scale Structure Appendices Appendix 1. Scientific Notation Appendix 2. Astronomical Measurement Appendix 3. Tables Glossary Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions Answers to True/False and Multiple Choice Questions Photo Credits/Text Permissions Index

About the Author :
Eric Chaisson holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Harvard University, where he spent 10 years on the faculty of Arts and Sciences. For more than two decades thereafter, he served on the senior science staff at the Space Telescope Science Institute and held various professorships at Johns Hopkins and Tufts universities. He is now back at Harvard, where he teaches and conducts research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Eric has written 12 books on astronomy and has published nearly 200 scientific papers in professional journals.   Steve McMillan holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from Cambridge University and a doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University. He held postdoctoral positions at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, where he continued his research in theoretical astrophysics, star clusters, and high-performance computing. Steve is currently Distinguished Professor of Physics at Drexel University and a frequent visiting researcher at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and Leiden University. He has published more than 100 articles and scientific papers in professional journals.