21st Century Astronomy
Stacy Palen, George Blumenthal
Seventh Edition
Chapter 1-24 (All Chapters Verified)
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,Contents
Assessment Guidelines Based on the Science of Learning vii
Chapter 1 Why Learn Astronomy? 1
Chapter 2 Patterns in the Sky—Motions of Earth 15
Chapter 3 Motion of Astronomical Bodies 29
Chapter 4 Gravity and Orbits 44
Chapter 5 Light 59
Chapter 6 The Tools of the Astronomer 74
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Chapter 7 The Birth and Evolution of Planetary Systems 88
Chapter 8 The Terrestrial Planets and Earth’s Moon 103
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Chapter 9 Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets 120
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Chapter 10 Worlds of Gas and Liquid—The Giant Planets 135
Chapter 11 Planetary Adornments—Moons and Rings 150
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Chapter 12 Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies 164
Chapter 13 Taking the Measure of Stars 178
Chapter 14 Our Star—The Sun 191
Chapter 15 Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium 204
Chapter 16 Evolution of Low-Mass Stars 217
,Chapter 17 Evolution of High-Mass Stars 231
Chapter 18 Relativity and Black Holes 245
Chapter 19 The Expanding Universe 261
Chapter 20 Galaxies 275
Chapter 21 The Milky Way—A Normal Spiral Galaxy 289
Chapter 22 Modern Cosmology 305
Chapter 23 Large-Scale Structure in the Universe 319
Chapter 24 Life 331
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, CHAPTER 1
Why Learn Astronomy?
CONCEPT MAP
Sec 1.1
1. Astronomy
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I. Definition
i. Astronomy loosely translated means “patterns among the stars” (MC: 1)
II. Your Place in the Universe
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i. Your address: street, city, town, country, Earth, Sun, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster,
universe (MC: 3, SA: 1)
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ii. Solar System: classical versus dwarf planets (TF: 1, 2, MC: 1–4, 7, SA: 2)
iii. Milky Way: contains 200 to 400 billion stars (MC: 3, 5–7)
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iv. Local Group (MC: 3, 8)
v. Virgo Supercluster (TF: 3, MC: 3)
vi. Universe: contains hundreds of billions of galaxies, roughly as many stars as in the Milky Way (TF:
4)
vii. Much of the universe is made of dark matter, and all of space is permeated by dark energy (TF: 5,
MC: 9, 10)
III. Scale of the Universe
i. Speed of light, c 3 108 m/s (MC: 11)
ii. d v t (TF: 2, MC: 12–17)
iii. Light year is a measure of distance (TF: 6, MC: 12, SA: 3)
iv. Distance versus time comparison: circumference of the Earth versus snapping your fingers (MC: 19,
20, SA: 4–6)
IV. Origin and Evolution of Universe