Astronomy

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NGC 4414 is a flocculent spiral galaxy (does not have well-defined spiral arms) in the constellation Coma Berenices.

Astronomy is the scientific study of the universe as a whole, and of celestial bodies and the underlying physics governing these bodies. It is in some sense one of the oldest of the natural sciences, having been practiced by even very ancient civilizations, but it is also among the most modernized of the sciences, having extensively exploited both advances in technology and the rise of space exploration. The progress of technology has dramatically improved our understanding of the universe, revealing a richer tapestry than had ever been imagined before. This wikibook introduces the advanced secondary or beginning university student to that tapestry and the process that revealed it to humanity, presenting astronomy not only as a field of knowledge, but also as a human endeavor in science.

Table of Contents

The Modern View of the Cosmos

1. The Big Picture
2. Short History of the Universe
3. Scientific Notation
4. The Scientific Method
5. What People do in Astronomy
6. Current Unsolved Mysteries

Observational Astronomy

1. The Celestial Sphere
2. Phases of the Moon
3. Eclipses
4. Daily Motions
5. Yearly Motions
6. Coordinate Systems

Motion and Gravity

1. The Early Origins of Astronomy
2. The First Physics (Aristotle)
3. Difficulties in the Geocentric Model
4. The Heliocentric Model (Copernicus)
5. New Ideas About Motion (Galileo)
6. Order in Planetary Orbits
7. The Theory of Gravity Matures

Principles of Light

1. What is Light?
2. The Spectrum
3. Basic Astrophysics
4. Atomic Emission and Absorption
5. Molecular Emission and Absorption
6. Thermal Radiation
7. The Doppler Effect
8. Optics and Telescopes

Planetary science

1. The Terrestrial Planets
2. The Jovian Planets
3. Comets
4. Asteroids
5. Meteors and Meteorites
6. The Kuiper Belt
7. Extrasolar Planets
8. Formation of the Solar System

Earth as a Planet

1. Earth's Early Years
2. Formation of the Moon
3. The Biosphere
4. The Atmosphere
5. The Water Cycle
6. Earth
7. Earth's Moon

Space Exploration

1. First Steps into Space
2. The Apollo Missions
3. Pioneers and Voyagers
4. The Great Observatories
5. Major Future Missions

Astrobiology and Extraterrestrial Life

1. The Drake Equation
2. Organic Chemistry for Astronomy
3. Life in the Solar System
4. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The Sun

1. Fusion in the Sun
2. Convective and Radiative Zones
3. The Photosphere
4. Solar Activity
5. Space Weather
6. Helioseismology
7. The Solar Cycle

Stars: An Introduction

1. Mass/
2. Luminosity
3. Temperature
4. The H-R Diagram
5. Star Clusters as Cosmic Laboratories

The Stellar Life Cycle

1. Protostars and Stellar Nurseries
2. The Life of Low Mass Stars
3. The Death of Low Mass Stars
4. The Life of High Mass Stars
5. The Death of High Mass Stars

Black Holes

1. Life of the Black Hole
2. Black Holes in Hiding
3. History of the Black Hole
4. Core of the Black Hole: The Theory of the Naked Singularity
5. Spaghettification

Galaxies

1. The Milky Way
2. Types of Galaxies
3. Galactic Formation
4. Galactic Evolution
5. Supermassive Black Holes
6. Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasars

Cosmology

1. The Distance Ladder
2. The Big Bang and Cosmic Expansion
3. The First Three Minutes
4. An Accelerating Universe