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[资源] The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Astronomy

Foreword

Astronomy is one of the oldest scientific disciplines. Observations of the sky by an-
cient civilizations provided important milestones. Solar and lunar eclipses were promi-
nent events as were the discovery of comets and "guest stars," now recognized to be
supernovae. These "guest stars" were observed by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as-
tronomers (or astrologers) for the last two millennia and possibly were sighted by the
ancestors of the native Americans of the U.S. Southwest. The prime example of this
was the Crab supernova in 1054, a drawing of which can be seen at the Chaco Culture
National Historical Park in New Mexico.
Humans have had a fascination with astronomy for thousands of years. At the end of
the twentieth century, public interest in astronomy is at an all-time high. Few scien-
tific disciplines have so many active and successful amateurs. Many important discov-
eries are made by amateurs, including comets, minor planets, and supernovae.
Of course, Hollywood has also played a role in popularizing astronomy. A prominent
recent example is the 1997 Warner Brothers film Contact, starring Jodie Foster. The
film was made in 1995–1996, partly at the National Science Foundation’s Very Large
Array in New Mexico. Ironically, the main subject matter of the film is SETI (the
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), one of the very few areas of astronomical re-
search in which the VLA plays no role.
Chris De Pree and Alan Axelrod present a comprehensive tour of the universe in The
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Astronomy, Second Edition. Readers will enjoy the historical ap-
proach, starting with the ancients, moving on to Copernicus and Galileo, and ending
in the modern era with Neil Armstrong and others. This book provides an excellent
guide not only for first-time observers, but also for experienced amateur astronomers.
Astronomical techniques, the solar system, stars, and the distant universe are de-
scribed in a concise but thorough manner. The simple physical concepts underlying
these phenomena are presented as they are required.
Finally, a few words about the senior author, Chris De Pree. Chris was a summer stu-
dent at the Very Large Array a few years ago while he was a graduate student at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He later moved to the VLA for two years,
where he completed his UNC Ph.D., working on radio observations of compact HII re-
gions. He received his doctorate in 1996 and then moved to Decatur, Georgia, to join
the faculty of Agnes Scott College as (not surprisingly) a professor of astronomy.
Astronomy at Agnes Scott has begun a new and vital era, and readers of The Complete
Idiot’s Guide to Astronomy, Second Edition are in for a treat that is informative and exhil-
arating as well as challenging.

Contents at a Glance

Part 1:  Finding Our Place in Space 1
1  Naked Sky, Naked Eye: Finding Your Way in the Dark 3
Finding your way around the night sky. No telescope
necessary.
2  Ancient Evenings: The First Watchers 17
What the ancient astronomers saw, thought, and said.
3  The Unexplained Motions of the Heavens 31
Puzzles of planetary motion: early thoughts on the subject.
4  Astronomy Reborn: 1543–1687 47
Everything (well, not really) you need to know about
Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.
Part 2:  Now You See It (Now You Don’t) 63
5  The Art of Collecting Light (with a Telescope) 65
Telescopes: what they see and how they work.
6  You and Your Telescope 81
A guide to choosing and using binoculars and telescopes.
7  Over the Rainbow 101
Electromagnetic radiation: what it is, how it travels, and
what it does.
8  Seeing in the Dark 117
Alternatives to visible-light astronomy: radio, infrared,
ultraviolet, and high energy.
9  Space Race: From Sputnik to the International
Space Station 131
A brief history of space exploration.
Part 3:  A Walk Around the Block 147
10  The Moon: Our Closest Neighbor 149
All about Earth’s moon.
11  Solar System Home Movie 161
How our solar system was born and developed.
12  Solar System Family Snapshot 173
A tour through our solar system.
13  So Close and Yet So Far: The Inner Planets 189
The lowdown on Mercury, Venus, and Mars.14  Great Balls of Gas! The Outer Planets 205
All about Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn.
15  The Far End of the Block 221
The moons and rings of the jovian planets, and the
story of Pluto.
Part 4:  To the Stars 235
16  Our Star 237
We explore the sun.
17  Of Giants and Dwarfs: Stepping Out into the Stars 251
Observing, measuring, and classifying stars.
18  Stellar Careers 267
How stars evolve—and how they end their lives.
19  Black Holes: One-Way Tickets to Eternity 279
Stellar endgames: neutron stars, black holes, and the
strange effects they produce.
20  Stellar Nurseries 289
How stars are created.
Part 5:  Way Out of This World 301
21  The Milky Way: Much More Than a Candy Bar 303
A tour of our home Galaxy.
22  A Galaxy of Galaxies 317
Observing, measuring, and classifying galaxies.
23  Moving Out of Town 331
Active versus normal galaxies: Seyfert and radio galaxies,
plus quasars.
Part 6:  The Big Questions 341
24  Table for One? 343
The odds on life beyond Earth and on other civilizations
in the Milky Way.
25  What About the Big Bang? 359
How it all began (we think).
26  (How) Will It End? 369
Is the universe infinite or finite? Eternal or mortal? Will it
end—and if so, how?
Appendixes
A  Star Words Glossary 379
A glossary of astronomy.
B  Upcoming Eclipses 395
A list of lunar and solar eclipses to watch for.
C  The Constellations 397
A complete list of the constellations with their approxi-
mate positions.
D  The Messier Catalog 401
The classic list of deep-sky objects—available to amateur
astronomers.
E  Sources for Astronomers 407
Key sources of information, including books, guides, charts,
astronomical event calendars, and Internet resources.
Index 413

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[ Last edited by zhq025 on 2008-1-16 at 10:21 ]

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