The Solar System

CHAPTER 1 | HERE AND NOW 5 Another Common Misconception is that stars look like disks when seen through a telescope. Although st ...

6 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY held together by the combined gravity of all of its matter. Galaxies range from 1500 to over 300, ...

CHAPTER 1 | HERE AND NOW 7 the ribbon to mark the birth of the fi rst stars, it would be not quite 3 yards from the goal line wh ...

8 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY everyone should know, and astronomy is the only course on campus that can tell you that story. Ev ...

CHAPTER 1 | HERE AND NOW 9 Summary ▶ (^) You surveyed the universe by taking a cosmic zoom in which each fi eld of view (p. 2) w ...

10 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY Discussion Questions Do you think you have a right to know the astronomy described in this chap ...

11 The sky above mountain- top observatories far from city lights is the same sky you see from your window. The stars above you ...

12 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY groupings. Th e long tail of the scorpion was the Snake, and the two bright stars at the tip of ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 13 in the sky or to its brightness. A more useful way to identify stars is to assign letters to the bright s ...

14 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY Favorite Stars It is fun to know the names of the brighter stars, but they are more than points ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 15 almost zero. A few are so bright the modern magnitude scale must extend into negative numbers (■ Figure 2 ...

16 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY allows modern astronomers to measure and report the brightness of stars to high precision while ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 17 Precession Over 2000 years ago, Hipparchus compared a few of his star positions with those recorded nearl ...

18 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY Ce les tia le qu ato r South celestial pole North celestial pole Earth Horizon East West South N ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 19 North celestial pole North celestial pole North celestial pole North celestial pole N W E W E W E W E Lat ...

20 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY Because of its rotation, Earth has a slight bulge around its middle, and the gravity of the sun ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 21 The Seasons Earth would not experience seasons if it rotated upright in its orbit, but because its axis o ...

22 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY Celestial equator Ecliptic Vernal equinox 23.5° Autumnal equinox South celestial pole North cele ...

CHAPTER 2 | THE SKY 23 South North South Noon sun Noon sun Sunset Sunset West East West East At summer solstice At winter solsti ...

24 PART 1^ |^ EXPLORING THE SKY orbit. Th ey continue moving westward away from the sun and then move back crossing the far part ...