Handy Astronomy Answer Book

347 Pages·2008·7.53 MB·English

by  Charles Liu

THE

HANDYY

AASSTROONOOMMYY

AANNSSWEERR

BOOOOKK

Charles Liu

Your Smart Reference™

About the Author
Charles Liu is a professor of astrophysics at the
City University of New York’s College of Staten
Island, and an associate with the Hayden Plane-
tarium and Department of Astrophysics at the
American Museum of Natural History in New
York. His research focuses on colliding galaxies,
quasars, starbursts, and the star formation his-
tory of the universe. He earned degrees from
Harvard University and the University of Ari-
zona, and did postdoctoral research at Kitt Peak
National Observatory and at Columbia Universi-
ty. Along with numerous academic research
publications, he also writes the astronomy col-
umn “Out There” for Natural History Magazine.
Together with co-authors Neil Tyson and Robert
Irion, he received the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for
their book One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos. He received the 2005 Award for
Popular Writing on Solar Physics from the American Astronomical Society. He lives
in New Jersey with his wife, daughter, and sons.
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THE
HANDY
ASTRONOMY
ANSWER
BOOK

THE
HHANDDYY
AASTRRONOOMY
AA N S W E R
BOOOK
Charles Liu
Detroit
THE Copyright © 2008 by Visible Ink Press®
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright
HANDY
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applicable laws.
ASTRONOMY
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writ-
ing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages
ANSWER in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or
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ISBN 978-1-57859-193-0
Frontcover images: Young Stars Emerge from Orion’s Head(NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Laborato-
rio de Astrofísica Espacial y Física Fundamental); Saturn’s Rings in Visible Light(NASA and
E. Karkoschka, University of Arizona); Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) image
of a huge, handle-shaped prominence(ESA/NASA/SOHO); and Radio Frequency Telescope
(iStock)
Backcover image: Three Moons Cast Shadows on Jupiter(NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka:
University of Arizona)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Liu, Charles, 1968 Apr. 5-
The handy astronomy answer book / Charles Liu.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57859-193-0
ISBN-10: 1-57859-193-7
1. Astronomy--Miscellanea. I. Title.
QB52.L58 2008
520--dc22
2008023254
Printed in Malaysia by Imago.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
INTRODUCTION ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INDEX 319
ASTRONOMY STARS 89
FUNDAMENTALS 1
Star Basics … Mapping the Stars …
Important Disciplines in Astronomy … Describing and Measuring Stars … How
History of Astronomy … Medieval and Stars Work … Sunspots, Flares, and Solar
Renaissance Astronomy … Eighteenth- and Wind … Star Evolution … The Sun …
Nineteenth-Century Advances … Matter and Dwarf Stars and Giant Stars … Neutron
Energy … Time, Waves, and Particles … Stars and Pulsars … Radiating Stars …
Quantum Mechanics Binary Star Systems … Star Clusters
THE UNIVERSE 33
THE SOLAR SYSTEM 125
Characteristics of the Universe … Origin of
the Universe … Evidence of the Big Bang … Planetary Systems … Planet Basics … The
Evolution of the Universe … Black Holes … Inner Solar System … Gas Giants …
Wormholes and Cosmic Strings … Dark Moons … The Kuiper Belt and Beyond …
Matter and Dark Energy … Multi-Dimension Asteroids … Comets
Theories … The End of the Universe
GALAXIES 59 EARTH AND
THE MOON 161
Fundamentals … The Milky Way …
The Milky Way’s Neighborhood … Galaxy Earth … Orbit and Rotation … The
Movement … Age of Galaxies … Galactic Atmosphere … The Magnetic Field … Van
Dust and Clouds … Nebulae, Quasars, and Allen Belts … Neutrinos … Cosmic Rays …
Blazars … Black Holes in Galaxies … Meteors and Meteorites … The Moon …
Active Galaxies … More Active Galaxies Tides … Clocks and Calendars … The
and Quasars Seasons … Eclipses vii
SPACE PROGRAMS 193 EXPLORING THE
SOLAR SYSTEM 263
Rocket History … Satellites and Spacecraft
… The Sputnik Era … Communications Exploration Basics … Exploring the Sun …
Satellites … First Humans in Space … Exploring Mercury and Venus … Exploring
Early Soviet Programs … Early American Mars … Failed Mars Missions … Mars
Programs … The Apollo Missions … Early Missions in the Twenty-First Century …
Space Stations … The Space Shuttle Exploring the Outer Planets … Exploring
Asteroids and Comets
ASTRONOMY TODAY 225
LIFE IN
Measuring Units … Telescope Basics …
Photography and Photometry … THE UNIVERSE 297
Spectroscopy … Interferometry … Radio Living in Space … Life on Earth and on the
Telescopes … Microwave Telescopes … Moon … Life in Our Solar System …
Solar Telescopes … Special Telescopes … Searching for Intelligent Life … Exoplanets
Terrestrial Observatories … Airborne and … Life on Exoplanets
Infrared Observatories … Space Telescopes
… Infrared Space Telescopes … X-Ray
Space Telescopes … Ultraviolet Space
Telescopes … Gamma-Ray Space Telescopes
viii