Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide

Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe (5th Edition)
By Eric Chaisson, Steve McMillan

 

Astronomy Today 4/e (ISBN 0-13-091542-4) is the more comprehensive text by this: proven team of authors. This twenty-eight chapter text begins with the foundations of the history of science and physics as they relate to astronomy (Part One), then proceeds with an "Earth-out" organization for coverage of the solar system (Part Two), stars and stellar evolution (Part Three), and galaxies and cosmology (Part Four). New with the fourth edition, the book is now available in two paperback splits:

Astronomy Today 4/e: The Solar System (ISBN 0-13-093560-3) covers Part One on foundations (Chapters 1-$); Part Two on the solar system (Chapters 6-15); the Sun chapter (Chapter 16); and the final chapter on life in the universe (Chapter 28).

Astronomy Today 4/e: Stars and Galaxies (ISBN 0-13-093571-9) includes Part One on foundations (Chapters 1-S); Part Three on stars and stellar evolution (Chapters 16-22); and Part Four on galaxies and cosmology (Chapters 23-28).

Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe 4/e (ISBN 0-13-100727-0) is the authors' briefer text. It covers the same scope of material in the same order as Astronomy Today 4/e, but with less detail and in fewer chapters (eighteen instead of twenty-eight) and fewer pages.

 

About the Author

Eric Chaisson. Eric holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Harvard University, where he spent ten years on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. For five years, Eric was a Senior Scientist and Director of Educational Programs at the Space Telescope Science Institute and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins University. He then joined Tufts University, where he is now Professor of Physics, Professor of Education, and Director of the Wright Center for Innovative Science Education. He has written nine books on astronomy, which have received such literary awards as the Phi Beta Kappa Prize, two American Institute of Physics Awards, and Harvard's Smith-Weld Prize for Literary Merit. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in professional journals, and has also received Harvard's Bok Prize for original contributions to astrophysics.

Steve McMillan. Steve holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a doctorate in Astronomy from Harvard University. He held post-doctoral positions at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, where he continued his research in theoretical astrophysics, star clusters, and numerical modeling. Steve is currently Distinguished Professor of Physics at Drexel University and a frequent visiting researcher at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Tokyo. He has published more than 50 scientific papers in professional journals.

Details
Published on: 2006-03-06
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
576 pages

 

Reviews

Awesome
The book was just as i expected!!! it was new, no marks, and no bent pages! it was a great price and it looks like i just bought it from a book store!! shipped really fast! THANKS

 

Eric Chaisson, Steve McMillan, Astronomy, Beginner's Guide

Turn Left at Orion

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them
By Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis

A superb guidebook described in Bookwatch as 'the home astronomer's "bible"', Turn Left at Orion provides all the information beginning amateur astronomers need to observe the Moon, the planets and a whole host of celestial objects. Large format diagrams show these objects exactly as they appear in a small telescope and for each object there is information on the current state of our astronomical knowledge. Revised and updated, this new edition contains a chapter with ten new spreads describing spectacular deep sky objects visible from the southern hemisphere, and tips on observing the upcoming transits of Venus. It also discusses Dobsonian telescopes, with hints on using personal computers and the Internet as aids for planning an observing session. Also new to this edition are redrawn "Guidepost" figures at the beginning of each season chapter that allow readers to visualize a three-dimensional view of the sky's dome; redesigned seasonal object layouts that provide more space for the naked-eye charts; a new spread on double stars near Boötes has been added to Spring, replacing the "Shrinking Double" spread; and a unique "When and Where to Look" table has been added to the last page, among other new features. Unlike many guides to the night sky, this book is specifically written for observers using small telescopes. Clear and easy to use, this fascinating book will appeal to skywatchers of all ages and backgrounds. No previous knowledge of astronomy is needed.

Midwest Book Review
Owners of small telescopes will appreciated this revised edition of a classic, which has been updated to AD 2006, and which includes hundreds of night sky objects easily viewed by the home observer. From seasonal challenges in making observations to locating common guideposts and visible clusters, this is the home astronomer's 'bible'.

Review
"...an excellent book for small telescope users...As the resurgence in small telescopes continues, this book will be of use to all users of such instruments. Since many of the objects covered in Turn Left at Orion can be seen from light-polluted skies, this book is a valuable asset even if you live in a large urban area." Deep Sky

"...should be packaged with every first telescope. It's as nearly perfect as such a book can be." Sky & Telescope

"...for those intent on doing some serious observing with a small telescope, Turn Left at Orion has much to recommend it." Stardust

Book Info
Designed to be used at the telescope, this guide to the night sky is perfect for those with no previous knowledge of astronomy and in any age group. Shows how to explore the sky with a small telescope and can be used even outdoors in the dark with ease. Previous edition: c1995. DLC: Astronomy--Amateur's manual.

 

Astronomy manual, Orion, Night Sky Objects

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets - Book

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets

Published on: 2008-08-28
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
802 pages

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets is a unique handbook for astronomers interested in observing meteor storms and outbursts. Spectacular displays of 'shooting stars' are created when the Earth's orbit crosses a meteoroid stream, as each meteoroid causes a bright light when it enters our atmosphere at high speed. Jenniskens, an active meteor storm chaser, explains how meteoroid streams originate from the decay of meteoroids, comets and asteroids, and how they cause meteor showers on Earth. He includes the findings of recent space missions to comets and asteroids, the risk of meteor impacts on Earth, and how meteor showers may have seeded the Earth with ingredients that made life possible. All known meteor showers are identified, accompanied by fascinating details on the most important showers and their parent comets. The book predicts when exceptional meteor showers will occur over the next 50 years, making it a valuable resource for both amateur and professional astronomers.

 

A Must for Meteor Enthusiasts!
WOW! what a book this is for aspiring and experienced observers! I'm in awe. Dr. Jenniskens' new book is so chock-full of information it will take years to soak it all in. He has done a masterful job of explaining everything that goes into the generation of comet dust trails and the resultant meteor showers they spawn. That -- plus a comprehensive listing of EVERY expected meteor outburst (and their expected ZHRs!) for the next fifty years! Not just the main showers like the Leonids and Perseids, but all minor showers as well.
I'm absolutely astounded by the enormous amount of work that must have gone into creating this book! It is simply an amazing work that should be in every library and on every meteor enthusiast's shelf -- because you'll be going back to it again and again for the rest of your life!

(Note: This is probably not the right meteor book for youngsters just getting to know this wonderful science and hobby, however. The charts, graphs, and mathematics are a little overwhelming for beginners.)

Pete Bias (author of Meteors and Meteor Showers, an Amateur's Guide to Meteors)

Behold a Pale Horse By William Cooper, Milton William Cooper

Behold a Pale Horse
By William Cooper, Milton William Cooper

The author, former U.S. Naval Intelligence Briefing Team Member, reveals information kept secret by our government since the 1940s. UFOs, the J.F.K.. assassination, the Secret Government, the war on drugs and more by the world's leading expert on UFOs.

Reviews

LOVE THIS BOOK
I'm not finished reading this book, but it's a real page turner. There is another version, but this is the real deal. The cover up's. I can't really review this book without first finishing it. BEHOLD A PALE HORSE BY WILLIAM COOPER is a book worth buying. You will not be dissappointed.

Will you believe??
Interested in conspiracy theories? This book has them all. It's not an easy read, but once you get used to the writers style it becomes easy to go through. There are copies of documents in this book that are questionable, even though they look legitimate. I find it hard to believe that a document is left on an old copier that was purchased at surplus. I also find it hard to believe the account of one man. It is your choice whether to believe what William Cooper has to say. I would say that perhaps there is some truth in what he says, because for one, I think I believe William Cooper, before I would believe the government. This book has it all, UFOs, Black Ops, Cover-ups, and government threats. It's almost overwhelming the amount of information provided in this book, but I doubt there is another book out there, that could be so detailed about specific accounts of events. It's a shame that William Cooper's life ended the way it did. Shot by a Sheriff's Deputy. Coincidence? If you have a passion for ideas that are labeled conspiracy theories, then this book is full of them.

More for the Tin Foil Hat Crowd
First off let me state that im a conspiracy fan myself. i am a major believer in the 9/11 truth movement and am not a so called "DE-BUNKER" in any way and while cooper talks about things i do think are real like the JFK assassination conspiracy, the coming police state and the NWO i just cant recommend this book. Most of his supposed sources are from other conspiracy books but what really made me just put the book down is when he said his source for a supposed secret oath into the Vatican's secret order couldn't be revealed or the person who took it either. sources are the most important thing in journalism, if you don't have your who, what, were, when and why down you have no credibility and your writing turns instantly into opinion, and thats precisely what this book is, opinion. Aside from that half and i mean almost half the book is just photo copied with text so small its hard to read along with News articles and supposed government documents most of which are nothing more than memos.....sorry not interested in reading a US military memo. he throws in some blurry pictures that are UFO's (again there are better books on the subject) and throws in the Ariel shot of Area 51 which most people have seen a 1,00 times. Cooper goes on to make allegations of secret government aircraft and all that other stuff that separates mainstream conspiracy people from the tin foil hat crowd. Look If your looking to get into conspiracies turn somewhere else and save your money, i wish i had.

 

Contents Book

Introduction    1
William Cooper, UFOs, Geronimo
Chapterl Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars    35
inductor, BILDERBERG GROUP, Mayer Amschel Rothschild
Secret Societies and the New World Order    67
Bilderberg Group, Illuminati, Knights of Malta
18 other sections not shown

Average customer review:

 

William Cooper, Milton William Cooper, UFO, Book, astronomy-telescopes.blogspot.com

The Perseids Meteor shower

A meteor shower, some of which are known as a "meteor storm", "meteor outburst", or "shooting star", is a celestial event where a group of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the sky. These meteors are small fragments of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed. They vaporize due to friction with the air, leaving a streak of light that very quickly disappears. For bodies with a size scale larger than the atmospheric mean free path (10 cm to several metres) this visible light is due to the heat produced by the ram pressure (not friction, as is commonly assumed) of atmospheric entry . Most of the small fragments of cosmic debris are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all fragments disintegrate and never hit the earth's surface. Fragments which do contact Earth's surface are called meteorites.

A Perseid (possibly 2) and Milky way

The Perseids (pronounced /ˈpɝsiːɨdz/ pûr'sē-ĭdz) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream. The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it passed by the Sun. Most of the dust in the cloud today is approximately a thousand years old. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that boiled off the comet in 1862. The approximate rate of meteors originating from this filament is much higher than normal.

 

Observation

The famous Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2000 years, with the first known information on these meteors coming from the Far East. In early Europe, the Perseids came to be known as the "tears of St. Lawrence."

The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14, peaking about August 12. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky, but because of the path of Swift-Tuttle's orbit, Perseids are mostly visible in the northern hemisphere.

To experience the shower in its full, one should observe in the dark of a clear moonless night, from a point far outside any large cities, where stars are not dimmed by light pollution. The Perseids have a broad peak, so the shower is visible for several nights. On any given night, activity starts slowly in the evening but picks up by 11 p.m., when the radiant gets reasonably high in the sky. The meteor rate increases steadily through the night as the radiant rises higher, peaking just before the sky starts to get light, roughly 1½ to 2 hours before sunrise.

2007

The Perseid meteor shower peaked on the new-Moon night of Sunday–Monday, August 12–August 13 and could be seen from any place in the northern hemisphere. The Perseid meteors appeared to stream away from their radiant near the border of Perseus and Cassiopeia.

The meteor rate, for an observer at a dark-sky site in the northern temperate latitudes, increases to roughly 30 per hour in the predawn hours on Saturday, 45 per hour on Sunday morning, and 80 per hour before the sky starts to get light on Monday morning.

2008

The Perseids will next be active from July 17 to August 24, 2008, with their peak on the morning of August 12, 2008.

 

Thank Ref and  Read more...Perseids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Meteor shower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Perseids Meteor shower