Astronomy Today

With Astronomy Today, Eighth Edition, trusted authors Eric Chaisson and Steve McMillan communicate their excitement about astronomy, delivering current and thorough science with insightful pedagogy. The text emphasizes critical thinking and visualization, and it focuses on the process of scientific discovery, teaching students "how we know what we know." Alternate Versions *Astronomy Today, Volume 1: The Solar System, Eighth Edition-Focuses primarily on planetary coverage for a 1-term course. Includes Chapters 1-16, 28. *Astronomy Today, Volume 2: Stars and Galaxies, Eighth Edition-Focuses primarily on stars and stellar evolution for a 1-term course. Includes Chapters 1-5 and 16-28.I. ASTRONOMY AND THE UNIVERSE 1. Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy 2. The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science 3. Radiation: Information from the Cosmos 4. Spectroscopy: The Inner Workings of Atoms 5. Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy II. OUR PLANETARY SYSTEM 6. The Solar System: Comparative Planetology and Formation Models7. Earth: Our Home in Space 8. The Moon and Mercury: Scorched and Battered Worlds 9. Venus: Earth's Sister Planet 10. Mars: A Near Miss for Life? 11. Jupiter: Giant of the Solar System 12. Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious Moons 13. Uranus and Neptune: The Outer Worlds of the Solar System 14. Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin 15. Exoplanets: Planetary Systems Beyond Our Own. III. STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION 16. The Sun: Our Parent Star 17. The Stars: Giants, Dwarfs, and the Main Sequence 18. The Interstellar Medium: Gas and Dust among the Stars 19. Star Formation: A Traumatic Birth 20. Stellar Evolution: The Life and Death of a Star 21. Stellar Explosions: Novae, Supernovae, and the Formation of the Elements 22. Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter IV. GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY 23. The Milky Way Galaxy: A Spiral in Space 24. Galaxies: Building Blocks of the Universe 25. Galaxies and Dark Matter: The Large-Scale Structure of the Cosmos 26. Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe 27. The Early Universe: Toward the Beginning of Time 28. Life in the Universe: Are We Alone?