Universe: Solar System, Stars, and Galaxies, 8th Edition

Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman

Copyright 2014
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Universe: Solar System, Stars, and Galaxies 8th Edition by Michael A. Seeds/Dana Backman

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
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Overview

The 8th edition of Universe: Solar System, Stars, and Galaxies is fully updated with the latest discoveries and online resources to meet the needs of today's students. The text begins with sky and solar system before moving on to the stars and galaxies. Focusing on two central questions, "What are we?", and "How Do We Know?" Seeds and Backman help students understand their place in the universe, and how scientists work. The accompanying Enhanced WebAssign includes the most powerful online homework solution, tutorials written by author Michael Seeds, and more. Virtual Astronomy Labs 2.0 offers hands-on lab experience with twenty key concepts. Whether you prefer a robust online learning system or interactive virtual labs, Universe helps students thrive in your introductory astronomy course!

Available with InfoTrac® Student Collections http://gocengage.com/infotrac.

Meet the Authors

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Michael A. Seeds

Mike Seeds was a professor of physics and astronomy at Franklin and Marshall College (F&M) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1970 until his retirement in 2001. In 1989 he received F&M College’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Mike’s love for the history of astronomy led him to create upper-level courses on archeoastronomy and on the Copernican Revolution (“Changing Concepts of the Universe”). His research interests focused on variable stars and automation of astronomical telescopes. Mike is coauthor with Dana Backman of FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY, 14th Edition (2019); STARS AND GALXIES, 10th Edition (2019); THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 10th Edition (2019); and ASTRO, 3rd Edition (2018), all published by Cengage. He was senior consultant for creation of the 20-episode telecourse accompanying his book HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE.

Dana Backman

Dana Backman taught with Mike Seeds in the physics and astronomy department at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1991 until 2003. He invented and taught a course titled “Life in the Universe” in F&M’s interdisciplinary foundations program. Dana has also taught introductory solar system astronomy at Santa Clara University, plus introductory courses on astronomy, astrobiology, cosmology and the science of climate change in Stanford University’s continuing studies program. His research interests focused on infrared observations of planetary system formation and evolution of the solar system’s Kuiper belt. Dana is employed by the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, as lead for the Astronomy Activation Ambassadors teacher professional development program at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Dana is coauthor with Mike Seeds of FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY, 14th Edition (2019); STARS AND GALAXIES, 10th Edition (2019); THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 10th Edition (2019); and ASTRO, 3rd Edition (2018), all published by Cengage.

What's New

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Text specific "Socratic" tutorials authored by Mike Seeds, consistent with the pedagogy and overall approach of the Seeds/Backman texts.
End-of-chapter "Study and Review" gatefolds. These are gatefold inserts in each chapter that include introductory material for the online tutorials; introductory material for the appropriate Virtual Astronomy labs; and new "Great Debates" questions, written by contributing author Michele Montgomery of the University of Central Florida.
Content has been updated to include new findings and edited for clarity.
InfoTrac® Student Collections are specialized databases expertly drawn from the Gale Academic One library. Each InfoTrac® Student Collection enhances the student learning experience in the specific course area related to the product. These specialized databases allow access to hundreds of scholarly and popular publications - all reliable sources - including journals, encyclopedias, and academic reports. Learn more and access at: http://gocengage.com/infotrac.

Features

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Mike Seeds' and Dana Backman's conversational and student-friendly writing style, with an emphasis on helping students acquire an understanding of the universe over rote memorization of basic facts.
Chapter opener "Guideposts" connect previous and future chapters to the material the students are about to read, highlighting "important questions" within that chapter to help motivate students to read.
"Concept figures" marry art and text to encourage students to synthesize information into one unified concept.
"Guided Discovery Figures" lead students through several frames of art to demonstrate processes that occur over time, providing brief guiding comments as though the authors were explaining each frame to the student themselves.
"Concept art portfolios" combine several ideas over two pages, providing an opportunity for students to process information visually and synthesize individual understanding.

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Part I: EXPLORING THE SKY.
1. Here and Now.
Where Are We? When Is Now? Why Study Astronomy?
2. A User's Guide to the Sky.
The Stars. The Sky and Its Motion.
3. Cycles of the Sun and Moon.
Cycles of the Sun. Astronomical Influences on Earth's Climate. The Changeable Moon.
4. The Origin of Modern Astronomy.
Classical Astronomy. The Copernican Revolution. Planetary Motion. Galileo Galilei. Isaac Newton and Orbital Motion.
5. Light and Telescopes.
Radiation: Information from Space. Telescopes. Observatories on Earth: Optical and Radio. Airborne and Space Observatories. Astronomical Instruments and Techniques.
6. Atoms and Spectra.
Atoms. Interactions of Light and Matter. 6-3 Understanding Spectra.
Part II: THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
7. The Sun.
The Solar Atmosphere. Solar Activity. Nuclear Fusion in the Sun.
8. The Origin of the Solar System and Extrasolar Planets.
The Great Chain of Origins. A Survey of the Solar System. The Story of Planet Building. Planets Orbiting Other Stars.
9. Earth and Moon: Bases for Comparative Planetology.
A Travel Guide to the Terrestrial Planets. Planet Earth. The Moon.
10. Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
Mercury. Venus. Mars.
11. The Outer Solar System.
A Travel Guide to the Outer Solar System. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus. Neptune. Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
12. Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets.
Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites. Asteroids. Comets. Asteroid and Comet Impacts.
Part III: THE STARS.
13. The Family of Stars.
Star Distances. Apparent Brightness, Intrinsic Brightness, and Luminosity. Star Spectra. Star Sizes. Star Masses--Binary Stars. A Census of the Stars.
14. The Formation and Structure of Stars.
The Interstellar Medium. Making Stars from the Interstellar Medium. Young Stellar Objects and Protostellar Disks. Stellar Structure and Nuclear Fusion. Main-Sequence Stars.
15. The Deaths of Stars.
Giant Stars. The Deaths of Lower-Main-Sequence Stars. The Evolution of Binary Systems. The Deaths of Massive Stars.
16. Neutron Stars and Black Holes.
Neutron Stars. Black Holes. Compact Objects with Disks and Jets.
Part IV: THE UNIVERSE OF GALAXIES.
17. The Milky Way Galaxy.
Discovery of the Galaxy. Structure of the Galaxy. Spiral Arms and Star Formation. The Nucleus of the Galaxy. Origin and History of the Milky Way Galaxy.
18. Galaxies: Normal and Active.
The Family of Galaxies. Measuring the Properties of Galaxies. The Evolution of Galaxies. Active Galactic Nuclei. Supermassive Black Holes.
19. Modern Cosmology.
Introduction to the Universe. The Big Bang Theory. Space and Time, Matter and Energy. Twenty-First-Century Cosmology.
Part V: LIFE.
20. Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds.
The Nature of Life. Life in the Universe. Intelligent Life in the Universe.
Afterword.
Appendix A Units and Astronomical Data.
Appendix B Observing the Sky.
Glossary.
Answers to Even-Numbered Problems.
Credits.
Index.