Handbook of Practical Astronomy

Description

With amateurs, students, and teachers of astronomy in high schools and colleges particularly in mind, the Handbook of Practical Astronomy is an essential source to demonstrate trends and variety of astronomical observations. The book presents the substance of celestial bodies for the amateur observer: the planets, the stars, and the galaxies. The sun is the local link to the other stars, the nexus of cosmic evolution. The solar system is made up by the sun and all the celestial bodies orbit it. This system is of special interest for the observing amateur. The Handbook of Practial Astronomy spans astronomy, education and computing. Like many other fields of science, astronomy has become digitized and data rich in recent years. Besides the references at the end of each chapter, there are the notes in the margins with astronomical news and observing highlights on the web. Front Matter....Pages I-XXIV Why Astronomy?....Pages 1-4 Fundamentals of Spherical Astronomy....Pages 5-21 Applied Mathematics and the Computer....Pages 23-39 Optics and Telescopes....Pages 41-93 Telescope Mountings, Drives, and Electrical Equipment....Pages 95-131 Astrophotography....Pages 133-173 The Nature of Light and Matter: Fundamentals of Spectral Analysis....Pages 175-204 Principles of Photometry....Pages 205-238 Signals from Space: Radio Astronomy for Beginners....Pages 239-254 Modern Sundials....Pages 255-266 An Historical Exploration of Modern Astronomy....Pages 267-280 The Social Astronomer....Pages 281-308 Earth and Solar System....Pages 309-571 Stars and Stellar Systems....Pages 573-695 Back Matter....Pages 697-712