Universe: Stars and Galaxies

Roger A. Freedman is a Lecturer in Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. At UCSB, Dr. Freedman has taught in both the Department of Physics and the College of Creative Studies, a branch of the university intended for highly gifted and motivated undergraduates. He has published research in nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, and laser physics. In recent years, he has helped to develop computer-based tools for learning introductory physics and astronomy and helped pioneer the use of classroom response systems and the "flipped" classroom model at UCSB. He is co-author of three introductory textbooks: University Physics (Pearson), Universe (Freeman), and Investigating Astronomy (Freeman). Robert M. Geller teaches and conducts research in astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, he is currently involved in a search for bursts of lights that are predicted to occur when a supermassive black hole consumes a star. Dr. Gellar also has a strong emphasis on education, and he received the Distinguished Teaching Award at UCSB in 2003. William J. Kaufman III (deceased) was the author of the first four editions of Universe. During his career he held positions at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, San Diego State University, UCLA, Caltech, and the University of Illinois. A prolific author, his many books include Black Holes and Warped Spacetime, Relativity and Cosmology, The Cosmic Frontiers of General Relativity, Exploration of the Solar System, Planets and Moons, Stars and Nebulas, Galaxies and Quasars, and Supercomputing and the Transformation of Science. Dr. Kaufmann died in 1994.

PART I: INTRODUCING ASTRONOMY.- 1. Astronomy and the Universe .- Guest Essay: Why Astronomy? by Sandra M. Faber .- 2. Knowing the Heavens .- Guest Essay Why Astrology Is Not Science by James Randi .- 3. Eclipses and the Motion of the Moon .- Guest Essay: Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy by Mark Hollabaugh .- 4. Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets .- 5. The Nature of Light .- 6. Optics and Telescopes.- PART II: PLANETS AND MOONS .- 7. Comparative Planetology I: Our Solar System.- 8. Comparative Planetology II: The Origin of Our Solar System.- Guest Essay: Alien Planets by Geoff Marcy.- PART III: STARS AND STELLAR EVOLUTION.- 16. Our Star, the Sun .- 17. The Nature of the Stars .- 18. The Birth of Stars .- 19. Stellar Evolution: On and After the Main Sequence .- 20. Stellar Evolution: The Deaths of Stars .- 21. Neutron Stars .- 22. Black Holes.- PART IV: GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY .- 23. Our Galaxy .- 24. Galaxies .- 25. Quasars and Active Galaxies .- 26. Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of the Universe .- Guest Essay: The Extravagant Universe by Robert Kirshner .- 27. Exploring the Early Universe .- Guest Essay: New Horizons in the Cosmic Microwave Background by John Ruhl .- 28. The Search for Extraterrestrial Life .- Guest Essay: A Biologist's View of Astrobiology by Kevin W. Plaxco.