The Handy Astronomy Answer Book (The Handy Answer Book Series)

346 Pages·2008·7.06 MB·English

by  Charles Liu

THE

HANDYY

AASSTROONOOMMYY

AANNSSWEERR

BOOOOKK

Charles Liu

Your Smart Reference™

About the Author
Charles Liu is a professor of astrophysics at the
City University of New York’s College of Staten
Island, and an associate with the Hayden Plane-
tarium and Department of Astrophysics at the
American Museum of Natural History in New
York. His research focuses on colliding galaxies,
quasars, starbursts, and the star formation his-
tory of the universe. He earned degrees from
Harvard University and the University of Ari-
zona, and did postdoctoral research at Kitt Peak
National Observatory and at Columbia Universi-
ty. Along with numerous academic research
publications, he also writes the astronomy col-
umn “Out There” for Natural History Magazine.
Together with co-authors Neil Tyson and Robert
Irion, he received the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for
their book One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos. He received the 2005 Award for
Popular Writing on Solar Physics from the American Astronomical Society. He lives
in New Jersey with his wife, daughter, and sons.
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THE
HANDY
ASTRONOMY
ANSWER
BOOK

THE Copyright © 2008 by Visible Ink Press®
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright
HANDY
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applicable laws.
ASTRONOMY
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ANSWER in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or
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ISBN 978-1-57859-193-0
Frontcover images: Young Stars Emerge from Orion’s Head(NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Laborato-
rio de Astrofísica Espacial y Física Fundamental); Saturn’s Rings in Visible Light(NASA and
E. Karkoschka, University of Arizona); Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) image
of a huge, handle-shaped prominence(ESA/NASA/SOHO); and Radio Frequency Telescope
(iStock)
Backcover image: Three Moons Cast Shadows on Jupiter(NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka:
University of Arizona)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Liu, Charles, 1968 Apr. 5-
The handy astronomy answer book / Charles Liu.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57859-193-0
ISBN-10: 1-57859-193-7
1. Astronomy--Miscellanea. I. Title.
QB52.L58 2008
520--dc22
2008023254
Printed in Malaysia by Imago.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
INTRODUCTION ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INDEX 319
ASTRONOMY STARS 89
FUNDAMENTALS 1
Star Basics … Mapping the Stars …
Important Disciplines in Astronomy … Describing and Measuring Stars … How
History of Astronomy … Medieval and Stars Work … Sunspots, Flares, and Solar
Renaissance Astronomy … Eighteenth- and Wind … Star Evolution … The Sun …
Nineteenth-Century Advances … Matter and Dwarf Stars and Giant Stars … Neutron
Energy … Time, Waves, and Particles … Stars and Pulsars … Radiating Stars …
Quantum Mechanics Binary Star Systems … Star Clusters
THE UNIVERSE 33
THE SOLAR SYSTEM 125
Characteristics of the Universe … Origin of
the Universe … Evidence of the Big Bang … Planetary Systems … Planet Basics … The
Evolution of the Universe … Black Holes … Inner Solar System … Gas Giants …
Wormholes and Cosmic Strings … Dark Moons … The Kuiper Belt and Beyond …
Matter and Dark Energy … Multi-Dimension Asteroids … Comets
Theories … The End of the Universe
GALAXIES 59 EARTH AND
THE MOON 161
Fundamentals … The Milky Way …
The Milky Way’s Neighborhood … Galaxy Earth … Orbit and Rotation … The
Movement … Age of Galaxies … Galactic Atmosphere … The Magnetic Field … Van
Dust and Clouds … Nebulae, Quasars, and Allen Belts … Neutrinos … Cosmic Rays …
Blazars … Black Holes in Galaxies … Meteors and Meteorites … The Moon …
Active Galaxies … More Active Galaxies Tides … Clocks and Calendars … The
and Quasars Seasons … Eclipses vii
SPACE PROGRAMS 193 EXPLORING THE
SOLAR SYSTEM 263
Rocket History … Satellites and Spacecraft
… The Sputnik Era … Communications Exploration Basics … Exploring the Sun …
Satellites … First Humans in Space … Exploring Mercury and Venus … Exploring
Early Soviet Programs … Early American Mars … Failed Mars Missions … Mars
Programs … The Apollo Missions … Early Missions in the Twenty-First Century …
Space Stations … The Space Shuttle Exploring the Outer Planets … Exploring
Asteroids and Comets
ASTRONOMY TODAY 225
LIFE IN
Measuring Units … Telescope Basics …
Photography and Photometry … THE UNIVERSE 297
Spectroscopy … Interferometry … Radio Living in Space … Life on Earth and on the
Telescopes … Microwave Telescopes … Moon … Life in Our Solar System …
Solar Telescopes … Special Telescopes … Searching for Intelligent Life … Exoplanets
Terrestrial Observatories … Airborne and … Life on Exoplanets
Infrared Observatories … Space Telescopes
… Infrared Space Telescopes … X-Ray
Space Telescopes … Ultraviolet Space
Telescopes … Gamma-Ray Space Telescopes
viii
Introduction
W
hy do the stars shine? What happens when you fall into a black hole? What’s the
Moon made of? Is Pluto a planet or not? Does extraterrestrial life exist? How old is
Earth? Can humans live in outer space? What is a quasar? How did the universe
begin? How will it end? When it comes to the cosmos, it seems like everyone has a
thousand questions.
Well, you’re in luck—this book has a thousand answers.
Actually, it contains more than a thousand answers to more than a thousand
questions about the universe and how it works. These pages contain far more,
though, than a mere compilation of facts and figures. Together, these questions and
answers tell the story of astronomy—of the cosmos and its contents, and of human-
ity’s efforts throughout history to unlock its secrets and solve its mysteries.
Since the dawn of civilization, people have tried to understand the objects in
the heavens—what they are, how they move, and why. At first, it was a total mys-
tery; our ancient ancestors created myths and stories, and ascribed supernatural
qualities to the stars and planets. Slowly, they learned that the heavens and its con-
tents were natural, not supernatural, and that everyone, not just a privileged few,
could understand them. Slowly, the science of astronomy was born.
What is science? It sure isn’t a bunch of facts in a big thick book that old folks
in lab coats think you should memorize, regurgitate, and forget. Science is a
process of asking questions and seeking answers by weighing the facts, making edu-
cated guesses, and then testing those guesses with predictions, experiments, and
observations. That’s what this book is all about: the unquenchable impulse to ask
questions and seek answers. You’ll read about the questions that were asked, the
people who asked them, how they tried to find the answers, and what they discov-
ered in the process. We owe what we know about the universe to the tireless work
of those questioners—those men and women who laid the foundation of astrono-
my, who searched at the frontiers of knowledge.
And that search goes on. In modern times, our species has seen to the edge of
the observable universe with ground-based and space-borne telescopes. We have
explored distant worlds with robotic spacecraft. We have even started to take our ix