The Milky Way

Front Cover
Harvard University Press, 1981 - Nature - 356 pages
A swirling spiral of 100 billion star-suns, star clusters, nebulae, and cosmic dust, the Milky Way is our home galaxy and, for astronomers, a source of endless fascination. Since 1941 The Milky Way has conveyed Bart and Priscilla Bok's own fascination with our galaxy in an authoritative yet easily understandable account. For two generations this immensely popular book has been the standard introduction to the Milky Way, but once again, scientific advances have demanded a complete revision and thorough updating. In just the last decade an entirely new model of a much more massive Milky Way has emerged, and new techniques of radio and infrared astronomy have opened up the full study of the galactic center. As in earlier editions, presentation of new research and dynamic new theoretical advances will delight amateur and professional stargazers alike.
 

Contents

PRESENTING THE MILKY
1
Map of the Milky Way Telescopic Views
32
THE DATA OF OBSERVATION
47
THE SUNS NEAREST
85
HertzsprungRussell Diagram The Suns
106
42
115
Moving Clusters The System of Open
123
PULSATING STARS
133
THE WHIRLING GALAXY
152
THE NUCLEUS OF
173
THE INTERSTELLAR
189
10
267
Structure in Neighboring Galaxies Spiral
280
1
314
INDEX
347
Copyright

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About the author (1981)

Born in northern Holland, Bart Jan Bok received his Ph.D. from the University of Groningen. His poor performance on a Boy Scout examination covering the stellar constellations kindled a lifelong interest in astronomy. Prior to World War II, Bok emigrated to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1938. For nearly 30 years he served on the faculty at Harvard University, where he taught astronomy and directed the Harvard Observatory. From 1966 to 1974, Bok was professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona. Bok is most widely known for the discovery of Bok globules, or small patches of dust that might be the sites of star and planet formation. In his later life, Bok developed astronomical enterprises in Australia and in Arizona. Bol died in 1983.

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