A Companion to Astronomy and Astrophysics: Chronology and Glossary with Data TablesAstronomy and Astrophysics is a comprehensive, fundamental, up-to-date reference book. It is filled with vital information and basic facts for amateur astronomers and professional astrophysicists, and for anyone interested in the Universe, from the Earth and other planets to the stars, galaxies and beyond. Although serious and thorough, the language, and ideas will attract the general reader, as well as students and professionals. Astronomy and Astrophysics consists of two main parts, a Timeline and a Dictionary. The Timeline is a concise history, arranged chronologically, which provides the complete story of cosmic discovery from early Chinese and Greek astronomy to the latest findings of modern astrophysics and robotic spacecraft. It provides a sense of destination and flow in our growing awareness of the Universe. Each entry in the unfolding narrative is written in a concise, light and friendly style that will be appreciated by all, without being weighted down with incomprehensible specialized terms. The story of science is one of individuals, as well as discoveries and ideas. So our Timeline includes the people who have made major scientific contributions that are related to astronomy, and astrophysics. The Dictionary defines all terms and acronyms that deal with our celestial science, from important concepts to individual objects and space missions. It is arranged alphabetically and complemented by numerous tables of fundamental data for bright cosmic objects, including the celestial coordinates required to observe them. Line drawings are also used to forcefully compact a scientific insight, with clear labels and captions. An exceptionally thorough Index cross-references concepts, discoveries and individuals in both the Timeline and Dictionary. The combined result is a unique, comprehensive, stand-alone reference volume in which the reader can quickly locate information, while also discovering new and unexpected knowledge. Astronomy and Astrophysics is therefore an indispensable book for any library and all persons interested in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as the related fields of cosmology, geology and physics.
Kenneth R. Lang is known for his famous, widely used reference books Astrophysical Formulae I, II, published in their third edition in 1995 by Springer-Verlag. He is also a writer of prize-winning science books that have a broad readership, including amateurs, experts and the educated layperson. Some of these popular books, which include Sun, Earth and Sky, Wanderers in Space, the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Sun and the Cambridge Guide to the Solar System, have been translated into seven languages. |
From inside the book
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... lines , the Galilean satellites , greenhouse gases , Halley s comet , our Milky Way Galaxy , meteor showers ... line drawings , carefully selected to convey an idea , including the asteroid belt , bremsstrahlung , comets - anatomy and ...
... lines . 118 Table 5 Comets - Great 133 Table 6 Comets - short period . 134 Table 7 Comets - structure . 135 Table 8 Constellations 138 Table 9 Corona - emission lines .. 141 Table 10 Corona - holes and loops . . 141 Table 11 Cosmic ...
... lines in the spectrum of visible sunlight , assigning Roman letters to the most promi- nent ; these absorption lines are now sometimes called Fraunhofer lines . 1823 The Hungarian mathematician Janos Bolyai ( 1802-1860 ) describes a non ...
... line can be drawn through a point outside another line parallel to it , and the sum of the angles in a triangle is always less than 180 degrees . This was similar to the non - Euclidean geometry introduced by the Hungarian mathematician ...
... line of sight . 1843 German pharmacist and amateur astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe ( 1789-1875 ) announces that the number of sunspots varies from a maximum to a minimum and back to a maximum again in a period of about ten years ...