Astrophysics For Dummies

Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
   About This Book
   Foolish Assumptions
   Icons Used in This Book
   Beyond the Book
   Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Getting Started with Astrophysics
   Chapter 1: Welcome to the Universe
      The Science of Astrophysics
      Tools of the Trade
      Stars, Galaxies, and Their Cosmological Friends
   Chapter 2: The A to Z of Physics
      Building Blocks of the Universe: Particles
      What Matters About Matter?
      Let the Force(s) Be With You
      Store It or Use It, But Don’t Waste Energy
      It’s the Law! (of Physics)
      Heat and Energy Unite with Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
   Chapter 3: Astronomy in a Nutshell
      Where to Begin … Or, How It All Began
      Mapping our Solar System, Galaxy, and the Universe
      Observational Astronomy: What are Those Dots in the Sky?
   Chapter 4: Bridging the Gap Between Astronomy and Physics
      More Than the Sum of Its Parts: The Unique Study of Astrophysics
      Diving into the Details of Astrophysics
      The Nitty-Gritty of Telescopes and Astronomical Instruments
      The Sun, the Star of Our Solar System
      Eclipses, or Throwing Shade in a Scientific Way
Part 2: When You Wish Upon a …
   Chapter 5: Star Power: Hydrogen, Helium with a Twist of Nuclear Fusion
      Happy Birthday! A Star Is Born
      Getting to Know Your Stars: Properties, Types, and Characteristics
      All Good Things Must Come to an End
   Chapter 6: Friends for Life: Star Systems and Dust Clouds
      The More the Merrier: Binary and Multiple Star Systems
      Huddle Up There, Star Clusters
      Pedal to the Metal with Interstellar Gas and Dust
      Adding Structure to That Gas and Dust: Nebulae
   Chapter 7: Exoplanets: The Search for Earth 2.0
      Beyond beyond Earth
      Exoplanets Come in Many Shapes and Sizes
      Looking Under (or Around) Hidden Rocks: Exoplanet Detection
      The Nitty-Gritty of Exoplanet Formation
      What the Hail … Exoplanet Atmospheres
      Can Life Be Found on Exoplanets?
   Chapter 8: White Dwarfs, Black Holes, and Neutrinos, Oh My!
      Snow White and the Seven …
      There Is No Escape: Black Holes
      Surf’s Up! Gravitational Waves
      Neutron Stars, or Total Core Collapse
      Quasars, Bursters, and Blazars
Part 3: Galaxies: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
   Chapter 9: From Fuzzy Blobs to Majestic Spirals: The Milky Way and Other Galaxies
      Where in the World Are We?
      Unraveling the Mystery
      Galaxy Classification
   Chapter 10: Quantifying the Unknown, or How Galaxies Work
      Galaxy Formation Helps Unravel the Cosmos
      Mechanics of a Star System
      Galactic Structure
      Black Holes and Their Role in Galaxies
      The Hubble Deep Field
   Chapter 11: Bigger Than Huge: Galaxy Clusters
      Making Friends: The Basics of Galaxy Clusters
      A Galaxy Cluster of Our Very Own: The Local Group
      Galaxy Cluster Structure and Formation
      Physics of Galaxy Clusters
      Galaxy and cluster mergers
      What Galaxy Clusters Tell You About the Universe
   Chapter 12: Weird and Wacky Galactic Phenomena
      Not Quite Dinosaurs: Galactic Archaeology
      High Energy Astrophysics
      Gravitational Lensing
      Heading Down the Wormhole
Part 4: Cosmology: The Beginning and the End of Everything
   Chapter 13: The Big Bang: How It All Began
      What’s the Point? A Primer on Cosmology
      Scientific Evidence: Why Do We Think There Was a Big Bang?
      Making Sense of the Unimaginable with the Theory of Inflation
      Radiation Dominance in the Radiation Era
      Nothing Matters More Than Matter in the Matter Era
      Metric Expansion of Space: The Cosmological Principle
   Chapter 14: First Light in the Universe, or How a Star is Born
      The Cosmic Dark Age
      Early Star Formation
      Star Classification: Population III
      Star Classification: Population II and I
      The Epoch of Reionization
      Formation of the First Galaxies
   Chapter 15: And Then It Gets Weirder: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Relativity
      General Facts about General Relativity
      Advancing Theories Require Advancing Models
      Galactic Glue: Dark Matter
      Dark Energy in Review
      Where Did Dark Energy Come From?
   Chapter 16: The End of It All
      No Refunds: What Happens When the Sun Explodes
      Omega Value of the Universe
      The Big Freeze: An End of the Universe Theory
      The Big Rip: Another End of the Universe Theory
      The Big Crunch: Yet Another End of the Universe Theory
      Something Before Nothing: Did Anything Come before the Big Bang?
      Now That We’re at the End — How Will It End?
Part 5: The Part of Tens
   Chapter 17: Ten Scientists Who Paved the Way for Astrophysics
      Albert Einstein: 1879–1955
      Edwin Hubble: 1889–1953
      Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin: 1900–1979
      Karl Jansky: 1905–1950
      Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: 1910–1995
      Vera Rubin: 1928–2016
      Kip Thorne: 1940–
      Stephen Hawking: 1942–2018
      Jocelyn Bell Burnell: 1943–
      Alan Guth: 1947–
   Chapter 18: Ten Important Space Missions for Astrophysics
      Hubble Space Telescope (1990–present)
      James Webb Space Telescope (2021–present)
      Kepler and TESS (2009–2018 and 2018–present)
      SOFIA (2010–2022)
      Chandra X-Ray Observatory (1999–present)
      Spitzer Space Telescope (2003–2020)
      Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (1991–2000)
      Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (2008–present)
      Herschel Space Observatory (2009–2013)
      Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (planned 2027 launch)
Glossary
Index
About the Authors
Supplemental Images
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