I Introducing Astronomy
1 Astronomy and the Universe
Guest Essay Why Astronomy? Sandra M. Faber
2 Knowing the Heavens
Guest Essay Why Astrology Is Not Science James Randi
3 Eclipses and the Motion of the Moon
Guest Essay Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy Mark Hollabaugh
4 Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
5 The Nature of Light
6 Optics and Telescopes
II Planets and Moons
7 Comparative Planetology I: Our Solar System
8 Comparative Planetology II: The Origin of the Solar System
III Stars and Stellar Evolution
16 Our Star, the Sun
17 The Nature of the Stars
18 The Birth of Stars
20 Stellar Evolution: The Deaths of Stars
21 Black Holes
IV Galaxies and Cosmology
22 Our Galaxy
23 Galaxies
24 Quasars and Active Galaxies
25 Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of the Universe
Scientific American Article Dark Forces at Work David Appell
26 Exploring the Early Universe
Scientific American article Making Sense of Modern Cosmology P. James E. Peebles
27 The Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Guest Essay A Biologist’s View of Astrobiology Kevin W. Plaxco