Description
Book SynopsisThis book recounts the stories of the astronomical pioneers who forever changed our views of the cosmos. The chapters delve into their fascinating lives over the centuries, showing how these pivotal minds built upon the work of their predecessors and unlocked the unique properties of specific stars.
From ancient astronomy to modern imaging and spectroscopy, each tale at once showcases the pace of scientific discovery and the shared passions that drove these starwatchers. Accompanying the stories are a plethora of constellation and finder charts, stellar coordinates and directions, and suggestions for viewing specific stars, all of which are visible to the naked eye or through a small telescope.
In addition, the histories on specific star names and designations are given, along with an overview of the most popular catalogues and online databases that readers can use for reference.
Trade Review“Tackling the whole of stellar astronomy from the earliest days is a considerable task but the author covers it all well and in a straightforward and clear manner, and this book does have the advantage of being one of the publisher’s more affordable volumes.” (Robert Argyle, The Observatory, Vol. 142 (1289), August, 2022)
Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1 – The Night Sky
· Observing the Night Sky and the Celestial Sphere
· The Spring/Fall Sky (Northern Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere)
· The Summer/Winter Sky
· The Fall/Spring Sky
· The Winter/Summer Sky
Chapter 2 – The Age Before Telescopes
· Ancient Greek Astronomer Anaxagoras and Angelo Secchi - the Sun
· Tycho Brahe - SN 1572
· Johannes Kepler - SN 1604
Chapter 3 – Telescopic Astronomy – Discoveries before cameras
· Thomas Henderson – Alpha Centauri (first to measure distance to a star)
· Friedrich Bessel and 61 Cygni (proper motion)
· Benedetto Castelli and J. B. Liebknecht – Mizar, Alcor and Sidus Ludoviciana in Big Dipper
· John Goodricke – Algol (Eclipsing Binary)
Chapter 4 – Coaxing Out the Detail – Spectroscopy Reveals Stellar Secrets
· Spectroscopy – How it works and what it tells us about stars
· The pioneering work of William Huggins, Henry Draper, et al.
· Edward Charles Pickering and Mizar
· Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet – WR Stars in Cygnus
· Angelo Secchi – Carbon Stars
Chapter 5 – Standard Candles – How Stars are Used to Determine Cosmic Distances
· The Distance Modulus and Standard Candles
· Edward Pigott, John Goodricke and Henrietta Swan – Cepheid variables
· E. C. Pickering, Jacobus Kapteyn and Williamina Fleming – RR Lyrae variable
· Subrahmahyan Chandrasekhar and Mark Phillips – Type 1a Supernovae
· Other Standard Candles
Chapter 6 – Star Names and Designations
· Origin of Named Stars
· Common Star Designations used for Charts/Planetarium Software
Chapter 7 – Introduction to Catalogues and Handbooks of Stars and Deep Sky Objects
Appendix
Glossary and comprehensive index.
