Stories of Astronomers and Their Stars

This 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.

Auteur
David Falkner first became interested in Astronomy as a pre-teen when his father took him to a show at the Holcolm Planetarium in Indianapolis, IN. He became hooked and has loved astronomy ever since. When he was a teenager he inherited a home-made Newtonian telescope that needed the primary mirror. He ground a 6 mirror and completed his first telescope, which gave him years of pleasure observing the heavens. In 1973 David joined the US Navy and became an officer in 1980. In 1986 as a Naval Officer stationed in Monterey, California, he was involved with the Friends of MIRA (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy) where he conducted outreach to local schools associated with the return of Halley's Comet. David retired from the US Navy in 1993 and settled in Minnesota, where he continues his love of astronomy. He has taught introductory astronomy at a local community college and does extensive astronomy outreach both with the Minnesota Astronomical Society and as a NASA Solar System Ambassador.

Contenu
Introduction Chapter 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.