Condition   Excellent
Hardcover
Publisher    Random House Value Publishing
ISBN-10  0517528061
ISBN-13   9780517528068
Author:  Editor in Chief -Simon Mitton. M.A. Ph.D

Publication Year 1984
Number of Pages 481 Pages

Item Weight  76 Oz

Experts from the world’s foremost center for astronomical study are contributors to a comprehensive thematically arranged reference which reports on astronomy in the past, the latest astronomical findings, and the frontiers of current research.

This encyclopedia presents a thematic survey of all fields in classical and modern astronomy. The major themes encompass a survey of the observable universe, the properties of stars, the solar system, the interstellar medium, galaxies and clusters of galaxies, cosmology, life in the universe, major trends in the history of astronomy, ground-based astronomy, and astronomy in space. Detailed attention is given to observational techniques, stellar photometry and spectral classification, stellar interiors, variable and binary stars, dense states of cosmic matter, X-ray stars, the distribution and origin of chemical elements in the universe, nucleosynthesis, properties of the sun and planets, planetary satellites and other minor members of the solar system, interstellar molecules and clouds, the Local Group of galaxies, the nature of normal galaxies, active and radio galaxies, quasars, the redshift controversy, the expanding universe, the evolution of life, and searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. Various techniques and instruments involved in ground-based astronomy are described together with recent developments in spaceborne observations and in-situ exploration of the solar system. A computer-drawn atlas showing all stars visible to the naked eye in both the Northern and Southern skies is provided.