Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced,
13th Edition

Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman

ISBN-13: 9781305957367
Copyright 2017 | Published
688 pages | List Price: USD $156.95

Fascinating, engaging, and extremely visual, FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY, Enhanced Thirteenth Edition, is renowned for its current coverage, reader-friendly presentation, and detailed, yet clear explanations. The authors' goals are to help you use astronomy to understand science—and use science to answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know?

Purchase Enquiry INSTRUCTOR’S eREVIEW COPY

PART 1: THE SKY.
1. Here and Now.
2. A User’s Guide to the Sky.
3. Moon Phases and Eclipses.
4. Origins of Modern Astronomy.
5. Gravity.
6. Light and Telescopes.
PART 2: THE STARS.
7. Atoms and Spectra.
8. The Sun.
9. The Family of Stars.
10. The Interstellar Medium.
11. Formation and Structure of Stars.
12. Stellar Evolution.
13. Deaths of Stars.
14. Neutron Stars and Black Holes.
PART 3: GALAXIES AND THE UNIVERSE.
15. The Milky Way Galaxy.
16. Galaxies.
17. Supermassive Black Holes and Active Galaxies.
18. Modern Cosmology.
PART 4: THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
19. Origin of the Solar System and Extrasolar Planets.
20. Earth: The Active Planet.
21. The Moon and Mercury.
22. Venus and Mars.
23. Jupiter and Saturn.
24. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Kuiper Belt.
25. Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets.
Part 5: LIFE.
26. Astrobiology.
Afterword.
Appendix A: Scientific Units and Astronomical Data.
Appendix B: Star Charts.
Glossary.

  • Michael A. Seeds

    Mike Seeds was a professor of physics and astronomy at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1970 until his retirement in 2001. In 1989 he received F&M College’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Mike’s love for the history of astronomy led him to create upper-level courses on archaeoastronomy and on the Copernican Revolution (“Changing Concepts of the Universe”). His research interests focused on variable stars and automation of astronomical telescopes. Mike is coauthor with Dana Backman of Horizons: Exploring the Universe, 12th edition (2012); Universe: Solar Systems, Stars, and Galaxies, 7th edition (2012); Stars and Galaxies, 8th edition (2013); The Solar System, 8th edition (2013); and ASTRO, 2nd edition (2013), all published by Cengage. He was senior consultant for creation of the 20-episode telecourse accompanying his book Horizons: Exploring the Universe.

  • Dana Backman

    Dana Backman taught in the physics and astronomy department at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1991 until 2003. He invented and taught a course titled “Life in the Universe” in F&M’s interdisciplinary Foundations program. Dana now teaches introductory Solar System astronomy at Santa Clara University and introductory astronomy, astrobiology, and cosmology courses in Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program. His research interests focus on infrared observations of planet formation, models of debris disks around nearby stars, and evolution of the solar system’s Kuiper belt. Dana is employed by the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, as director of education and public outreach for SOFIA (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Dana is coauthor with Mike Seeds of Horizons: Exploring the Universe, 14th edition (2018); Universe: Solar Systems, Stars, and Galaxies, 7th edition (2012); Stars and Galaxies, 8th edition (2013); The Solar System, 8th edition (2013); and ASTRO, 2nd edition (2013), all published by Cengage.

  • Coverage of New Horizons studies of Pluto and its moons in summer 2015; Dawn probe studies of the asteroid/dwarf planet Ceres; the Thirty Meter Telescope and controversy surrounding its groundbreaking in Hawai’i, and new evidence from NASA of present-day liquid water flow on Mars bring readers up-to-date with the most recent advances and discoveries in the field.

  • New photos illustrating recent astronomical events add to the text’s strong visual appeal and help to engage students’ interest in chapter content.

  • A versatile MindTap teaching and learning system is now available to support the text, providing a variety of useful resources, including assignable and gradable activities, pre- and post-learning assessments, and videos relevant to chapter material.

  • To reflect recent astronomical events, coverage now includes New Horizons studies of Pluto and its moons; Dawn probe studies of the asteroid/dwarf planet Ceres; the Thirty Meter Telescope and controversy surrounding its groundbreaking in Hawai’i, and new evidence from NASA of present-day liquid water flow on Mars.

  • New photos illustrating recent astronomical developments enhance your understanding and add to the text’s strong visual appeal. ..

  • A versatile MindTap teaching and learning system is now available to support the text, providing a variety of useful resources, including assignable and gradable activities, pre- and post-learning assessments, and videos relevant to chapter material.

  • The authors focus strongly on the scientific method throughout the text, using astronomy as a way to explore and explain fundamental scientific principles and processes. For example, "How Do We Know?" boxes highlight great moments in science from various disciplines to illustrate the logical processes scientists use to learn about nature.

  • End-of-section "Doing Science" features help students review key concepts and hone critical thinking skills by considering how scientists construct logical arguments from observations, evidence, theories, and natural laws. Each feature includes a thoughtfully posed science question, sample answers to illustrate scientific reasoning, and a second question to allow students to construct their own argument.

  • A unique art program showcases this visual science in striking style, with hallmark Concept Art Spreads providing two-page visual summaries of key concepts covered in the text, Concept Figures combining art and text to help students synthesize information as a unified concept, Guided Discovery Figures showing sequential frames of art to demonstrate processes that occur over time, and H–R diagrams designed to help students grasp key ideas at a glance.

  • Whenever possible, the authors bring chapter content to life with captivating photographs from the Spitzer Infrared Observatory; the Chandra X-Ray Observatory; the Hubble Space Telescope; as well as images of Saturn, its rings, and its moons from the Cassini spacecraft; and images of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta’s lander, Philae. Additionally, this Enhanced Edition includes new images of Pluto as photographed by NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft in summer 2015.

  • The authors focus strongly on the scientific method throughout the text, using astronomy as a way to explore and explain fundamental scientific principles and processes. For example, "How Do We Know?" boxes highlight great moments in science from various disciplines to illustrate the logical processes scientists use to learn about nature.

  • End-of-section "Doing Science" features help you review key concepts and hone critical thinking skills by considering how scientists construct logical arguments from observations, evidence, theories, and natural laws. Each feature includes a thoughtfully posed science question, sample answers to illustrate scientific reasoning, and a second question to allow you to construct your own argument.

  • A unique art program showcases this visual science in striking style, with hallmark Concept Art Spreads providing two-page visual summaries of key concepts covered in the text, Concept Figures combining art and text to help you synthesize information as a unified concept, Guided Discovery Figures showing sequential frames of art to demonstrate processes that occur over time, and H–R diagrams designed to help you grasp key ideas at a glance.

  • Whenever possible, the authors bring chapter content to life with captivating photographs from the Spitzer Infrared Observatory, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as images of Saturn, its rings, and its moons from the Cassini spacecraft and images of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta’s Philae lander. Additionally, this Enhanced Edition includes new images of Pluto as photographed by NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft.

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

Cengage Testing, powered by Cognero® for Seeds/Backman's Foundations of Astronomy
9781305272170

Cengage Testing, powered by Cognero® for Seeds/Backman's Foundations of Astronomy, Instant Access
9781305272200

Instructor's WebSite for Seeds’ Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced, 13th
9781305970595

Starry Night 7.0, 2 terms (12 months) Instant Access
9781305886629

Starry Night 7.0, 2 terms (12 months) Printed Access Card
9781305880313

Website for Seeds/Backman's Foundations of Astronomy, 13th
9781305273917