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RECENT ADVANCES and ISSUES in Astronomy RECENT ADVANCES AND ISSUES IN Astronomy Christopher G. De Pree Kevin Marvel Alan Axelrod GREENWOOD PRESS RECENT ADVANCES AND ISSUES IN Astronomy Recent Titles in the Frontiers of Science Series Recent Advances and Issues in Chemistry David E. Newton Recent Advances and Issues in Physics David E. Newton Recent Advances and Issues in Environmental Science Joan R. Callahan Recent Advances and Issues in Biology Leslie A. Mertz Recent Advances and Issues in Computers Martin K. Gay Recent Advances and Issues in Meteorology Amy J. Stevermer Recent Advances and Issues in the Geological Sciences Barbara Ransom and Sonya Wainwright Recent Advances and Issues in Molecular Nanotechnology David E. Newton Frontiers of Science Series RECENT ADVANCES AND ISSUES IN Astronomy Christopher G. De Pree, Kevin Marvel, and Alan Axelrod An Oryx Book GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data De Pree, Christopher Gordon. Recent advances and issues in astronomy / Christopher G. De Pree, Kevin Marvel, and Alan Axelrod. p. cm. “An Oryx Book” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–57356–348–X (alk. paper) 1. Astronomy. I. Marvel, Kevin. II. Axelrod, Alan. III. Title. QB43.3.D4 2003 520—dc21 2002067831 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ᭧ 2003 by Christopher G. De Pree, Kevin Marvel, and Alan Axelrod All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002067831 ISBN: 1-57356-348-X First published in 2003 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10987654321 Contents Preface vii 1. Astronomy Today 1 2. Astronomical Technology and Techniques 39 3. Astronomy and Society 91 4. Documents and Sources 117 5. Biographical Portraits 153 6. Unsolved Problems, Unanswered Questions 171 7. Careers in Astronomy 190 8. Statistics on Careers and Research and Development 209 9. Organizations and Associations 221 10. Journals, Magazines, and Internet Resources 231 Glossary 243 Index 249 Preface Writing a book entitled Recent Advances and Issues in Astronomy is a daunting task. Even casual observers who keep up to date with astronomy on the evening news and the local paper can appreciate that these are times of rapid change in the field. Dramatic new results are presented almost weekly in the New York Times. The progress of both observational and computing technologies have turbocharged astro- nomical research in the past two decades. Recent articles have even bemoaned the inability of astronomers to process and analyze all the data that we are receiving daily. Even the definition of the word recent is problematic. Should “recent” results be results from the last century? That might seem reasonable for a discipline that is already thousands of years old. Or should “recent” pertain to results of the last decade, or the last year? The most cursory discussion of the results of just the past few months of research in astronomy could easily fill a volume of this size—and still leave out many worthwhile projects. And in the time it takes to bind and distribute a book, many important results will be published in research journals. Because it is impossible to cover all aspects of astronomy in a small book, we have attempted in this volume to give readers a sampling of the most important results and developments of the last decade. Of course, many results of the last decade were built upon predictions or observations made decades before. We believe the particular results, technologies, and developments we cover in this volume, along with the resources provided in some of the later chapters, will allow readers viii PREFACE to remain abreast of truly recent issues and advances. In addition, we try to give readers an appreciation for the types of issues that are most important so that they can discriminate in the news between another pretty astronomical picture and a truly important astronomical result. Chapters 1 and 2 present some of the most interesting results in astronomy in the past decade, with Chapter 1 concentrating on astro- nomical investigations, and Chapter 2 on the technologies and tech- niques that made them possible. Chapter 2, for example, provides an overview of observing instruments and technologies available to as- tronomers at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Chapter 3 presents a picture of the interaction between astronomy and society. Because these interactions are not always obvious in as- tronomy, this chapter explores the interplay among astronomy, poli- tics, and the environment. Chapter 4 contains primary sources and readings that amplify and enrich the topics discussed in Chapter 3. Chapter 5 contains 39 biographies of men and women who have made unique contributions to the field in the past decade. The biog- raphies include professional and amateur astronomers, young and old, women and men. Many of the astronomers in this chapter were involved in the research and observations discussed in Chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 6 is entitled “Unsolved Problems, Unanswered Questions.” As in most technical fields, the most enticing unsolved problems are ones that garner the most attention, and soon yield answers to persis- tent observations and clever theories. However, the problems pre- sented in this chapter have remained mysteries for many decades and may hold their secrets for some time to come. Chapters 7 and 8 give insight into the profession today and into the people who practice it. Chapter 7 contains narratives written by four trained astronomers, describing the career paths that they have taken, both in and out of astronomy. Chapter 8 provides a summary of fund- ing and career statistics in astronomy. Chapter 9 and 10 provide resources that allow readers to pursue a deeper understanding of topics of interest. Chapter 9 is an annotated listing of organizations in the field, and Chapter 10 is an annotated list of print and electronic resources. At book’s end, a glossary briefly defines terms that may be unfamiliar to the nonexpert. These pages will give readers a small but representative taste of the rich variety of topics and fields that comprise astronomy at the begin- ning of the twenty-first century. Chapter One Astronomy Today Modern astronomers understand more about the universe than their predecessors could have ever imagined. The earliest astronomers ap- parently noticed that the motions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars were useful timekeeping aids, and most of our divisions of time (years, months, days) are related to celestial motions. Humanity also saw its stories reflected in the recognizable patterns in the sky and used the groupings of stars known as constellations as pictorial archives for their creation and evolution myths. Around the time of Sir Isaac Newton, (1643–1727) when it was first suggested that the same physical laws applied on Earth and in the heavens, astronomers began to do more than keep records. They began to ask how and why the objects in the sky moved in the ways that they did. Since the seventeenth century, astronomers have, with increasing speed, built an edifice of under- standing about the universe. In this chapter, we discuss some of the most recent additions to that edifice, reviewing research that addresses some of the oldest questions that humanity has asked. As mentioned in the preface, any selection of topics in a volume this size surely will be found wanting. We have, in this chapter, tried to include discoveries and investigations that have upset previously cher- ished ideas, have been discovered because of the advent of a new tech- nology, have solved a long-standing dilemma, or have the potential for a long-term impact on our understanding of the way the universe works. However, even within the restrictions of these criteria, the chap- ter is meant to be representative rather than exhaustive. 2 ASTRONOMY TODAY PLANETARY SYSTEMS Human speculation about other worlds has a long history. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c. 400 B.C.E.) claimed that the planets were divine but also that each planet was another world, like the Earth, with land and air. Heraclitus went further to suggest that the cosmos was infinite, a speculation that opened the possibility of an infinity of worlds. Theorists who study star formation and the gravitational con- traction of solar-mass gas clouds have long proposed that planetary- mass objects should form naturally as a part of the collapse process. We have one clear example where this appears to have happened very successfully: the solar system. But as recently as 1995, there was no observational evidence of a planetary system around a sunlike star out- side the system we inhabit. Now we have ample evidence that such planets exist; first, however, we will look at recent discoveries about our own solar system, then turn our attention to systems orbiting other stars. Planetary Rovers, Probes, and Orbiters The planet Mars has been at the center of some of the most dramatic failures and successes in planetary exploration of the past decade. The world’s attention was transfixed as at no other time since the Apollo moon landing of 1969 when the Mars Pathfinder mission touched down on the surface of the planet on July 4, 1997, and transmitted images and weather information. It also released the Sojourner rover that moved on wheels slowly around the boulder-strewn landing site, making short excursions to explore nearby rocks. While this mission gave a detailed view of a small region of the surface of the planet, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission, launched on November 7, 1996, arrived at Mars on September 12 of the following year and has produced breathtaking high-resolution views of large portions of the Martian surface.
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