Fabio Rocha - Astronomy

INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY AND

ASTROPHYSICS

THANKS:

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC): as sources of many of the figures and tables used.

Visual Communication sectors and INPE design: the editing of some figures.

THE PRESENTATION

The fascination with the mysteries of the Universe is part of human nature since the beginning of civilization. While we admire its size and beauty, we feel the know-it challenge and the desire to discover their connection with us. To investigate the cosmos are also inquiring about our own origin.

It is quite possible that man has peered into the sky before the earth, seas and rivers, which were much closer.

The cycle of the seasons, the light and heat from the sun during the day, the moon and the stars at night, the need to be guided in their journeys from one place to another and to establish a chronology for the events were enough reasons for man trying to equate the universe.

At first the known universe was restricted to the sun, the moon and some planets. With the improvement of astronomical instruments, and even the evolution of ideas, human knowledge was expanding and the cosmos revealing surprisingly and impressively.

The solar system is now scrutinized by space probes. Modern telescopes seem to confer superhuman vision. The sun, we left for the other stars that the billions permeate our galaxy, the Milky Way. Even without being able to penetrate them, astronomy comes deciphering its interior, its formation and evolution, as linked to our very existence, for we are the fruit of the stars.

The giant interstellar clouds unveil with their curious shapes and fluorescent gases, and are revealed as star nurseries. Going forward, we note that the universe is organized in groups of stars, galaxies, and superclusters, interspersed with immense empty.

As far as the instruments can satisfy our curiosity, move in space and go backwards in time, towards the boundaries of the universe, showing us his childhood and adolescence.

The knowledge acquired feeds the answers to some of the basic questions of the human spirit: How did this immense and develops theater, in which matter and energy produce fantastic shows, in continuous transformation?

We are in Sao Jose dos Campos, a city on the planet Earth, where astronomers INPE, equal to many other places, they are investigating the secrets of the universe. They do it for the satisfaction that produces knowledge. More deeply, they do it to broaden the horizons of our own world.

This book brings together the topics covered in the course Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics INPE, started in 1998 and scheduled to take place annually at the end of the first half. It is intended primarily for teachers update the elementary and high school, and university students linked to areas related to astronomy.

The course aims to trace the basic lines of that astronomy has managed to decipher, also outlining a picture of the evolution of ideas and techniques used in scientific research. At the same time, they are shown the work that INPE's Astrophysics Division has been developing.

There is also the purpose of presenting a demystified vision of science and scientists, giving the attempts and uncertainties in the path of knowledge. Finally, the last part of the course focuses on the importance of basic science as the main generator of new ideas and technologies.

Some by-products are expected awaken a possible scientific vocation in students and motivate educators to introduce new ways to communicate science to their students.

So that the proposed objectives are satisfactorily met, this work must be constantly reviewed and, in this sense, all criticism and suggestions are welcome.

SUMMARY

CHAPTER 8 GALAXIES ( Carlos Alexandre Wuensche) .....................................................

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Chapter 9 COSMOLOGY ( Carlos Alexandre Wuensche) ..............................................

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CHAPTER 10

ASTROFSICA of gravitational waves ( Denys Aguiar Odyl io) ..................................................

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CHAPTER 11

HABITABILITY COSMIC AND LIFE OF EXISTENCE OF THE POSSIBILITY IN OTHER LOCAL

UNIVERSE ( Carlos Alexandre Wuensche) ..................................................

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CHAPTER 12

RESEARCH IN ASTROFSICA INPE ( Oswaldo Miranda Duarte - Rev.

John Braga) ............................................................................................................ 12-1

Chapter 1

ASTRONOMY IN DAILY

And r is Ca stro one * Mi l

* e-mail: andre.milone@inpe.br

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ASTRONOMY IN DAILY