Astronomy Textbooks and Materials

Required Texts

For the 2024-2025 academic year, we will be using Universe 11/E by Robert Geller, Roger A. Freedman, and William Kaufman III (W. H. Freeman and Co.). This is a college level introduction to astronomy intended for both science and non-science majors.

You may order all texts through Scholars Online Bookstore.

This text is also available in an eBook version from VitalSource, an eBook supplier. A 180-day rental is about $70.

Note that eBook downloads can be tricky and access to the internet may be required for refreshes should you lose your files for any reason. It is also often frustrating to have to page back and forth to look up data in the appendices when doing homework exercises. Also, you don't get permanent access to the text unless you pay a substantially higher price. However, if you anticipate traveling or situations where you must study away from home, eBook versions on your laptop or tablet are far more portable than heavy textbooks.

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Planetarium Application

Download and install the native application version 0.21.1 Stellarium from its host website. This is a free, open-source planetarium that does much of what we need for this course, and it will run on Linux, Mac 10.12 and up, and Windows 7 and up. We will use the Web version in class, but it is limited.

Simulations and Labs

Download and install the native application executables at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Astronomy Education site. There are three components: ClassAction, NAAP Labs, and Interactives. We will use some of these as chat demonstrations, some as homework, and some to simulate labs.

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