Fascinating, engaging and extremely visual, STARS AND GALAXIES, 10th Edition, emphasizes the scientific method throughout as it guides students to answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know? In addition to exploring the newest developments and latest discoveries in the exciting field of Astronomy, authors Seeds and Backman discuss the interplay between evidence and hypothesis, providing both factual information and a conceptual framework for understanding the logic of science. Available with MindTap Astronomy, the digital learning solution that powers students from memorization to mastery. It includes Virtual Astronomy Labs 3.0--a set of 20 interactive activities that combine analysis of real astronomical data with robust simulations--providing a true online laboratory experience for your Introductory Astronomy course.

PART I: 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 II: 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 III: GALAXIES AND THE UNIVERSE.
15. The Milky Way Galaxy.
16. Galaxies.
17. Supermassive Black Holes and Active Galaxies.
18. Modern Cosmology.
PART IV: LIFE.
19. Astrobiology.
Afterword.
Appendix A: Scientific Units and Astronomical Data.
Appendix B: Star Charts.
Glossary.

Fascinating, engaging and extremely visual, STARS AND GALAXIES, 10th Edition, emphasizes the scientific method throughout as it guides students to answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know? In addition to exploring the newest developments and latest discoveries in the exciting field of Astronomy, authors Seeds and Backman discuss the interplay between evidence and hypothesis, providing both factual information and a conceptual framework for understanding the logic of science. Available with MindTap Astronomy, the digital learning solution that powers students from memorization to mastery. It includes Virtual Astronomy Labs 3.0--a set of 20 interactive activities that combine analysis of real astronomical data with robust simulations--providing a true online laboratory experience for your Introductory Astronomy course. New SENSE OF PROPORTION questions have been added to help students ground their understanding of relative sizes of celestial objects, distances and so on. As a complement to this, discussion of proportionality has been expanded where relevant throughout the text. The end-of-chapter SUMMARY sections have been significantly revised in all chapters with the goal of helping students focus and better navigate key concepts for review. Discussion Questions have been replaced with ACTIVE INQUIRY QUESTIONS, designed to engage students in deeper critical thinking. Every chapter has been revised and updated with new text and images regarding observatories, scientific missions and new discoveries. Material on normal galaxies, active galaxies and black holes--Chapters 16 and 17 in the previous edition--have been combined and streamlined into a single chapter, Chapter 16. Following chapters have been renumbered as a result. The authors focus strongly on the scientific method throughout the text, using astronomy to explore and explain fundamental scientific principles and processes. "How Do We Know?" boxes highlight great moments in science from various disciplines to illustrate the logical processes scientists use to learn about nature. "Practicing 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 sometimes a second question that allows students to construct their own argument. A unique art program showcases this visual science in striking style, with hallmark Concept Art providing two-page visual summaries of key concepts covered in the text. "Concept Figures" combine art and text to help students synthesize information as a unified concept. "Guided Discovery Figures" show sequential frames of art to demonstrate processes that occur over time and "H–R" diagrams are designed to help students grasp key ideas at a glance. Whenever possible, the authors bring chapter content to life with captivating photographs from the latest NASA missions.