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Contents
Chapters 15–23 are not included in this edition.

Preface xxi
About the Authors xxxii

PART I Introduction to Astronomy

Chapter 1 Thinking Like an Astronomer 2


1.1 Earth Occupies a Small Place in the Universe 4
1.2 Science Is a Way of Viewing the Universe 7
Process of Science The Scientific Method 9
1.3 Astronomers Use Mathematics to Find Patterns 12
Working It Out 1.1 Mathematical Tools 13
Working It Out 1.2 Reading a Graph 14
Origins An Introduction 15
Reading Astronomy News Probe Detects Southern Sea
Under Ice on Saturnian Moon Enceladus 16

Summary 17
Unanswered Questions 17
Questions and Problems 18
Exploration: Logical Fallacies 21

Chapter 2 Patterns in the Sky—Motions of Earth and the Moon 22


2.1 Earth Spins on Its Axis 24
Working It Out 2.1 How to Estimate the Size of Earth 31
2.2 Revolution about the Sun Leads to Changes during the Year 33
Process of Science Theories Must Fit All the Known Facts 37
2.3 The Moon’s Appearance Changes as It Orbits Earth 40
2.4 Calendars Are Based on the Day, Month, and Year 43
2.5 Eclipses Result from the Alignment of Earth, Moon, and the Sun 45
Origins The Obliquity of Earth 51
Reading Astronomy News Thousands Expected in Hopkinsville for 2017 Solar Eclipse 52

Summary 53
Unanswered Question 53
Questions and Problems 54
Exploration: The Phases of the Moon 57

vii
viii Co n t e n t s

Chapter 3 Motion of Astronomical Bodies 58


3.1 The Motions of Planets in the Sky 60
Working It Out 3.1 How Copernicus Computed Orbital Periods and Scaled
the Solar System 64
3.2 Kepler’s Laws Describe Planetary Motion 64
Process of Science Theories Are Falsifiable 67
Working It Out 3.2 Kepler’s Third Law 68
3.3 Galileo’s Observations Supported the Heliocentric Model 69
3.4 Newton’s Three Laws Help to Explain the Motion of Celestial Bodies 71
Working It Out 3.3 Using Newton’s Laws 74
Origins Planets and Orbits 75
Reading Astronomy News NASA Spacecraft Take Spring Break at Mars 76

Summary 77
Unanswered Questions 77
Questions and Problems 77
Exploration: Kepler’s Laws 81

Chapter 4 Gravity and Orbits 82


4.1 Gravity Is a Force between Any Two Objects Due to Their Masses 84
Working It Out 4.1 Playing with Newton’s Laws of Motion and Gravitation 87
4.2 An Orbit Is One Body “Falling around” Another 89
Process of Science Universality 91
Working It Out 4.2 Circular Velocity and Escape Velocity 94
Working It Out 4.3 Calculating Mass from Orbital Periods 95
4.3 Tidal Forces Are Caused by Gravity 95
Working It Out 4.4 Tidal Forces 98
4.4 Tidal Forces Affect Solid Bodies 99
Origins Tidal Forces and Life 101
Reading Astronomy News Exploding Stars
Prove Newton’s Law of Gravity
Unchanged over Cosmic Time 102

Summary 103
Unanswered Question 103
Questions and Problems 103
Exploration: Newton’s Laws 107

Chapter 5 Light 108


5.1 Light Brings Us the News of the Universe 110
Process of Science Agreement between Fields 116
Working It Out 5.1 Working with Electromagnetic Radiation 117
5.2 The Quantum View of Matter Explains Spectral Lines 117
Co n t e n t s ix

5.3 The Doppler Shift Indicates Motion Toward or Away from Us 125
Working It Out 5.2 Making Use of the Doppler Effect 127
5.4 Temperature Affects the Spectrum of Light That an Object Emits 127
Working It Out 5.3 Working with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and Wien’s Law 132
5.5 The Brightness of Light Depends on the Luminosity and Distance of the Light
Source 132
Working It Out 5.4 Using Radiation Laws to Calculate
Equilibrium Temperatures of Planets 134
Origins Temperatures of Planets 135
Reading Astronomy News A Study in Scarlet 136

Summary 137
Unanswered Questions 137
Questions and Problems 137
Exploration: Light as a Wave, Light as a Photon 141

Chapter 6 The Tools of the Astronomer 142


6.1 The Optical Telescope Revolutionized Astronomy 144
Working It Out 6.1 Telescope Aperture and Magnification 146
Working It Out 6.2 Diffraction Limit 150
6.2 Optical Detectors and Instruments Used with Telescopes 152
6.3 Astronomers Observe in Wavelengths Beyond the Visible 155
6.4 Planetary Spacecraft Explore the Solar System 159
6.5 Other Tools Contribute to the Study of the Universe 161
Process of Science Technology and Science Are Symbiotic 163
Origins Microwave Telescopes Detect Radiation from the Big Bang 165
Reading Astronomy News Big Mirrors, High Hopes: Extremely Large Telescope is a Go 166

Summary 167
Unanswered Questions 167
Questions and Problems 168
Exploration: Geometric Optics and Lenses 171

PART II The Solar System


Chapter 7 The Birth and Evolution of Planetary Systems 172
7.1 Planetary Systems Form around a Star 174
Process of Science Converging Lines of Inquiry 176
7.2 The Solar System Began with a Disk 177
Working It Out 7.1 Angular Momentum 180
7.3 The Inner Disk and Outer Disk Formed at Different
Temperatures 181
7.4 The Formation of Our Solar System 185
x Co n t e n t s

7.5 Planetary Systems Are Common 187


Working It Out 7.2 Estimating the Size of the Orbit of a Planet 189
Working It Out 7.3 Estimating the Radius of an Extrasolar Planet 190
Origins Kepler’s Search for Earth-Sized Planets 193
Reading Astronomy News Earth-Size Planet Found in the “Habitable Zone”
of Another Star 194

Summary 195
Unanswered Questions 195
Questions and Problems 196
Exploration: Exploring Extrasolar Planets 199

Chapter 8 The Terrestrial Planets and Earth’s Moon 200


8.1 Impacts Help Shape the Evolution of the Planets 202
Process of Science Certainty Is Sometimes Out of Reach 206
8.2 Radioactive Dating Tells Us the Age of the Moon and the Solar System 207
Working It Out 8.1 Computing the Ages of Rocks 208
8.3 The Surface of a Terrestrial Planet Is Affected by Processes
in the Interior 209
Working It Out 8.2 How Planets Cool Off 212
8.4 Planetary Surfaces Evolve through Tectonism 214
8.5 Volcanism Signifies a Geologically Active Planet 219
8.6 The Geological Evidence for Water 222
Origins The Death of the Dinosaurs 227
Reading Astronomy News Did Volcanoes
Erupt on the Moon while Dinosaurs
Roamed Earth? 228

Summary 229
Unanswered Questions 229
Questions and Problems 230
Exploration: Exponential Behavior 233

Chapter 9 Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets 234


9.1 Atmospheres Change over Time 236
9.2 Secondary Atmospheres Evolve 238
Working It Out 9.1 Atmosphere Retention 239
9.3 Earth’s Atmosphere Has Detailed Structure 243
9.4 The Atmospheres of Venus and Mars Differ from Earth’s 251
9.5 Greenhouse Gases Affect Global Climates 255
Process of Science Thinking about Complexity 259
Origins Our Special Planet 260
Co n t e n t s xi

Reading Astronomy News Mars Once Had an Entire Ocean—and then Lost It,
Scientists Say 261

Summary 262
Unanswered Questions 262
Questions and Problems 263
Exploration: Climate Change 267

Chapter 10 Worlds of Gas and Liquid—The Giant Planets 268


10.1 The Giant Planets Are Large, Cold, and Massive 270
Process of Science Scientific Laws Make Testable Predictions 272
10.2 The Giant Planets Have Clouds and Weather 275
Working It Out 10.1 Measuring Wind Speeds on Different Planets 280
10.3 The Interiors of the Giant Planets Are Hot and Dense 281
Working It Out 10.2 Internal Thermal Energy Heats the Giant Planets 282
10.4 The Giant Planets Are Magnetic Powerhouses 283
10.5 The Planets of Our Solar System Might Not Be Typical 287
Origins Giant Planet Migration and the Inner Solar System 289
Reading Astronomy News Hubble Sees Jupiter’s
Red Spot Shrink to Smallest Size Ever 290

Summary 291
Unanswered Questions 291
Questions and Problems 292
Exploration: Estimating Rotation Periods of the Giant Planets 295

Chapter 11 Planetary Moons and Rings 296


11.1 Many Solar System Planets Have Moons 298
Working It Out 11.1 Using Moons to Compute the Mass of a Planet 300
11.2 Some Moons Have Geological Activity and Water 301
Working It Out 11.2 Tidal Forces on the Moons 303
11.3 Rings Surround the Giant Planets 308
Working It Out 11.3 Feeding the Rings 312
11.4 Ring Systems Have a Complex Structure 312
Process of Science Following Up on the Unexpected 315
Origins Extreme Environments 319
Reading Astronomy News Possible New Moon Forming around Saturn 320

Summary 321
Unanswered Questions 321
Questions and Problems 322
Exploration: Measuring Features on Io 325
xii Co n t e n t s

Chapter 12 Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies 326


12.1 Dwarf Planets May Outnumber Planets 328
Process of Science How to Classify Pluto 330
Working It Out 12.1 Eccentric Orbits 331
12.2 Asteroids Are Pieces of the Past 332
12.3 Comets Are Clumps of Ice 337
12.4 Meteorites Are Remnants of the Early Solar System 344
12.5 Collisions Still Happen Today 348
Working It Out 12.2 Impact Energy 350
Origins Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, and Life 351
Reading Astronomy News Rosetta Spacecraft
Finds Water on Earth Didn’t Come
from Comets 352

Summary 353
Unanswered Questions 353
Questions and Problems 354
Exploration: Asteroid Discovery 357

PART III Stars and Stellar Evolution

Chapter 13 Taking the Measure of Stars 358


13.1 Astronomers Measure the Distance, Brightness, and Luminosity of Stars 360
Working It Out 13.1 Parallax and Distance 363
Working It Out 13.2 The Magnitude System 364
13.2 Astronomers Can Determine the Temperature, Size, and Composition
of Stars 365
Working It Out 13.3 Estimating the Sizes of Stars 370
13.3 Measuring the Masses of Stars in Binary Systems 371
Working It Out 13.4 Measuring the Mass of an Eclipsing Binary Pair 374
13.4 The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Is the Key to Understanding Stars 376
Process of Science Science Is Collaborative 378
Origins Habitable Zones 382
Reading Astronomy News NASA’s Hubble Extends Stellar Tape Measure
10 Times Farther into Space 383

Summary 384
Unanswered Questions 385
Questions and Problems 385
Exploration: The H-R Diagram 389
Co n t e n t s xiii

Chapter 14 Our Star—The Sun 390


14.1 The Sun Is Powered by Nuclear Fusion 392
Working It Out 14.1 The Source of the Sun’s Energy 394
14.2 Energy Is Transferred from the Interior of the Sun 397
Process of Science Learning from Failure 401
14.3 The Atmosphere of the Sun 403
14.4 The Atmosphere of the Sun Is Very Active 405
Working It Out 14.2 Sunspots and Temperature 407
Origins The Solar Wind and Life 412
Reading Astronomy News Carrington-Class CME
Narrowly Misses Earth 413

Summary 414
Unanswered Questions 414
Questions and Problems 415
Exploration: The Proton-Proton Chain 419

Chapter 15 The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation 420


15.1 The Interstellar Medium Fills the Space between the Stars 422
Working It Out 15.1 Dust Glows in the Infrared 425
Process of Science All Branches of Science Are Interconnected 429
15.2 Molecular Clouds Are the Cradles of Star Formation 430
15.3 Formation and Evolution of Protostars 432
15.4 Evolution Before the Main Sequence 436
Working It Out 15.2 Luminosity, Surface Temperature, and Radius of
Protostars 438
Origins Star Formation, Planets, and Life 441
Reading Astronomy News Interstellar Dust Discovered Inside NASA
Spacecraft 442

Summary 443
Unanswered Questions 443
Questions and Problems 444
Exploration: The Stellar Thermostat 447

Chapter 16 Evolution of Low-Mass Stars 448


16.1 The Life of a Main-Sequence Star Depends on Its Mass 450
Working It Out 16.1 Estimating Main-Sequence Lifetimes 452
16.2 The Star Leaves the Main Sequence 453
16.3 Helium Burns in the Degenerate Core 456
16.4 Dying Stars Shed Their Outer Layers 460
Working It Out 16.2 Escaping the Surface of an
Evolved Star 461
xiv Co n t e n t s

16.5 Binary Star Evolution 466


Process of Science Science Is Not Finished 470
Origins Stellar Lifetimes and Biological Evolution 471
Reading Astronomy News Scientists Solve Riddle of Celestial
Archaeology 472

Summary 473
Unanswered Questions 473
Questions and Problems 474
Exploration: Low-Mass Stellar Evolution 477

Chapter 17 Evolution of High-Mass Stars 478


17.1 High-Mass Stars Follow Their Own Path 480
17.2 High-Mass Stars Go Out with a Bang 484
Working It Out 17.1 Binding Energy of Atomic Nuclei 485
17.3 The Spectacle and Legacy of Supernovae 489
Working It Out 17.2 Gravity on a Neutron Star 491
Process of Science Occam’s Razor 494
17.4 Star Clusters Are Snapshots of Stellar Evolution 495
Origins Seeding the Universe with New Chemical Elements 499
Reading Astronomy News We Are Swimming in a Superhot Supernova
Soup 500

Summary 501
Unanswered Questions 501
Questions and Problems 501
Exploration: The CNO Cycle 505

Chapter 18 Relativity and Black Holes 506


18.1 Relative Motion Affects Measured Velocities 508
18.2 Special Relativity Explains How Time and Space Are Related 510
Working It Out 18.1 Time Dilation 514
18.3 Gravity Is a Distortion of Spacetime 515
Process of Science New Science Can Encompass the Old 520
18.4 Black Holes 523
Working It Out 18.2 Masses in X-Ray Binaries 526
Origins Gamma-Ray Bursts 527
Reading Astronomy News After Neutron Star Death-Match, a Black Hole Is
Born 528

Summary 529
Unanswered Questions 529
Questions and Problems 530
Exploration: Black Holes 533
Co n t e n t s xv

PART IV Galaxies, the Universe, and Cosmology

Chapter 19 Galaxies 534


19.1 Galaxies Come in Different Shapes and Sizes 536
19.2 Astronomers Use Several Methods to Find Distances to Galaxies 542
Working It Out 19.1 Finding the Distance from a Type Ia Supernova 544
Working It Out 19.2 Redshift—Calculating the Recession Velocity and
Distance of Galaxies 546
19.3 Galaxies Are Mostly Dark Matter 546
19.4 Most Galaxies Have a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center 549
Working It Out 19.3 The Size, Density, and Power of a Supermassive Black
Hole 553
Process of Science Finding the Common Thread 555
Origins Habitability in Galaxies 557
Reading Astronomy News Hubble Helps Find Smallest Known Galaxy with a
Supermassive Black Hole 558

Summary 559
Unanswered Questions 559
Questions and Problems 560
Exploration: Galaxy Classification 563

Chapter 20 The Milky Way—A Normal Spiral Galaxy 564


20.1 Astronomers Have Measured the Size and Structure of the Milky Way 566
20.2 The Components of the Milky Way Provide Clues about the Formation of
Spiral Galaxies 570
Process of Science Unknown Unknowns 571
20.3 Most of the Milky Way Is Unseen 576
Working It Out 20.1 The Mass of the Milky Way inside the Sun’s Orbit 578
Working It Out 20.2 The Mass of the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole 579
20.4 The History and Future of the Milky Way 580
Origins The Galactic Habitable Zone 583
Reading Astronomy News Dark Matter Half What
We Thought, Say Scientists 584

Summary 585
Unanswered Questions 585
Questions and Problems 586
Exploration: The Center of the Milky Way 589
xvi Co n t e n t s

Chapter 21 The Expanding Universe 590


21.1 The Cosmological Principle 592
Process of Science Data Are the Ultimate Authority 596
21.2 The Universe Began in the Big Bang 597
Working It Out 21.1 Expansion and the Age of the Universe 598
21.3 Expansion Is Described with a Scale Factor 601
Working It Out 21.2 When Redshift Exceeds One 603
21.4 Astronomers Observe Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation 604
Origins Big Bang Nucleosynthesis 608
Reading Astronomy News 50th Anniversay of the Big Bang Discovery 610

Summary 611
Unanswered Questions 611
Questions and Problems 611
Exploration: Hubble’s Law for Balloons 615

Chapter 22 Cosmology 616


22.1 Gravity and the Expansion of the Universe 618
Working It Out 22.1 Calculating the Critical Density 619
22.2 The Accelerating Universe 620
Process of Science Never Throw Anything Away 622
22.3 Inflation Solves Several Problems in Cosmology 626
22.4 The Earliest Moments of the Universe Connect the Very Largest Size Scales
to the Very Smallest 629
Working It Out 22.2 Pair Production in the Early Universe 632
22.5 String Theory and Multiverses 636
Origins Our Own Universe Must Support Life 639
Reading Astronomy News Cosmic Inflation: How Progress in Science Is
Achieved 640

Summary 641
Unanswered Questions 641
Questions and Problems 641
Exploration: Studying Particles 645

Chapter 23 Large-Scale Structure in the Universe 646


23.1 Galaxies Form Groups, Clusters, and Larger Structures 648
Working It Out 23.1 Mass of a Cluster of Galaxies 650
23.2 Gravity Forms Large-Scale Structure 651
Process of Science Multiple Streams of Evidence 656
23.3 First Light of Stars and Galaxies 657
Working It Out 23.2 Observing High-Redshift Objects 660
Co n t e n t s xvii

23.4 Galaxies Evolve 662


Origins We Are the 4 or 5 Percent 667
Reading Astronomy News Welcome to Laniakea, Your Galactic Supercluster
Home 668

Summary 669
Unanswered Questions 669
Questions and Problems 669
Exploration: The Story of a Proton 673

Chapter 24 Life 674


24.1 Life Evolves on Earth 676
Working It Out 24.1 Exponential Growth 680
24.2 Life Involves Complex Chemical Processes 681
Process of Science All of Science Is Interconnected 682
24.3 Where Do Astronomers Look for Life? 684
24.4 Scientists Are Searching for Signs of Intelligent Life 689
Working It Out 24.2 Putting Numbers into the Drake Equation 690
Origins The Fate of Life on Earth 692
Reading Astronomy News Finding LIfe Beyond Earth Is within Reach 694

Summary 695
Unanswered Questions 695
Questions and Problems 696
Exploration: Fermi Problems and the Drake Equation 699

APPENDIX 1 Mathematical Tools A-1


APPENDIX 2 Physical Constants and Units A-6
APPENDIX 3 Periodic Table of the Elements A-8
APPENDIX 4 Properties of Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Moons A-9
APPENDIX 5 Space Missions A-13
APPENDIX 6 Nearest and Brightest Stars A-15
APPENDIX 7 Observing the Sky A-18
APPENDIX 8 Uniform Circular Motion and Circular Orbits A-27
APPENDIX 9 IAU 2006 Resolutions: “Definition of a Planet in the Solar System”
and “Pluto” A-29

Glossary G-1
Selected Answers SA-1
Credits C-1
Index I-1
Working It Out
Chapters 15–23 are not included in this edition.

1.1 Mathematical Tools 13 12.2 Impact Energy 350


1.2 Reading a Graph 14 13.1 Parallax and Distance 363
2.1 How to Estimate the Size of Earth 31 13.2 The Magnitude System 364
3.1 How Copernicus Computed Orbital Periods and Scaled 13.3 Estimating the Sizes of Stars 370
the Solar System 64 13.4 Measuring the Mass of an Eclipsing Binary Pair 374
3.2 Kepler’s Third Law 68 14.1 The Source of the Sun’s Energy 394
3.3 Using Newton’s Laws 74 14.2 Sunspots and Temperature 407
4.1 Playing with Newton’s Laws of Motion and 15.1 Dust Glows in the Infrared 425
Gravitation 87 15.2 Luminosity, Surface Temperature, and Radius of
4.2 Circular Velocity and Escape Velocity 94 Protostars 438
4.3 Calculating Mass from Orbital Periods 95 16.1 Estimating Main-Sequence Lifetimes 452
4.4 Tidal Forces 98 16.2 Escaping the Surface of an Evolved Star 461
5.1 Working with Electromagnetic Radiation 117 17.1 Binding Energy of Atomic Nuclei 485
5.2 Making Use of the Doppler Effect 127 17.2 Gravity on a Neutron Star 491
5.3 Working with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and Wien’s 18.1 Time Dilation 514
Law 132 18.2 Masses in X-Ray Binaries 526
5.4 Using Radiation Laws to Calculate Equilibrium 19.1 Finding the Distance from a Type Ia Supernova 544
Temperatures of Planets 134
19.2 Redshift—Calculating the Recession Velocity and
6.1 Telescope Aperture and Magnification 146 Distance of Galaxies 546
6.2 Diffraction Limit 150 19.3 The Size, Density, and Power of a Supermassive Black
7.1 Angular Momentum 180 Hole 553
7.2 Estimating the Size of the Orbit of a Planet 189 20.1 The Mass of the Milky Way inside the Sun’s Orbit 578
7.3 Estimating the Radius of an Extrasolar Planet 190 20.2 The Mass of the Milky Way’s Central Black Hole 579
8.1 Computing the Ages of Rocks 208 21.1 Expansion and the Age of the Universe 598
8.2 How Planets Cool Off 212 21.2 When Redshift Exceeds One 603
9.1 Atmosphere Retention 239 22.1 Calculating the Critical Density 619
10.1 Measuring Wind Speeds on Different Planets 280 22.2 Pair Production in the Early Universe 632
10.2 Internal Thermal Energy Heats the Giant Planets 282 23.1 Mass of a Cluster of Galaxies 650
11.1 Using Moons to Compute the Mass of a Planet 300 23.2 Observing High-Redshift Objects 660
11.2 Tidal Forces on the Moons 303 24.1 Exponential Growth 680
11.3 Feeding the Rings 312 24.2 Putting Numbers into the Drake Equation 690
12.1 Eccentric Orbits 331

xviii
AstroTours
Chapters 15–23 are not included in this edition.

AstroTour animations are available from the free Student Site at the Digital Landing Page,
and they are also integrated into assignable Smartwork5 exercises. Offline versions of the
animations for classroom presentation are available from the Instructor’s Resource USB Drive.
digital.wwnorton.com/astro5.

The Celestial Sphere and the Ecliptic 24 Traffic Circle Analogy 179
The View from the Poles 26 Processes That Shape the Planets 205
The Earth Spins and Revolves 35 Continental Drift 215
The Moon’s Orbit: Eclipses and Phases 40 Hot Spot Creating a Chain of Islands 220
Kepler’s Laws 65 Atmospheres: Formation and Escape 237
Velocity, Acceleration, Inertia 70, 73 Greenhouse Effect 241
Newton’s Laws and Universal Gravitation 89 Cometary Orbits 339
Elliptical Orbit 92 Stellar Spectrum 366
Tides and the Moon 95 H-R Diagram 377
Light as a Wave, Light as a Photon 115 The Solar Core 395
Atomic Energy Levels and the Bohr Model 118 Star Formation 431
Atomic Energy Levels and Light Emission and Absorption 122 Hubble’s Law 544, 597
The Doppler Effect 125 Dark Matter 546
Geometric Optics and Lenses 148 Active Galactic Nuclei 551
Solar System Formation 175 Big Bang Nucleosynthesis 608

Astronomy in Action Videos


Chapters 15–23 are not included in this edition.

digital.wwnorton.com/astro5

Vocabulary of The Celestial Sphere 26 Inverse Square Law 133


The Cause of Earth’s Seasons 36 Angular Momentum 178, 431
The Earth-Moon-Sun System 38 Charged Particles and Magnetic Forces 249
Phases of the Moon 40 Parallax 360
Velocity, Force, and Acceleration 73 Random Walk 398
Center of Mass 94 Type II Supernova 488
Tides 95 Pulsar Rotation 493
Emission and Absorption 119 Galaxy Shapes and Orientation 538
Doppler Shift 125, 188 Size of Active Galactic Nuclei 552
Changing Equilibrium 128, 241 Expanding Balloon Universe 597
Wien’s Law 131 Observable vs. Actual Universe 599

xix
Nebraska Simulations
Chapters 15–23 are not included in this edition.

digital.wwnorton.com/astro5

Lookback Time Simulator 8 Blackbody Curves 131


Celestial and Horizon Systems Comparison 26 Snell’s Law Demonstrator 144
Rotating Sky Explorer 26 Telescope Simulator 145
Meridional Altitude Simulator 30 CCD Simulator 154
Declination Ranges Simulator 30 EM Spectrum Module 155
Big Dipper Clock 30 Influence of Planets on the Sun 188
Ecliptic (Zodiac) Simulator 34 Radial Velocity Graph 188
Seasons and Ecliptic Simulator 36 Exoplanet Radial Velocity Simulator 189
Daylight Hours Explorer 36 Exoplanet Transit Simulator 189
Lunar Phase Simulator 43 Gas Retention Simulator 238
Synodic Lag 45 Driving through Snow 344
Moon Inclinations 50 Parallax Calculator 362
Eclipse Shadow Simulator 50 Stellar Luminosity Calculator 365
Eclipse Table 51 Center of Mass Simulator 372
Obliquity Simulator 51 Eclipsing Binary Simulator 373
Ptolemaic Orbit of Mars 60 Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Explorer 376
Retrograde Motion 61 Spectroscopic Parallax Simulator 379
Planetary Configurations Simulator 63 Proton-Proton Animation 396
Synodic Period Calculator 64 CNO Cycle Animation 480
Eccentricity Demonstrator 65 H-R Explorer 482
Planetary Orbit Simulator 68 H-R Diagram Star Cluster Fitting Explorer 497
Phases of Venus 70 Spectroscopic Parallax Simulator 542
Ptolemaic Phases of Venus 70 Supernova Light Curve Fitting Explorer 542
Gravity Algebra 87 Galactic Redshift Simulator 544
Earth Orbit Plot 92 Traffic Density Analogy 569
Tidal Bulge Simulation 95 Milky Way Rotational Velocity 576
EM Spectrum Module 114 Milky Way Habitability Explorer 583
Three Views Spectrum Demonstrator 121 Circumstellar Habitable Zone 687
Hydrogen Atom Simulator 122 Milky Way Habitability Explorer 688
Doppler Shift Demonstrator 126

xx
Preface

Dear Student
Why is it a good idea to take a science course, and in particular, why is astronomy
a course worth taking? Many people choose to learn about astronomy because Process of Science CONVERGING LINES OF INQUIRY
they are curious about the universe. Your instructor likely has two basic goals in Astronomers asked: Why is the Solar System a disk,
with all planets orbiting in the same direction?

mind for you as you take this course. The first is to understand some basic physi-
cal concepts and how they apply to the universe around us. The second is to think
like a scientist and learn to use the scientific method not only to answer questions
Stellar astronomers
Stellar astronomers test find dust and gas
the nebular hypothesis, around young stars.

in this course but also to make decisions in your life. We have written the fifth
Stellar
seeking evidence
astronomers
for or against.
observe this

edition of 21st Century Astronomy with these two goals in mind. Mathematicians suggest
the nebular hypothesis:
a collapsing rotating cloud
gas and dust
to be in the

Throughout this book, we emphasize not only the content of astronomy (for
shape of disks.
formed the Solar System.

example, the differences among the planets, the formation of chemical elements)
but also how we know what we know. The scientific method is a valuable tool that
you can carry with you and use for the rest of your life. One way we highlight Planetary scientists test
the nebular hypothesis,

the process of science is the Process of Science Figures. In each chapter, we seeking evidence
for or against.

have chosen one discovery and provided a visual representation illustrating the
discovery or a principle of the process of science. In these figures, we try to illus- Planetary scientists

trate that science is not a tidy process, and that discoveries are sometimes made
study meteorites that
show the Solar System
bodies formed from

by different groups, sometimes by accident, but always because people are trying many smaller bodies.

to answer a question and show why or how we think something is the way it is. Beginning from the same fundamental observations about the shape of the Solar System,
theorists, planetary scientists, and stellar astronomers converge in the nebular theory
that stars and planets form together from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
The most effective way to learn something is to “do” it.planetesimals
Whether playing thatan in- too sparsely distributed for large planets to grow. Icy
were
strument or a sport or becoming a good cook, reading “how” can only take you
planetesimals in the outer so Solar System that survived planetary accretion remain
far. The same is true of learning astronomy. We have writtentodaythis
asbook
comet to help
nuclei.youThe frozen, distant dwarf planets Pluto and Eris are espe-
“do” as you learn. We have created several tools in every chapter to make reading
cially large examples of these residents of the outer Solar System.
a more active process. At the beginning of each chapter, weMany have Solar
provided a setobjects show evidence of cataclysmic impacts that re-
System
of Learning Goals to guide you as you read. There is a lotshaped
of information in every
worlds, suggesting that the early Solar System must have been a remark-
chapter, and the Learning Goals should help you focusably on the mostand
violent important
chaotic place. The dramatic difference in the terrain of the
points. We present a big-picture question in association with the chapter-opening
northern and southern hemispheres on Mars, for example, has been interpreted
figure at the beginning of each chapter. For each of these,aswethe have tried
result of to
onepose a
or more colossal collisions. The leading theory for the origin
question that is not only relevant to its chapter but also something you may have
of our Moon is that it resulted from the collision of an object with Earth. Mercury
wondered about. We hope that these questions, plus the photographs
has a crater on thatitsaccom-
surface from an impact so devastating that it caused the crust
pany them, capture your attention as well as your imagination.
to buckle on the opposite side of the planet. In the outer Solar System, one of
In addition, there are Check Your Understanding Saturn’s questions at theMimas,
moons, end of has a crater roughly one-third the diameter of the moon
each chapter section. These questions are designed to be itself.
answered quickly
Uranus suffered if youone or more collisions that were violent enough literally to
have understood the previous section. The answers are knock provided in the back of
the planet on its side. Today, as a result, its equatorial plane is tilted at al-
the book so you can check your answer and decide if further mostreview
a rightisangle
necessary.
to its orbital plane. We will see other examples in subsequent
As a citizen of the world, you make judgments aboutchapters.
science, distinguishing
between good science and pseudoscience. You use
these judgments to make decisions in the grocery
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING 7.4
store, pharmacy, car dealership, and voting booth.
Suppose that astronomers found a rocky, terrestrial planet beyond the orbit of
You may base these decisions on the presentation of
Neptune. What is the most likely explanation for its origin? (a) It formed close to
information you receive through the media, which
the Sun and migrated outward. (b) It formed in that location and was not dis-
is very different from the presentation in class. One
turbed by migration. (c) It formed later in the Sun’s history than other planets.
important skill is the ability to recognize what is
(d) It is a captured planet that formed around another star.
credible and to question what is not. To help you

xxi
7.5 Planetary Systems Are Common
formation developed from the work of both planetary planets and other objects in our Solar System. In the cur-
and stellar scientists. Planets are a common by-product of rent model of the formation of the Solar System, solid ter-
star formation, and many stars are surrounded by planetary restrial planets formed in the inner disk, where temperatures
systems. Gravity pulls clumps of gas and dust together, caus- were high, and giant gaseous planets formed in the outer
xxii P R E FAC E ing them to shrink and heat up. Angular momentum must be disk, where temperatures were low. Dwarf planets such as
conserved, leading to both a spinning central star and an Pluto formed in the asteroid belt and in the region beyond
accretion disk that rotates and revolves in the same direc- the orbit of Neptune. Asteroids and comet nuclei remain to-

hone this skill, we have provided Reading Astronomy News sections at the end
tion as the central star. Solar System meteorites show that
larger objects build up from smaller objects.
day as leftover debris.
LG 5 List how astronomers find planets around other stars,
READING ASTRONOMY NEWS of LG
every chapter.
2 Discuss the role of These
gravity andfeatures
angular momentuminclude in a news article
and explain howwithwe know questions
that planetarytosystems
help you
explaining why planets orbit the Sun in a plane and why around other stars are common. Astronomers find plan-
Articles questions A system with five planets was observed by NASA’s Kepler space makethey senserevolve ofin how
the same science is the
direction that presented
Sun rotates. to you. It isother
ets around important thatof methods:
stars using a variety you learn the radialto be
telescope. As particles orbit the forming star, the cloud of dust and gas velocity method, the transit method, microlensing, astrom-
critical of into
flattens thea plane.
information
Conservation of you
angularreceive,
momentum and theseetry, and features
direct imaging. will helphas
As technology you do that.
improved, the
earth-size Planet Found in the “Habitable Zone” of Another star
While we inknow a lot about the universe,
determines both the speed and the direction of the revolution
of the objects the forming system. Dust grains in the proto- science is an withongoing
thousands process,
number and variety of known extrasolar planets has in-
creased dramatically, and we
of planets and planet
By Science@NASA “M dwarfs are the most numerous stars,” Although the size of Kepler-186f is known,

Using NASA’s Kepler space telescope, astrono-


said Elisa Quintana, research scientist at the
SETI Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Cen-
its mass and composition are not. Previous
research, however, suggests that a planet the
continue to search for new answers. To give candidates
planetary disk first stick together because of collisions and
static electricity. As these objects grow, they eventually have
you a glimpse of what we don’t know,
discovered orbiting other stars near the Sun
within the Milky Way Galaxy in just the past few years.
we provide
enough massan Unanswered Questions feature near the end of each chapter.
mers have discovered the first Earth-size ter in Moffett Field, California, and lead author size of Kepler-186f is likely to be rocky.
planet orbiting in the “habitable zone” of of the paper published today in the journal “The discovery of Kepler-186f is a signifi- to attract other objects gravitationally. Once
another star (see Figure 7.23). The planet, Science. “The first signs of other life in the gal- cant step toward finding worlds like our planet
this occurs, they begin emptying the space around them. Col-
Most lisions
of these questions represent topics that scientists are currently studying.
named “Kepler-186f,” orbits an M dwarf, or axy may well come from planets orbiting an Earth,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s Astrophysics
red dwarf, a class of stars that makes up 70 M dwarf.” Division director at the agency’s headquarters of planetesimals lead to the formation of planets.
percent of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. However, “being in the habitable zone does in Washington.
The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms that not mean we know this planet is habitable,” The next steps in the search for distant life
planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable cautions Thomas Barclay, a research scientist include looking for true Earth-twins—Earth-
zone of stars other than our Sun. at the Bay Area Environmental Research Insti- size planets orbiting within the habitable zone
The “habitable zone” is defined as the tute at Ames, and coauthor of the paper. “The of a Sun-like star—and measuring their chemi-
range of distances from a star where liquid
water might pool on the surface of an orbiting
planet. While planets have previously been
found in the habitable zone, the previous finds
temperature on the planet is strongly depen-
dent on what kind of atmosphere the planet
has. Kepler-186f can be thought of as an Earth-
cousin rather than an Earth-twin. It has many
cal compositions. The Kepler space telescope,
which simultaneously and continuously mea-
sured the brightness of more than 150,000
stars, is NASA’s first mission capable of detect-
? UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
are all at least 40 percent larger in size than properties that resemble Earth.” ing Earth-size planets around stars like our
Earth, and understanding their makeup is Kepler-186f resides in the Kepler-186 sys- Sun. • How typical is the Solar System? Only within the past few • How Earth-like must a planet be before scientists declare it
challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent tem, about 500 light-years from Earth in the Looking ahead, Hertz said, “future NASA
of Earth. constellation Cygnus. The system is also home missions, like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey
years have astronomers found other systems containing four to be “another Earth”? An editorial in the science journal
Kepler-186f orbits its parent M dwarf star to four companion planets: Kepler-186b, Satellite and the James Webb Space Telescope, or more planets, and so far the observed distributions of Nature cautioned that scientists should define “Earth-like”
once every 130 days and receives one-third the Kepler-186c, Kepler-186d, and Kepler-186e, will discover the nearest rocky exoplanets and
energy that Earth gets from the Sun, placing it whiz around their sun every four, seven, 13, determine their composition and atmospheric
large and small planets in these multiplanet systems have in advance—before multiple discoveries of planets “similar”
nearer the outer edge of the habitable zone. On and 22 days, respectively, making them too hot conditions, continuing humankind’s quest to looked different from those of the Solar System. Computer to Earth are announced and a media frenzy ensues. Must a
the surface of Kepler-186f, the brightness of its for life as we know it. These four inner planets find truly Earth-like worlds.”
star at high noon is only as bright as our Sun all measure less than 1.5 times the size of simulations of planetary system formation suggest that a planet be of similar size and mass, be located in the habitable
appears to us about an hour before sunset. Earth. system with an orbital stability and a planetary distribution zone, and have spectroscopic evidence of liquid water before
like those of the Solar System may develop only rarely. Im- we call it “Earth 2.0”?
Articles questions proved supercomputers can run more complex simulations,
1. This NASA press release was picked up by business and international news feeds. Why do you think coverage of this discovery was so
which can be compared with the observations to understand
widespread? better how solar systems are configured.
2. The planet is closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun yet receives much less energy. What does that imply about the temperature of the star?
3. Why is the mass of this planet not yet known? What method will be used to find its mass?
4. How will astronomers estimate the planet’s composition?
5. Why is this planet called a “cousin” of Earth?

The language of science is mathematics, and it can be as challenging to learn as


any other language. The choice to use mathematics as the language of science is
not arbitrary; nature “speaks” math. To learn about nature, you will need to speak
08_KAY_93899_ch7_172-199.indd 195 9/17/15 3:21 PM

its language. We don’t want the language of math to obscure the concepts, so we
have placed this book’s mathematics in Working It Out boxes to make it clear
08_KAY_93899_ch7_172-199.indd 194 9/17/15 3:21 PM

when we are beginning and ending a mathematical argument, so that you can
spend time with the concepts in the chapter text and then revisit the mathemat-
ics of the concept to study the formal language of the argument. You will learn
to work with data and identify when data aren’t quite right. We want you to be
comfortable reading, hearing, and speaking the language of science, and we will
provide you with tools to make it easier.
190 chapter 7 The Birth and Evolution of Planetary Systems

Origins: The Death of the Dinosaurs 227


7.3 Working It Out Estimating the Radius of an Extrasolar Planet
Origins
The Death of the Dinosaurs The masses of extrasolar planets can often be estimated using Then, to solve for the radius of the planet, astronomers need an esti-
When large impacts happen on Earth, Kepler’s laws and the conservation of angular momentum. When mate of the radius of the star and a measurement of the percentage
they can have far-reaching conse- planets are detected by the transit method, astronomers can esti- reduction in light during the transit. The radius of a star is estimated
quences for Earth’s climate and for ter-
restrial life. One of the biggest and mate the radius of an extrasolar planet. In this method, astronomers from the surface temperature and the luminosity of the star.
most significant impacts happened at
look for planets that eclipse their stars and observe how much the Let’s consider an example. Kepler-11 is a system of at least six plan-
the end of the Cretaceous Period,
which lasted from 146 million years star’s light decreases during this eclipse (see Figure 7.19). In the So- ets that transit a star. The radius of the star, Rstar, is estimated to be
ago to 65 million years ago. At the end
of the Cretaceous Period, more than
lar System when Venus or Mercury transits the Sun, a black circular 1.1 times the radius of the Sun, or 1.1 3 (7.0 3 105 km) 5 7.7 3 105 km.
50 percent of all living species, includ- disk is visible on the face of the circular Sun. During the transit, the The light from planet Kepler-11c is observed to decrease by 0.077 per-
ing the dinosaurs, became extinct. This
mass extinction is marked in Earth’s
amount of light from the transited star is reduced by the area of the cent, or 0.00077 (see Figure 7.19). What is Kepler-11c’s size?
fossil record by the Cretaceous-Tertiary circular disk of the planet divided by the area of the circular disk of
boundary, or K-T boundary (the K comes
R2Kepler-11c R2Kepler-11c
the star: 0.00077 5 5
from Kreide, German for “Cretaceous”). Figure 8.30 This artist’s rendition depicts an asteroid or comet, perhaps 10 km R2star 17.7 3 105 km2 2
Fossils of dinosaurs and other now- across, striking Earth 65 million years ago in what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in
extinct life-forms are found in older Area of disk of planet
layers below the K-T boundary. Fossils
Mexico. The lasting effects of the impact might have killed off most forms of
Percentage reduction in light 5 R2Kepler-11c 5 4.5 3 108 km2
in the newer rocks above the K-T
terrestrial life, including the dinosaurs.
Area of disk of star
boundary lack more than half of all surveys and rocks from drill holes in cold and dark “impact winter.” Recent RKepler-11c 5 2.1 3 104 km
previous species but contain a record this area show a deeply deformed sub- measurements of ancient microbes in pR2planet R2planet
of many other newly evolving species. surface rock structure, similar to that ocean sediments suggest that Earth 5 5 Dividing Kepler-11c’s radius by the radius of Earth (6,400 km) shows
Big winners in the new order were seen at known impact sites. These re- may have cooled by 7°C. The fire-
pR2star R2star
the mammals—distant ancestors of sults provide compelling evidence that storms, temperature changes, and de- that the planet Kepler-11c has a radius of 3.3 R Earth.
humans—that moved into ecological 65 million years ago, an asteroid about creased food supplies could have led to
niches vacated by extinct species. 10 km in diameter struck the area, a mass starvation that would have been
How do scientists know that an im- throwing great clouds of red-hot dust especially hard on large animals such
pact was involved? The K-T boundary and other debris into the atmosphere as the dinosaurs.
is marked in the fossil record in many (Figure 8.30) and possibly igniting a Not all paleontologists believe
areas by a layer of clay. Studies at more worldwide conflagration. The energy that this mass extinction was the re-

Each chapter concludes with an Origins section, which relates material or


than 100 locations around the world of the impact is estimated to have been sult of an impact; some think volcanic
have found that this layer contains more than that released by 5 billion activity was important as well. How-
Planets can be More than a thousand extrasolar planets have been detected
large amounts of the element iridium, nuclear bombs. ever, the evidence is compelling that
distinguished by: from ground-based and space telescopes using the transit method.
subjects found in the chapter to•• questions about the origin of the universe and the
as well as traces of soot. Iridium is very An impact of this energy clearly a great impact did occur at the end
Different periods
rare in Earth’s crust but is common in
meteorites. The soot at the K-T bound-
would have had a devastating effect on
terrestrial life. In addition to the pos-
of the Cretaceous Period. Life on our
planet has had its course altered by Different depths Current ground-based technology limits the sensitivity of the tran-
ary possibly indicates that widespread
fires burned the world over. The thick-
ness of the layer of clay at the K-T
sible firestorm ignited by the impact,
computer models suggest there would
have been earthquakes and tsunamis.
sudden and cataclysmic events when
asteroids and comets have slammed
into Earth. It seems very possible
origin of life in the universe and• Different
on Earth.
durations
Astrobiologists have made much prog-
sit method to about 0.1 percent of a star’s brightness. Amateur as-
tronomers have confirmed the existence of several extrasolar
boundary and the concentration of
iridium increases toward what is today
Dust from the collision and soot from
the firestorms thrown into Earth’s up-
that we owe our existence to the
luck of our remote ancestors—small ress
1.0
in recent years on understanding how conditions planets in the
by observing transits universe
using charge-coupledmaydevicehave
(CCD)
the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Al- per atmosphere would have remained rodent-like mammals—that could live cameras mounted on telescopes with apertures as small as 20 cen-
helped or hindered the origin of life, and in each Origins we explore
improve thean example
Relative brightness

though the original crater has largely there for years, blocking out sunlight amid the destruction after such an im-
been erased by erosion, geophysical and plunging Earth into decades of a pact 65 million years ago. timeters (cm). Telescopes in space sensitivity because
smaller dips in brightness can be measured. The small French
from
0.99
its chapter that relates to how the universe and life formed and evolved.
COROT telescope (27 cm) discovered 32 planets during its 6 years
of operation (2007–2013). NASA’s 0.95-meter Kepler telescope has
Transit durations are greatly exaggerated
discovered many planets and has found thousands more candidates
09_KAY_93899_ch8_200-233.indd 227 9/29/15 12:53 PM that are being investigated further. Figure 7.20 illustrates how
0.98
0 20 40 60 80 100 multiplanet systems are identified with this method: if one planet is
Time (days) found, then observations of the variations in timing of the transit
Figure 7.20 Multiple planets can be detected by multiple transits with can indicate that there are other planets orbiting the same star.
different brightness changes. The arrows point to the changes in the
mass (2.33 MJup) are known. The density provides a clue about
the science goals? Have some planets been found?
whether the object is gaseous or rocky.
a. What is the mass of this planet in kilograms? 49. Citizen science projects:
b. What is the planet’s radius in meters? a. Go to the “PlanetHunters” website at
c. What is the planet’s volume? http://planethunters.org. PlanetHunters is part of the
d. What is the planet’s density? How does this density com- Zooniverse, a citizen science project that invites individu- P R E FAC E xxiii
pare to the density of water (1,000 kg/m3)? Is the planet als to participate in a major science project using their own
likely to be rocky or gaseous? computers. To participate in this or any of the other Zooni-
verse projects mentioned in later chapters, you will need to

At the end of each chapter, we have pro- Using the Web


sign up for an account. Read through the sections under

EXPLORATION
“About,” including the FAQ. What are some of the advan-

vided several types of questions, problems, Exploring Extrasolar Planets


tages to crowdsourcing Kepler data analysis? Back on the
PlanetHunters home page, click on “Tutorial” and watch
digital.wwnorton.com/astro5
the “Introduction” and “Tutorial Video.” When you’re
and activities for you to practice your skills.
46. Go to the “Extrasolar Planets Global Searches” Web page
(http://exoplanet.eu/searches.php) of the Extrasolar Planets ready toVisit
trythe
looking for planets, click on “Classify” and be-
Student Site at the Digital Landing Page, and open the Exo- 8 When is the star moving fastest: when the planet is close to it or
Encyclopedia. Click on one ongoing project under “Ground” gin. Save a copy
Radialof yourSimulator
stars for your homework.
The Test Your Understanding questions focus
planet Velocity in Chapter 7. This applet has a num- when the planet is far away?
ber of different panels that allow you to experiment with the variables
and one ongoing project under “Space.” What method is used b. Go to the “Disk Detective” website at http://www
that are important for measurement of radial velocities. First, in the
to detect planets in each case? Has the selected project found .diskdetective.org/, another Zooniverse
window labeled “Visualization Controls,” checkproject
the box tofor
showwhich
mul-

on more detailed facts and concepts from the


9 Explain how an astronomer would determine, from a radial ve-
any planets, and if so, what type are they? Now click on one of you willtiple
need toCompare
views. make the an views
account
shownas in part
in panels (a).the
1–3 with Incolored
this proj- locity graph of the star’s motion, whether the orbit of the planet was in
arrows in the last panel to see where an observer would stand to see a circular or elongated orbit.
the future projects. When will the one you chose be ready to ect, youthe
will
viewlook
shown.atStart
observations ofthe
the animation (in young stars
“Animation to see if
Controls”

chapter. Thinking about the Concepts ques- begin? What will be the method of detection? there is panel),
“Science”
evidence foritatoplanetary
and allow run while you disk. Under
watch the “Menu,”
planet orbit its star read
from each of the views shown. Stop the animation, and in the “Pre-
and
sets” “About,”
panel, and
select “Option A” then “Classify.”
and then click “set.” Work through
47. Using the exoplanet catalogs:
tions ask you to synthesize information and
10 Study the “Earth view” panel at the top of the window. Would
an example, and then
1 Is Earth’s view ofclassify
this systemamost
fewnearly
images.
a. Go to the “Catalog” Web page (http://exoplanet.eu/catalog) like the “side view” or this planet be a good candidate for a transit observation? Why or why
most nearly like the “orbit view”? not?
of the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia and set to “All Plan- 50. Go to the “Super Planet Crash” Web page (http://www
explain the “how” or “why” of a situation. ets detected.” Look for a star that has multiple planets.
Make a graph showing the distances of the planets from
.stefanom.org/spc/ or http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150112
2 Is the orbit of this planet circular or elongated?
.html). Read “Help” to see the rules. First build a system like
Applying the Concepts problems give you a
In the “System Orientation” panel, change the inclination to 0.0.
that star, and note the masses and sizes of the planets. Put ours with four Earth-sized planets in the inner 2 AU—is this
3 Study the radial velocity graph in the upper right panel. The blue 11 Now is Earth’s view of this system most nearly like the “side
the Solar System planets on the same axis. How does this stable? What happens
curve if you
shows the radial addofinthesuper-Earths
velocity or “ice
star over a full period. gi-
What is view” or most nearly like the “orbit view”?

chance to practice the quantitative skills you extrasolar planet system compare with the Solar System?
b. Go to the “Exoplanets Data Explorer” website (http://
ants”? Build theup a fewradial
maximum completely different
velocity of the star?

and see what happens. What types of situations cause insta-


planetary systems
12 How does the radial velocity of the star change as the planet

learned in the chapter and to work through a


exoplanets.org) and click on “Table.” This website lists bility in the4 inner 2 AU of
The horizontal axisthese systems?
of the graph shows the “phase,” or fraction of orbits?
planets that have detailed orbital data published in scientific the period. A phase of 0.5 is halfway through a period. The vertical
red line indicates the phase shown in views in the upper left panel.
journals, and it may have a smaller total count than the web-
situation mathematically. The Using the Web
Start the animation to see how the red line sweeps across the graph as
site in part (a). Pick a planet that was discovered this year or the planet orbits the star. The period of this planet is 365 days. How
many days pass between the minimum radial velocity and the maxi-
last, as specified in the “First Reference” column. What is
questions and Explorations represent other
mum radial velocity? 13 Click the box that says “show simulated measurements,” and
the planet’s minimum mass? What is its semimajor axis and change the “noise” to 1.0 m/s. The gray dots are simulated data, and
the period of its orbit? What is the eccentricity of its orbit? If your instructor assigns homework in Smartwork5, access your the blue line is the theoretical curve. Use the slider bar to change the

opportunities to “learn by doing.” Using the


5 When the planet moves away from Earth, the star moves toward inclination. What happens to the radial velocity as the inclination in-
Click on the star name in the first column to get more assignments atEarth.
digital.wwnorton.com/astro5.
The sign of the radial velocity tells the direction of the motion creases? (Hint: Pay attention to the vertical axis as you move the slid-
(toward or away). Is the radial velocity of the star positive or negative er, not just the blue line.)
at this time in the orbit? If you could graph the radial velocity of the

Web sends you to websites of space missions, observatories, experiments, or ar- planet at this point in the orbit, would it be positive or negative?

chives to access recent observations, results, or press releases. Other sites are for In the “Presets” window, select “Option B” and then click “set.”

6 What has changed about the orbit of the planet as shown in the 14 What is the smallest inclination for which you would find the

“citizen science” projects in which you can contribute to the analysis of new data.
views in the upper left panel? data convincing? That is, what is the smallest inclination for which the
theoretical curve is in good agreement with the data?
08_KAY_93899_ch7_172-199.indd 198 9/17/15 3:22 PM

Explorations show you how to use the concepts and skills you learned in an 7 When is the planet moving fastest: when it is close to the star or
when it is far from the star?

interactive way. Most of the book’s Explorations ask you to use animations and
simulations on the Student Site, while the others are hands-on, paper-and-pencil Student Site : digital.wwnorton.com/astro5 199

activities that use everyday objects such as ice cubes or balloons. 08_KAY_93899_ch7_172-199.indd 199 9/17/15 3:22 PM

The resources outside of the book (at the Student Site) can help you understand
and visualize many of the physical concepts described in the book. AstroTours
and Nebraska Simulations are represented by icons in the margins of the book.
There is also a series of short Astronomy in Action videos that are represented
by icons in the margins and available at the Student Site. These videos feature one
of the authors (and several students) demonstrating physical concepts at work.
Your instructor might assign these videos to you or you might choose to watch
them on your own to create a better picture of each concept in your mind.
Astronomy gives you a sense of perspective that no other field of study offers.
The universe is vast, fascinating, and beautiful, filled with a wealth of objects
that, surprisingly, can be understood using only a handful of principles. By the
end of this book, you will have gained a sense of your place in the universe.

AstroTour

Astronomy in Action Nebraska Simulation


xxiv P reface

Dear Instructor
We wrote this book with a few overarching goals: to inspire students, to make
the material interactive, and to create a useful and flexible tool that can support
multiple learning styles.
As scientists and as teachers, we are passionate about the work we do. We
hope to share that passion with students and inspire them to engage in science
on their own. Through our own experience, familiarity with education research,
and surveys of instructors, we have come to know a great deal about how students
learn and what goals teachers have for their students. We have explicitly ad-
dressed many of these goals and learning styles in this book, sometimes in large,
immediately visible ways such as the inclusion of features but also through less
obvious efforts such as questions and problems that relate astronomical concepts
to everyday situations or a fresh approach to organizing material.
For example, many teachers state that they would like their students to be-
come “educated scientific consumers” and “critical thinkers” or that their stu-
dents should “be able to read a news story about science and understand its sig-
nificance.” We have specifically addressed these goals in our Reading Astronomy
News feature, which presents a news article and a series of questions that guide a
student’s critical thinking about the article, the data presented, and the sources.
In nearly every chapter, we have Visual Analogy figures that compare astrono-
my concepts to everyday events or objects. Through these analogies, we strive to
make the material more interesting, relevant, and memorable.
Education research shows that the most effective way to learn is by doing.
Exploration activities at the end of each chapter are hands-on, asking students to
take the concepts they’ve learned in the chapter and apply them as they interact
with animations and simulations on the Student Site or work through pencil-
and-paper activities. Many of these Explorations incorporate everyday objects
and can be used either in your classroom or as activities at home. The Using the
Web problems direct students to “citizen science” projects, where they can con-
tribute to the analysis of new astronomical data. Other problems send students
to websites of space missions, observatories, collaborative projects, and catalogs
to access the most current observations, results, and news releases. These Web
problems can be used for homework, lab exercises, recitations, or “writing across
the curriculum” projects.
We also believe students should be exposed to the more formal language of
science—mathematics. We have placed the math in Working It Out boxes, so it
does not interrupt the flow of the text or get in the way of students’ understanding
of conceptual material. But we’ve gone further by beginning with fundamental
ideas in early Working It Out boxes and slowly building in complexity through
the book. We’ve also worked to remove some of the stumbling blocks that affect
student confidence by providing calculator hints, references to earlier Working It
Out boxes, and detailed, fully worked examples. Many chapters include problems
on reading and interpreting graphs. Appendix 1, “Mathematical Tools,” has also
been reorganized and expanded.
Discussion of basic physics is contained in Part I to accommodate courses that
use the Solar System or Stars and Galaxies volumes. A “just-in-time” approach to
introducing the physics is still possible by bringing in material from Chapters 2–6
as needed. For example, the sections on tidal forces in Chapter 4 can be taught
along with the moons of the Solar System in Part II, or with mass transfer in
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“I freed Hano, chief. I had a good reason for it. You must trust me,”
replied Sid, as stoutly as he could in the face of that towering
passion.
“Yes?” said Honanta, craftily, controlling himself. “Why?” He was
speaking in Apache now, and so was Sid, the subterfuge that he did
not understand it being abandoned by both.
“You shall learn, soon, chief. I am acting for the good of us all,” said
Sid earnestly.
Honanta studied him awhile in silence. “My son, because your name
is Col-vin I have persuaded my old men to spare your life. My heart
tells me that you may be the son of that officer who spared my
mother and me—whose name also was Colvin. In freeing Hano I
believe that you meant well. But it is dark to me why my son, Hano,
consented to run away! His honor required him to await the judgment
of my old men, even if not a thong bound him.”
“He, too, did it for the sake of the tribe, Honanta,” declared Sid with
profound conviction.
Honanta knitted his brows, puzzled. “My son,” said he gently, “is not
the truth best? No—you do not lie!” he added hastily as a frown
gathered in Sid’s face, “but you know more than we do. I must tell
what you do know to my old men, for they are very wise and their
decision is final. You have told me nothing that gray hairs can listen
to, so far,” he concluded persuasively.
Sid reflected. Would it not be better to tell the whole truth now and
trust in Honanta’s judgment? He decided to tell part of it anyhow, for
Big John and Scotty might be led here by Ruler to-morrow, he felt,
and he might as well explain them now.
“I sent Hano to bring my friends here,” he replied. “They have a
tracking dog—a hound—and could trace me here in any event, so I
wanted to avoid a fight. The dog would lead them to Red Mesa,
chief.”
“And so you sent Hano!” laughed Honanta. “My son Hano would kill
that dog, kill those friends of yours, too, sooner than permit them to
reach our home! Did you not think of that?”
Sid attempted to show his surprise at this Indian point of view on his
action, but the idea was not new to him and the chief saw it.
“Come! There is more back of it, yet, my son!” prompted Honanta.
“The truth—and I will do what I can for you with the elders.”
“There’s a party of Mexicans coming along the border,” replied Sid
desperately. “They will find our tracks and trace us all to this place. I
felt that we needed my friends to help you defend it, Honanta. That’s
the whole truth.”
“Ha!—No! There is more!” exclaimed Honanta, his choler rising.
“Why are the Mexicanos coming? And why is your party down here?
Do you think I do not know why? Somehow, the tale of our mine has
gotten out! Don’t I know what white men will do to possess
themselves of a mine? What won’t they do!” he exclaimed bitterly.
“You are all our enemies!”
“Not I!” retorted Sid, stoutly. “I am an ethnologist—no miner! The
study of your people is my lifework, chief. Sympathy for them has
become my ruling passion. Since I came here, my one idea has
been to preserve this place forever as your home. I’ll seal my friend’s
lips forever about this mine——”
Sid stopped hastily, for he had made a slip that he had not intended.
It did not escape Honanta, however.
“No! we shall do that!” he said grimly. “My son, you are an enemy to
us. You cannot help yourself. But, because of him who saved my
mother and you who represent him, I have vowed to give a Sun
Dance to-morrow. You must be present at it, for you are the physical
evidence of my deliverer. According to our laws of hospitality you
have one sun of immunity among us. But to-morrow, when his
shadow reaches there,” the Chief pointed to a great crack on the
inside of the west wall—“you must go forth—if you can.... As for your
friends, we shall take care of them if Hano does not!”
He turned and motioned to two of his braves. “Bind him!” he
commanded. “Medicine lodge!”
They stepped forward and seized Sid. In a very few minutes he
found himself seated, firmly bound to the very post from which he
had freed Hano but recently. The food Nahla had brought for Hano
was fed him; then the door was shut and he was left in the darkness
of the lodge.
Sid reflected over it all as he sat, awaiting the long vigil until morning.
Escape was impossible. Not only was he bound cunningly to the
post so that any movement of even his hands was impossible, but
two Apache guards squatted near him, silent as specters but
watching him fixedly.
“Go forth—if you can!” had been Honanta’s last words. In them Sid
found his sole hope. Honanta was still his friend, but the logic of the
situation had been too strong even for him. But Honanta was more
than his friend. It was true, then, that Colonel Colvin was that white
officer! Honanta had said so at last. Through his father he owed a
debt that to an Indian is never paid. Honanta, too, was torn between
two duties—that to his tribe and that to Sid as the Colonel’s son. In
the subtle workings of the Indian mind there would surely be a
loophole for him, somewhere, by Honanta, Sid felt. It was for him to
find and utilize that loophole of escape. It would be something that
would clear Honanta’s conscience as regards his tribe, yet fulfill his
obligation to him as the son of the man who had saved his life.
What it would be, Sid could not imagine. He decided to keep his
eyes open to-morrow, alert to seize the opportunity whatever it
should be. Then, with the ability of youth to sleep anywhere and in
any impossible posture, his head fell forward on his chest and he
was soon oblivious of his and any one else’s troubles.
Next morning as he was led from the lodge, a notable change in the
village greeted him. A high Sun Dance pole had been erected during
the night, with a cross bar secured near its top. From the bar
dangled two effigies; the figure of a man and of a mountain sheep.
Sid recognized the symbol of it. The figure represented Honanta,
dead but for the intervention of the Great Mystery in the person of
that white officer who had spared his mother. The mountain sheep
represented man’s physical life, his principal means of sustenance,
the gift of Mother Earth, replacing the buffalo of plains ceremonies.
After a time Honanta appeared, nude save for his moccasins and
breech clout; his hair was disheveled, his body daubed with clay. He
dragged after him the skull of a mountain sheep, symbolizing the
grave from which he had escaped by divine intervention. As the
eastern sun flamed over the wall of Red Mesa, an old priest cut and
scarified Honanta’s chest, signifying the natural accompaniments of
a physical death.
The rest of the tribe now formed in a line under the east wall and
faced him. Sid himself was placed opposite Honanta, standing alone.
He felt awed at the part he was taking—for he obviously represented
the instrument through which the Great Mystery had shown His
favor.
Looking with fixed eyes on the sun, Honanta began the Sun Dance,
dragging the skull after him and blowing from time to time on a
sacred whistle which he kept pointed at the sun as it rose toward the
zenith.
Sid watched him, fascinated. He was seeing the original Sun Dance,
the Indian symbol of death and resurrection, as it was before later
changes degraded it into a meaningless exhibition of endurance
under torture—about on the level with our own bull-ring and prize-
fight arena. How long the dance would keep up depended solely
upon Honanta’s physical endurance. He was not much over forty
years of age, so he would be yet in his prime, and his fervor would
lead him to dance before the Great Mystery until his sinews could
work no longer.
Sid’s prayers went out to aid him. He liked to see a man give his
best! This humbling of the body was nothing repulsive, when one
thought of the exalted mood of that soul, engaged in an act of Indian
worship so far above our own milder and, let us say, more self-
indulgent and vanity-ridden forms of ritual.
An hour passed; two hours, while still the devoted Honanta
maintained the peculiar syncopated rhythmic dance of the Indian.
Occasionally his voice rose in a wild, high chant, relating the story of
his rescue by that white officer of long ago. He called on the soul of
his mother to witness; poured out prayers in thankful chants to the
Great Mystery.
Sid watched, himself entirely in sympathy, the whole band of
Apaches gradually working themselves to higher and higher
exaltation of religious feeling. He hardly noted the passage of time
until a glance over to the west wall brought home to him with a
sudden shock that the shadow of the east wall had nearly reached
that crack in the granite. His time was coming soon!
Others had noticed it, too, for one of the elders spoke a word. With a
final invocation to the Great Mystery, Honanta slowly brought his
dance to a close. He tottered toward Sid, his eyes sightless, his hand
groping until it gripped Sid’s.
Sid felt a renewed fervor in that grip, but all Honanta said was: “My
son, guide me—for you must now go forth from us.”
One of the braves pressed Sid’s rifle into his hands. Leading
Honanta, Sid started for the medicine lodge. Young bucks and elders
surrounded them. They were fully armed and their faces expressed
the grim determination of the executioner. Sid guided Honanta to the
outlet of the tunnel and himself raised the medicine sheepskin.
“Careful, my father!” he warned courteously, putting Honanta’s hands
on the ladder post.
They descended, the tunnel filled with creeping warriors, ahead and
behind them. Sid could not see what chance there was for his life in
this! To whirl and shoot the instant his foot left the cave?—before he
could move, a flight of arrows would feather themselves in him! If
Honanta had a loophole in mind it must be provided soon!
But the party crept on down steadily. Then along each side of the
cave entrance the bucks parted and lined up with arrow on string.
Sid drew a long breath and stepped steadily to the entrance. Beyond
that he could not go, without death. Bows creaked as he turned
slowly, to find arrows drawn to the head upon him.
But Honanta was close behind him. “You must go forth, now, my
son,” he pronounced gravely.
Sid tensed every muscle in his body, intending to throw himself down
the lava crevice and then turn and shoot for his life. It was a forlorn
hope, but——
Two long, fringed, buckskinned arms closed slowly around him as
his foot lifted for the first step. Sid halted wonderingly—but the push
of Honanta urged him on:
“Go forth, my son—and I will go with thee!” whispered the chief’s
voice in his ear. “I cannot see thee slain! Let them shoot!”
Honanta’s own arms were around him now, his body protectingly
between him and the Apaches. That was the way he had solved his
dilemma!
Sid backed rebelliously. “No, chief! No! You must not!” he protested,
attempting to turn in the chief’s arms. The utter silence of
astonishment was all around them, the Apaches hesitating, arrow on
bow, utterly disconcerted at this sudden development.
“On! While there is time!” grated the chief’s voice. “We shall escape
to your people. They must never find Red Mesa. I trust you, my son,
to keep silence!” urged Honanta.
Sid nodded. Honanta had found the best way out of it all. They were
about to go on, letting the tribe decide as it would, when the distant
Rrrraammp! Rrrraammp! Rrrraammp! of rifle shots coming from over
the mountain arrested them.
“Halt! It is too late, Honanta!” barked Sid. “Listen!”
A fusillade of distant rifle shots broke out; then the rapid, continuous
discharge of a repeating rifle.
“Ten shots!” said Sid. “That’s the Navaho’s Winchester, chief. Ours
hold only five. Those other shots are Mausers—not hunting rifles!
The Mexicans are here!”
He pushed Honanta back in the cave and then faced the Apaches.
“Warriors of the Apache, I must stay and fight with you!” his voice
rang out. “Those rifles are of Mexicanos, coming to take your home.
After it is all over you can do what you will with me. Is it peace?”
The Apaches nodded sullenly and lowered their bows. Without
Honanta they were leaderless.
“Let no one go out!” ordered Sid. “We need every man right here!”
CHAPTER X
THE DEFENSE OF RED MESA
AS the Mexican rifles whipped and sang in the crags sheep after
sheep staggered and fell. Hano’s eyes blazed with indignation. At
least six of these white-clad Mexicanos were up there and three of
the sheep were killed, a noble ram and two ewes, but still the
slaughter went on unceasingly. That band of big horns and a few
others like it around Pinacate were almost the sole meat supply of
Hano’s tribe. A few each year had been plenty to keep them all in
meat. One ram would have been more than enough to feed all this
band of white men all they could carry away, yet nothing less than
the slaughter of them all—brutal, thoughtless, insensate killing for
the mere pleasure of shooting seemed their purpose. Higher and
higher the Mexican hunters climbed, following the doomed sheep up
to the ridges. Once over them and——
With a great bitter cry of rage at the sickening insatiate greed of it,
Hano rose to his feet, snatched Niltci’s rifle from his hands and
emptied it in rapid shots. He sent bullets whistling among the hunters
up in the crags, then shot down horses among that group closely
packed in the Pass below them. Dashing down the empty weapon
with a curse of rage, he bounded down through the mesquite and
was lost to sight. Niltci, himself overwhelmed with indignant
sympathy over this useless slaughter of wild life, had not interfered
with Hano and he now picked up the rifle and reloaded it.
“Good hunch, Injun! Shootin’ them hosses is our best bet arter all!”
muttered Big John to himself raising the meat gun to his shoulder.
He aimed full at the serapé-clad rider who sat his horse, yelling up at
the hunters above and signaling urgently to them to return.
“Greaser, I could kill you now, an’ end all this to onct,” he muttered,
“but ontil you shoots at me fust, I cayn’t do it.” He lowered the sights
a trifle and pulled trigger. Instantly the horse which the Mexican rode
collapsed and fell kicking on the sands. Vasquez jumped free.
“Gringoes! Enemigos! Tira! Tira!” he yelled, shaking his fists and
pointing wildly.
Big John went on shooting, picking off horse after horse. Niltci’s rifle
was thundering in his ears, for the indignant Navaho had turned his
fire on the sheep slaughterers now scrambling madly down the hill. A
wild commotion had broken out in the confused knot of horses and
men that were left of the cavalcade. Presently a band of five of them
mounted and rode swiftly toward their position. Then down below a
single war whoop rang out and Big John saw a lone Indian rider
dash out into the Pass. It was Hano, making his sacrifice of leading
as many as possible of the enemy after him away into the desert. A
fusillade of shots greeted him; then the rapid clatter of hoofs as the
whole band swept by, Hano far in the lead on Sid’s pony. Big John
dropped the foremost horse as they passed below him; the rest
swept by quirting their mounts furiously as Hano disappeared over a
swale in the sand dunes.
“Now we got to settle with Mister Vasquez!” exclaimed Big John
grimly. “Thar’s still half a dozen of them with him, against the two of
us up yonder.”
But Niltci did not hear for he had crept up to a better position. He had
seen nothing of Hano’s race as he was too hotly engaged with the
Mexicans on the hillside.
Big John peered out of his rocky lair, looking for “that ornery
Vasquez.” A glimpse of him showed high among the rocks; then his
rifle barked and the bullet spanged the rocks near by. The other
Mexicans were now well concealed in the crags and the crack of
their rifles and the whine and smash of Mausers about Big John’s
position told him that the battle was on in dead earnest. For a time
the fight remained stationary, both sides so well concealed that no
quickness of sight could register a direct hit. Then a shot rang out,
much nearer to the left.
“Bad business, Niltci,” called out Big John, “they’re working down this
way an’ hev got us cornered on this little knoll. We gotto do a sneak
around this point and git above them somehow.”
Niltci had already foreseen the danger, for he was now creeping
snakelike through the rocks around the right flank of the knoll.
Big John grunted whimsically as he followed after: “Gosh dern it, I
ain’t even goin’ to act civilized, pronto, if these hyar doin’s keeps up!
I don’t like that party in the barber-pole poncho, none, an’ I’ll get
careless and drill daylight through him ef I don’t watch myself!” he
soliloquized.
Then he came out on the right flank of the knoll, where all that vast
interior angle of the mountain range burst at once into full view. For a
moment he peered out and just stared! A huge black apron of lava
fell out of the high lap of the mountains and spread far and wide
down the slope until lost in the sands. But, dominating the gap where
this lava flowed out, he saw two immense red walls, cast up like
opening trap doors of granite. From his position the whole formation
could be grasped in its entirety and its resemblance to a mesa struck
Big John at once.
“She looks jest like Thunder Mountain up near Zuñi to me,” he
muttered wonderingly, “only she’s red. Red Mesa, by gum!” he
exploded, as the conviction smote upon him. “An’ that pesky Sid’s
been and gone an’ found it! Thar’s whar he is, now, with them
Apaches, I’ll bet my hoss! Wouldn’t that knock ye dead?”
Silent, majestic, imposing, Red Mesa shimmered in the morning sun,
high above all. That it held the secret of Sid’s disappearance and
explained the mystery of these Apaches was a conclusion that Big
John jumped to instinctively.
And then a shrill squall of triumph rang out high on the mountain side
above him! Big John crawled to a better outlook and gazed upward.
Exposed on a ragged pinnacle, Vasquez stood waving a rifle
triumphantly over his head and screaming in Spanish unintelligibly.
That he had seen Red Mesa, too, and was calling to himself all his
guerrillas there was no doubt at all!
Big John raised his rifle carefully, its tall front sight rising high above
the rear bar. “Four hundred, five hundred; no, more’n six hundred
yards!” he muttered. “It’ll be some stretch for the ole meat gun, but,
greaser, you’ve looked at this parteekler scenery all you’re entitled
to!”
He held the bead steady, resting his elbow on a rock. Gradually his
muscles cramped in a rigid pose while the tiny dot up there in the
crags hovered motionless over the tip of his front sight.
“Sho! greaser,” said Big John, lowering the rifle. “Y’ain’t done
nawthin’ yit what I orter kill ye fer! Yore int’rested, jist now—it’s our
chanct to make a run for it an’ git between you an’ th’ home plate, I’m
thinkin’. Siddy boy, I aims to reach ye this trip!”
He crept rapidly down to where Niltci lay concealed and touched him
on the shoulder. Together they wormed swiftly down the mountain
and reached the sands. Here the high flanks concealed them from
the view of those above. After one sharp glance around by Niltci,
both ran at full speed along the base. Up and up at a gentle slant for
some half a mile the sand drift led them, until they had arrived at the
foot of the lava flow where it dipped down below the sands. Along its
vitrified surface they sped—and then Big John stopped and gripped
Niltci’s arm, breathing heavily. Above them on the lava slope an
apparition had appeared. A man crouched in a sort of cave mouth up
there, and he bore a rifle in his hands. He waved energetically to Big
John to get under cover at once.
“Ef that ain’t Sid you can call me a tin-horn gent!” gasped Big John.
“Whoopee, Sid! Keep down!—Look out, watch yourself!” he yelled
out alarmedly.
His outcry was fatal. A rifle whanged out up in the cliffs above and
instantly came the sharp thud of a bullet. Big John coughed, groaned
in the inflectionless cry of the unconscious, and tumbled in a heap on
the rocks. Niltci gave one swift glance upward at the man in the
serapé who had fired, then grabbed Big John and dragged his huge
shape under the shelter of a crag. Sid had disappeared as if struck
flat, but the whip of his army carbine rang out sharply. A volley of
shots replied, coming from all over the hillside. Bullets struck the lava
apron and went whining off into space; more of them plunged down
around Niltci’s position.
Bits of granite flew in a sharp dust about him. The place was utterly
untenable. Niltci looked for a better lair, noted a little hollow in the
crags and then jumped out and exposed himself to draw their fire for
an instant. He heard shot after shot whipping out from where Sid lay,
felt the terrific smash of Mausers all around him, then he picked up
Big John and raced with him for cover. A sharp touch seared his
arm. He felt it grow paralyzed in spite of him and it let the cowman
drop violently against the rough scoriated boulders. A groan came
from Big John, showing that he still lived, then the Navaho flung
himself into the lair and rolled the great limp body in after him.
But this could not last! It was as hot a corner as man ever got into.
Sooner or later flankers from the guerrillas above would find a
position from which it could be fired into, and then nothing could
save them. Niltci raised his voice in a low Navaho’s death chant,
watching the rocks above him from a crevice in his lair, rifle poised
for instant use. He needed help badly. Finally he sent out the word
for it in a ringing call that would be understood by the Apaches, if any
were near. It would be upon their honor to respond.
An occasional desultory shot now came from Sid, up there on the
lava apron. Above on the mountain was silence, sinister, and
foreboding. The Mexicans were creeping carefully, silently downward
toward him. Presently there would be a rush of overwhelming
numbers—then death!
Niltci waited, finger on trigger, eyes alert. A slight sound and the
rolling of a stone came from somewhere above, but he could see
nothing without exposing himself to he knew not what danger. It had
been Big John who had rescued him from his own kinsmen, during
those fanatical disturbances caused by the Black Panther of the
Navaho, and Niltci would never desert him now! Coolly, resignedly,
he awaited that final rush that would be the end of them both.
A rapid movement and the flinging of a body down behind some
rocks sounded above him, right close now. Sid’s rifle sang out but its
bullet was too late. Relentlessly they were closing in!
A low groan sounded below Niltci. He glanced back out of the corner
of his eye and saw that Big John’s eyes were open. His face was
livid, drawn and gray, but he was turning feebly on his side and
fumbling at the big revolver strapped to his thigh.
“Watch yoreself—Injun—I’m gyardin’—yore rear,” muttered the
cowman hoarsely.
Niltci felt better. Big John was alive and could shoot, anyhow! He
moved to a new position where he could command more of the rocks
above. White-clad figures dodged instantly out of sight behind rocks
as he appeared. They were all quite near him, not over forty yards
off. All that was needed was some signal to precipitate a concerted
rush. Niltci looked about him for help again. Only the silent lava wall
and the surety that Sid was on watch up there gave him any hope at
all. Well, it would soon come! All he hoped for was the chance of a
few shots from the repeater before one of these buzzing Mauser
bullets brought final oblivion.
And then, far above on the mountain side, sounded the rapid belling
of a hound!
Ruler! Scotty was coming, and he would take them all in the rear!
Niltci fingered his trigger eagerly as the musical notes floated nearer
and nearer: “Come, white boy! Come!” he sang, in urgent Navaho
chanting.
A heavy repeating rifle opened up, its familiar cannonlike roars
sounding sweet in the Indian lad’s ears. That .405 could outrange
anything on the mountain, and Scotty was a dead shot!
Yells and cries broke out all around him above. Men rose bewildered
while Niltci emptied his repeater and Sid’s rifle spoke rapidly, shot
after shot from the lava. The guerrillas were breaking, running. Like
snakes they were creeping off to new points, out of reach of that
heavy .405 whose bullets split the granite where they struck!
Niltci felt that the psychological moment for attack had come. This
whole movement was bearing off to the left now, the only place
where the guerrillas could be safe from fire above and below. He
leaped forward, darting from cover to cover and firing at every sight
of a white figure among the rocks. Behind him he heard ringing
Apache war whoops, and, looking back, saw the whole lava slope
covered with buckskin-clad figures that had come from he knew not
where. In a moment more his own mountain flank had swallowed
them all up. Niltci gave a single answering cry and pressed on.
Then he stopped, his heart stricken dead with sudden alarm, for a
whirl of objurgations in Spanish raged below him and he saw a
serapé-clad figure racing along under the crags of the base, headed
straight for where Big John lay concealed! Niltci turned and flung
himself down the mountain, exposing himself recklessly. To get to
the wounded Big John before this demon could finish him—ah, might
the Great Mystery lend him wings! In three leaps he had reached the
rocks above the lair. He jumped out, rifle at shoulder, unmindful of
anything but not to be too late. Niltci got one glimpse of Vasquez,
standing with rifle poised, his eyes glaring with surprise, for instead
of Sid—the boy with the Red Mesa plaque—Big John lay facing him,
lying on his side, cool resolution shining steadfastly in his eyes, the
big revolver poised in a hand that nevertheless shook with
weakness.
But before either of them could pull trigger a war bow twanged
resonantly and the swift flash of an arrow swept across Niltci’s face.
He saw Vasquez tottering, faltering, and crumpling slackly; heard the
rifle and the revolver bellow out together—and then a tall Apache
chief stood before him, breathing laboredly, his eyes flashing the wild
fire of war. Niltci held his ground and his rifle half raised. Peace or
war with this chief, the Navaho boy faced him undaunted and Niltci
was going to defend that place to the last! Below him was the little
rocky lair where lay Big John, silent, face downward.
The Apache raised his hand in the peace sign. “Navaho, thou art a
brave man! He that risks his life for a friend!” he dropped his arm
significantly as if to say that no higher test of character existed.
“Come; my young men pursue them, and none shall escape. Let us
take this white man where his wounds can be cared for, my brother.”
Just at that instant Sid came around the rocks about the lava lair. For
a moment he stood looking, first at Big John lying silent as death,
then at Niltci sitting dazedly and weak on the ground. His eyes
glanced only once at the huddled figure of Vasquez.
“Oh! oh!—Big John! Is he dead!” he cried, the sudden catch of a sob
in his voice.
He went over quickly to Big John and felt under his shirt. Then he
looked up, worried, anxious, but hope shone in his eyes. “He’s alive,
Chief! But we must act quickly, for he’s losing blood fast. Help me,
Honanta,” cried Sid urgently.
Together they got at the wound. That Mauser had plunged
downward, smashing through the shoulder at a slant; tipped a lung,
as the red froth on Big John’s lips showed, and had come out in a
jagged tear below the big muscle on his chest. He breathed
laboredly and his eyes were still closed. Sid shook his head and
there were tears in his own eyes. To lose Big John, that faithful,
devoted old friend who had raised him and Scotty from cubdom, had
been with them on a dozen expeditions, a thousand hunts—it was
unbelievable!
“I’ve seen worse. My medicine men can cure him!” said Honanta
cheerily. “We shall bring him to our village, and all will be well. My
son, your friends are our friends! They have done well!”
“Thank you, Honanta,” said Sid, simply. “I have yet one more thing to
ask you to do, and then this whole business will come out all right.”
“And that is?” asked the chief, smiling.
“To come with me and meet my father,” said Sid earnestly.
“Ai!—I shall go with you soon! But first, where is my son, Hano? Not
yet have I heard his war cry,” replied Honanta anxiously.
Niltci turned from his guard of the place and approached the chief.
“He came to us, Apache. He led us to these mountains. Then came
the Mexicanos. We were to run them a race away into the desert
with our fast horses. But they saw sheep on the mountain. They
started killing them—ugh, but it was a slaughter sickening to see!
More than many, many white men could eat, they shot! Then rose up
your son, Hano, out of ambush and cursed them, as I too would
have done. He fired my rifle at them, killing many horses. When the
shells were all gone he left us. That is all I know.”
“Who does know what became of Hano, then, Niltci?” inquired Sid
eagerly.
The Navaho pointed to the silent figure of Big John.
“Hai!” breathed Honanta’s deep voice. “He must live! I must know
what has happened to my son! If he died, it was as a great chief
should die, for his people. If he lives, this white man shall tell us and
my best trackers shall seek for him. Come!”
They all picked up the inanimate form of Big John and carried him
slowly along the lava apron brink. From afar came the occasional
crack of a rifle. The chase had gone a long distance to the westward.
Once they heard the bellow of Scotty’s .405 from far down beyond
the knoll. The peculiar volume of it was unmistakable, easily told
from the sharper whip of the Mausers. Sid would have liked to join
him, but his duty now was to see Big John under competent care. He
had great faith in those Apache medicine bundles. There were
healing herbs in them that the Indians alone knew; not all their
“medicine” was sorcery and meaningless medicine dances, for in the
treatment of wounds they were wonderful.
Up the steep ascent and through the sulphur-fumed reaches of the
cave tunnel they bore Big John. When he had been laid on a couch
in the medicine lodge and the old men had set to work at his
wounds, Sid called Niltci to him.
“I want to show you this Red Mesa, Niltci,” he said, “for my heart is
heavy within me. We can do no further good here.”
Together they went out into the little valley, Niltci’s cries of pleasure
over its isolation and peace as detail after detail of it was grasped by
his keen Indian mind singing in Sid’s ears. It made him even more
depressed. What would Scotty’s reaction to all this be? Scotty, the
practical, hard-headed engineer, who would no doubt hop on this
mine with a howl of delight and pooh-pooh any suggestion of
abandoning it to the Apaches as their home. The first white man who
staked out a claim here owned it. These Indians had no rights. How
could he reconcile Gold with Nature in Scotty’s mind—dissuade him
from taking his civic rights, for the sake of this people?
Sid wanted to have his mind made up before they set out to join
Scotty. He watched Niltci as they came opposite the mine fissure.
The Navaho boy stopped with another exclamation of pleasure. He
was an expert silversmith himself, and he recognized the metal
instantly amid the dull copper. But in Niltci’s eyes there showed no
hint of possessing it, of taking this whole mine for himself. This metal
was for all, the gift of Mother Earth to the whole tribe, according to
his training. He would be just as welcome to set up his forge here
and smelt all the silver he wanted as the Apaches were to make
arrow tips of the copper. He told Sid this artless viewpoint as the
latter questioned him, seeking light in his perplexity.
Sid shook his head. How different from Scotty’s idea! A claim that
gave exclusive ownership; vast engineering works; ships; an
organization that would take all this metal for one man’s enrichment
—that was the white man’s way!
“Come, we must go find Scotty, Niltci,” said Sid despondently,
leading him away.
Honanta bid them good-by, assuring them that Big John was doing
well. Sid went down the cave tunnel feeling like a traitor. His worst
problem was still ahead of him, he thought.
But the Great Mystery had planned otherwise, in His inscrutable
ways. For, when they reached the lair where Big John had fallen,
Vasquez was gone! Honanta’s arrow had not killed him; he had been
simply feigning death while they were working over Big John!
CHAPTER XI
GOLD VERSUS NATURE
“HOW goes it, Big John?” asked Sid cheerily, coming into the
medicine lodge the morning after the big fight.
“Bad breath, worse feet—I’m mostly carrion, I reckon,” smiled Big
John weakly from his bandages. “All-same turkey-buzzard.”
Sid laughed gayly. There was no quenching the giant Montanian’s
humor so long as the breath of life existed in him! “Guess you’re
better, all right!” he answered, relieved.
“Whar’s my dear friend, Mister Spigotty?” inquired Big John with
elaborate sarcasm. “Last I seen of him, he was fixin’ to turn loose a
machine-gun onto me.”
“We’re still worrying about him, John,” replied Sid seriously. “He got
away. The chief’s arrow took him just as he was about to pull trigger
on you, but I think that loose serapé he wore saved him. An arrow
just loses its punch in it. Anyway, he was only playing ’possum while
we were fixing you up, thinking he was done for. We haven’t seen
the last of him by a long shot. Ever hear the fate of the Enchanted
Mesa, John? That’s what’s worrying me now.”
“Yaas,” said Big John, slowly. “Earthquake shook down the trail up to
her, didn’t it? Then the hull tribe up thar jest nat’rally starved to
death.”
“That’s what the ethnologists proved when they finally got up on
Enchanted Mesa,” agreed Sid. “The Indian legend persisted that a
tribe had once been marooned up on that sheer-walled stronghold.
No one believed it was more than a legend until the mesa was
visited by an aeroplane or something and then they found the ruins
of an old pueblo. Did you ever think, John, that this cave of ours is
the only gate to Red Mesa? If Vasquez blows that up with dynamite
we’re all doomed to starve here—another Enchanted Mesa!”
“Yaas,” sighed Big John, wearily. “But Vasquez shuts hisself out’n his
own mine, that way, though. An’ whar’s yore dynamite?”
“He’ll have some. Sure about that,” said Sid, confidently. “A man
doesn’t go mining without it nowadays. And then, here’s the dickens
of it: he can’t do anything about this mine with us around, see? But, if
he can shut us up here, all he’s got to do then is to hang around—
and let Nature do the rest! We’ll all starve. See? Diabolical idea, eh?
But that’s the cold, cruel, Spanish logic of it, see?”
“Nice hombre!” growled Big John. “Take me out thar, boys, whar I kin
see thet cave mouth, and lay the old meat gun beside me—he won’t
do no sech thing.”
“You lie still!” Sid soothed him. “Honanta knows about it. He’s got
scouts outlying all around the cave mouth.”
“Take me out thar!” insisted Big John. “I ain’t trustin’ no Injuns whar
you boys is concerned! Hyar! Put me under a brush shade at the top
of that lava dam, whar I can see the cave mouth. ’Twill do me good
and give me a job of work!” he urged.
Sid quieted him. “You couldn’t even lift a six-gun, now, old settler! Lie
still. Just as soon as you can be moved we’ll set you out there, if it
will ease your mind.”
Big John sank back, satisfied, as most sick men are, with a promise.
After a time he raised his head again.
“Whar’s Scotty, Sid?”
“I don’t know,” replied Sid, shortly. He shrugged his shoulders and
remained silent, his eyes averted.
Big John regarded him keenly for some time. “You boys been
quarrelin’, without yore old unkel to go settin’ in the game?” he
asked, trenchantly.
“Yes. You see it’s this way,” broke out Sid impulsively. “Scotty’s all for
staking out this mine and filing a government claim on it. I couldn’t
get him to see it my way, so we—well, we had a row over it,” said
Sid. His voice told Big John how it hurt him to have anything come
up between himself and such an old chum as Scotty.
“What’s yore idee, son?” asked Big John curiously.
“Haven’t these Indians any rights?” burst out Sid impetuously.
“Whose mine is it if not theirs? It’s common property with them,
though, just as are the beans they raise and the game they shoot.
Along comes Scotty and thinks because he’s a white man he has a
right to stake a claim and take the whole thing for himself. And our
government will give it to him, too—that’s the pity of it! Did he find it?
I guess not! And it’s their home, too! Are we going to turn them out?”
The fire in Sid’s voice told Big John how hot had been that argument
between the friends. All this was, no doubt, Sid’s side of it.
“If Honanta knew what Scotty was really set on doing not one of us
would leave here alive,” went on Sid, bitterly. “I’ve a good mind to tell
him! Anything, sooner than be a party to rank treachery like that!”
“Scotty’s mother’s pretty hard up, ain’t she, Sid?” asked Big John
softly.
“Ye-es; a little discomfort, maybe, until he can land a good job. But
for that he’s going to turn this whole tribe out, to wander at the mercy
of our government—and you know what that is!”
“Sho! The mine’d pay enough to buy them a reservation big enough
to support them all in the style in which they is accustomed to!”
laughed Big John, weakly, “nawthin’ to it, son.”
“That’s what Scotty says,” replied Sid. “Some day it will pay enough,
maybe—if the promoters don’t skin him out of all his rights in the
mine first. But meanwhile, what about these Indians and those white
miners who will surely come here? Whisky, debauchery of their
women, degradation of their young men—isn’t it always the story
when our two races come together? How can you prevent it?” he
demanded.
Big John shook his head. It was all too perplexing to him, in his
present weakened state.

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