On a starry night, the sky is full with great beauty and splendor. As one of the oldest sciences in history, astronomy has sparkled from interest in studying the stars, the planets, and the Universe as a whole. It has evolved from a view greatly affected by mythology, into a modern view which applies the scientific method. This book provides the general non-specialized reader a thorough introduction to the beautiful science of Astronomy. The contents in this book have developed from a set of lecture materials, collected through nine years of teaching an undergraduate course in astronomy at...