Our EBooks

Our EBooks are now available for download in PDF format. EBooks are ideally suited for self-study.
Click on the icon in the column "Run" in the table below to open the EBook in a separate tab.

Title	Run
Click on icon in column Run	The EBook will open in a separate tab
Matariki 3.3	The heliacal rising of the open star cluster Pleiades and how that relates to the New Year celebrations of the New Zealand Māori
	The Distance Series
Parallax & Proper Motion 6.2	We discuss the first method on the Cosmic Distance ladder, the method of Parallax. We also explain that the effect of Proper Motion of stars cannot be observed independently and must be removed from the observations mathematically.
Magnitude & Distance 3.0	We discuss in detail the relationship between brightness, luminosity and distance of celestial objects, including the Distance Modulus.
Galactic Distance 6.2	We discuss the distance measurement techniques of Main Sequence Fitting, and we discuss Cepheid variables, RR Lyrae variables as well as type 1A supernovae as Standard Candles. We review some major breakthroughs in cosmology that have resulted from these techniques.
Distance in an Expanding Universe 6.2	We discuss how astronomers determine the largest distances in space, how that relates to cosmological redshift, and importantly, what the meaning is of "distance" in an expanding Universe. Finally we define the concept of Observable Universe.