The aim of the inaugural meeting of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics was to address, in a global context, the current understanding of and challenges in high-energy emissions from isolated and non-isolated neutron stars, and to confront the theoretical picture with observations of both the Fermi satellite and the currently operating ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. Participants have also discussed the prospects for possible observations with planned instruments across the multi-wavelength spectrum (e.g. SKA, LOFAR, E-VLT, IXO, CTA) and how they will impact our theoretical understanding of these systems.
In keeping with the goals of the Forum, this book not only represents the proceedings of the meeting, but also a reflection on the state-of-the-art in the topic.

Some twenty-three years after the discovery of pulsars and their identification as rotating neutron stars, neutron star physics may be regarded as comingofage. Pul sars and accreting neutron stars have now been studied at every wavelength, from the initial radio observations, through optical, X-, and "{-ray, up to the very recent observations in the TeV region, while theorists have studied in some detail relevant physical processes both outside and inside neutron stars. As a result, comparisonof theory with observation provides a test ofour theoretical ideas in fields as diverse as neutron and nuclear matter, superfluidity and superconductivity, the acceleration of high energy particles, and the generation and maintenance of intense magnetic fields. For example, through observations of glitches and post glitch behavior of pulsars, it has become possible to establish the presence ofsuperfluid neutron mat ter in the inner crust of neutron stars, and to determine some of its properties, while neutron stars in compact binary systems offer one ofthe most efficient energy generation mechanisms known. It is in fact the interactive interpretation of these, diverse pieces of information that can lead to major advances in our understanding of the physics of these exotic objects, and justifies the characterization of neutron stars as hadron physics laboratories."

This textbook presents the established sciences of optical, infrared, and radio astronomy as distinct research areas, focusing on the science targets and the constraints that they place on instrumentation in the different domains. It aims to bridge the gap between specialized books and practical texts, presenting the state of the art in different techniques. For each type of astronomy, the discussion proceeds from the orders of magnitude for observable quantities that drive the building of instrumentation and the development of advanced techniques. The specific telescopes and detectors are then presented, together with the techniques used to measure fluxes and spectra. Finally, the instruments and their limits are discussed to assist readers in choice of setup, planning and execution of observations, and data reduction. The volume also includes worked examples and problem sets to improve student understanding; tables and figures in chapters su mmarize the state of the art of instrumentation and techniques.

The question of a possible temporal variation of the fundamental constants was raised by Paul Dirac in his "large number hypothesis" in 1937. Today it appears in the context of the search for a unified theory of the fundamental interactions. It touches both fundamental and applied physics, as the postulate of the unalterability of the constants is the foundation for modern metrology. The book presents reviews written by leading experts in the field. Focussing on the question of variations of the fundamental "constants" in time or space, the chapters cover the theoretical framework in which variations are expected and the search for variations of quantities like the fine-structure constant, the electron/proton mass ratio, g-factors of proton and neutron etc. in astrophysical and geophysical observations and in precision experiments with atomic clocks and frequency standards.

The work developed in this thesis addresses very important and relevant issues of accretion processes around black holes. Beginning by studying the time variation of the evolution of inviscid accretion discs around black holes and their properties, the author investigates the change of the pattern of the flows when the strength of the shear viscosity is varied and cooling is introduced. He succeeds to verify theoretical predictions of the so called Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) solution of the accretion problem onto black holes through numerical simulations under different input parameters. TCAF solutions are found to be stable. And thus explanations of spectral and timing properties (including Quasi-Period Oscillations, QPOs) of galactic and extra-galactic black holes based on shocked TCAF models appear to have a firm foundation.

Gamma-ray astronomy began in the mid-1960s with balloon satellite, and, at very high photon energies, also with ground-based instruments. However, the most significant progress was made in the last decade of the 20th century, when the tree satellite missions SIGMA, Compton, and Beppo-Sax gave a completely new picture of our Universe and made gamma-ray astronomy an integral part of astronomical research. This book, written by well-known experts, gives the first comprehensive presentation of this field of research, addressing both graduate students and researchers. Gamma-ray astronomy helps us to understand the most energetic processes and the most violent events in the Universe. After describing cosmic gamma-ray production and absorption, the instrumentation used in gamma-ray astronomy is explained. The main part of the book deals with astronomical results, including the somewhat surprising result that the gamma-ray sky is continuously changing.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the Fourth Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Espanola de Astronomfa, SEA). The meeting was held at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Galicia from September 11 to 14, 2000. The event brought together 156 participants who pre- sented their latest results in many different subjects. In comparison with the previous scientific meetings of the Society, the numbers of oral talks and poster contributions (95 and 51, respectively) are rapidly increasing, confirming that the SEA conferences are becoming a point of reference to assess the interests and achievements of astrophysical research in Spain. During the meeting, the SEA made public the granting of the Prize to the Best Spanish Ph. D. Thesis in As- tronomy and Astrophysics for the period 1998-1999 to Dr. H. Socas. This is the first time that the SEA is awarding this prize, which aim is to encourage young spanish astrophysicists to pursue a high level scientific career. The Society is indebted to the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, and, in particular, to the Observatorio Astronomico Ramon Marfa Aller, for its hospi- tality. The Local Organizing Committee took care of all the logistics details to ensure a nice stay for all the participants. The effort of the Scientific Organizing Committee was decisive in determining the organizational and scientific success of the meeting.

This text records the recent events in the development of astrometry. The results of space missions in astrometry, Hipparcos and some results from the Hubble Space telescope are presented. Combined with ground-based results, this provides astrometry results at milliarcsecond resolution. At the same time, the extragalactic reference frame, based on very long baseline interferometry radio positions, is being introduced as the fundamental reference frame. It is now also evident that future optical interferometry space missions can provide an additional improvement in future of orders of magnitude. In addition to presenting the results, the text also discusses different applications based on such accurate astrometric positions.

This book will bring together experts in the field of astronomical photometry to discuss how their subfields provide the precision and accuracy in astronomical energy flux measurements that are needed to permit tests of astrophysical theories. Differential photometers and photometry, improvements in infrared precision, theimprovements in precision and accuracy of CCD photometry, the absolute calibration of flux, the development of the Johnson UBVRI photometric system and other passband systems to measure and precisely classify specific types of stars and astrophysical quantities, and the current capabilities of spectrophotometry, and polarimetry to provide precise and accurate data, will all be discussed in this volume. The discussion of differential or two-star photometers will include those developed for planetary as well as stellar photometry and will range from the Princeton polarizing photometer through the pioneering work of Walraven to the differential photometers designed to measure the ashen light of Venus and to counter the effects of aurorae at high latitude sites; the last to be discussed will be the Rapid Alternate Detection System (RADS) developed at the University of Calgary in the 1980s."

Les deuxiernes "Rencontres de l'Observatoire", qui ont eu lieu a l'Observatoire de Paris a Meudon du 10 au 14 Janvier 2000, ont reuni autour du theme "Problernes ernergents en physique de I'espace" 120 physiciens et astrophysiciens venus d'une vingtaine de pays differents. Nous avons voulu honorer a cette occasion Jean-Louis Steinberg pour ses con- tributions majeures a la recherche spatiale, ala radioastronomie et a la physique de I'espace. L'approche explicitement pluridisciplinaire de ce colloque, qui ne s'est pas laisse confiner dans les limites etroites de la physique spatiale ni dans celles imposees par certains programmes officiels, suit l'esprit de sa carriere scientifique: sortir des limites des sujets deja etudies ou sur Ie point de l'etre, et appliquer les connaissances acquises pour explorer de nouveaux domaines. Ce dernier quart de siecle a vu une croissance vertigineuse des performances spatiales. La technologie moderne ne perrnet pas encore de jongler avec les univers comme Ie prestidigitateur de Grandville (Grandville, Un autre monde, ed. H. Four- nier, Paris, 1844); mais quelques decades ont suffi pour voir des instruments soph- istiques explorer les frontieres du systerne solaire, et la cornmunaute de la recher- che spatiale a depasse rapidement Ie sujet etroit de I'environnement soleil-terre pour s'interesser a I'ensemble de l'heliosphere, OU les memes processus physiques sont a I'ceuvre.

This is a comprehensive book, easily accessible to those who have a fairly good knowledge of special relativity and electromagnetic theory. It is ideal for introducing students to the study of gravitation and relativity following a modern presentation.

On September 15, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft sent its final transmission to the Earth as it entered the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its historic 13 year mission at the ringed planet. This book is a beautifully illustrated journey of discovery through the Saturn system. Cassini's instruments have revealed never seen before details, including the only extraterrestrial lakes known in the solar system, and have provided unprecedented views of the rings, moons, and the planet itself. Results from Cassini's dramatic Grand Finale of ring-grazing and planet-skimming orbits are included in this expanded and updated second edition. Saturn is the jewel of the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft has been exploring the ringed planet and its moons and rings since 2004 and has helped us solve many of its mysteries while generating a wealth of new questions. Cassini has observed the bizarre mountains of Iapetus, the geysers of Enceladus, the lakes of Titan, and the dynamic and evolving rings. Along the way, this book explores and explains the fundamental processes that shape not just the Saturn system, but planets and moons in general. Written for the general audience with an emphasis on the fundamental physics of planetary systems, The Ringed Planet is a fascinating exploration of the Saturn system that places Saturn in the context of the solar system as a whole. Cassini's instruments have revealed Enceladus and Titan to have subsurface oceans of liquid water. Its cameras have returned stunning images of rings in turmoil, a tumbling moon, the only extraterrestrial lakes known in the solar system, a hexagon of clouds, some of the highest mountains in the solar system and much more. More than a journey of discovery at Saturn, The Ringed Planet is also an introduction to how planetary systems work.

Black hole gravitohydromagnetics (GHM) is developed from the rudiments to the frontiers of research in this book. GHM describes plasma interactions that combine the effects of gravity and a strong magnetic field, in the vicinity (ergosphere) of a rapidly rotating black hole. This topic was created in response to the astrophysical quest to understand the central engines of radio loud extragalactic radio sources. The theory describes a "torsional tug of war" between rotating ergospheric plasma and the distant asymptotic plasma that extracts the rotational inertia of the black hole. The recoil from the struggle between electromagnetic and gravitational forces near the event horizon is manifested as a powerful pair of magnetized particle beams (jets) that are ejected at nearly the speed of light.

This second edition of the book is updated throughout and contains a completely new chapter discussing state of the art and results of numerical simulations of ergospheric disk jets occurring in magnetohydrodynamic accretion flows.

The nature of dark matter remains one of the preeminent mysteries in physics and cosmology. It appears to require the existence of new particles whose interactions to ordinary matter are extraordinarily feeble. One well-motivated candidate is the axion, an extraordinarily light neutral particle that may possibly be detected by looking for their conversion to detectable microwaves in the presence of a strong magnetic field. This has led to a number of experimental searches that are beginning to probe plausible axion model space and may discover the axion in the near future. These proceedings discuss the challenges of designing and operating tunable resonant cavities and detectors at ultralow temperatures. The topics discussed here have potential application far beyond the field of dark matter detection and may be applied to resonant cavities for accelerators as well as designing superconducting detectors for quantum information and computing applications. This work is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in learning the unique requirements for designing and operating microwave cavities and detectors for direct axion searches and to introduce several proposed experimental concepts that are still in the prototype stage.

This unique volume contains the proceedings of two "Non-Sleeping Universe" conferences: "Stars and the ISM" and "From Galaxies to the Horizon." The book provides an overview of recent developments in a variety of areas, covering a very wide range of spatial and temporal scales.

This interdisciplinary meeting has brought together a group of astrophysicists with hands-on experience in the numerical computation of astrophysical fluid dynamics, in particular nonlinear stellar pulsations, and a group of applied mathematicians who are actively engaged with the development of novel and improved numerical methods. The goal of the workshop has been for the astrophysicists to discuss in detail the numerical problems encountered in the modelling of stellar pulsations and for the mathematicians to present a survey of recent developments in numerical techniques. This astrophysical-mathematical intercourse will help the astrophysicists in the future development of more reliable and efficient codes, on the one hand, and it has introduced the mathematicians to an unfamiliar area which is a tough testing ground for their techniques. Since the difficulties encountered are common to other fluid dynamics problems, and are in fact perhaps more severe, fluid dynamicists in other research areas may fmd the results of this workshop of interest as well. Much of our theoretical understanding of the intricate and interesting behavior of variable stars rests on our ability to perform accurate numerical hydrodynamical computations of stellar models. Extensive calculations of nonlinear radial stellar pulsations with the use of increasingly powerful computers are showing more and more clearly that the numerical codes in current use have serious deficiencies.

Maverick's Earth and Universe is about the true nature of Earth and Universe, and the way science should work, including a methodology more fundamental than the so-called scientific method.

The SECCHI A and B instrument suites (Howard et al. , 2006) onboard the two STEREO mission spacecraft (Kaiser, 2005) are each composed of: one Extreme Ultra-Violet Imager (EUVI), two white-light coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), and two wide-angle heliospheric imagers (HI1 and HI2). Technical descriptions of EUVI, COR1 and the HIs can be found in Wuelser et al. (2004), Thompson et al. (2003), and De?se et al. (2003), respectively. The images produced by SECCHI represent a data visualization challenge: i) the images are 2048x2048 pixels (except for the HIs, which are usually binned onboard 2x2), thus the vast majority of computer displays are not able to display them at full frame and full r- olution, and ii) more importantly, the ?ve instruments of SECCHI A and B were designed to be able to track Coronal Mass Ejections from their onset (with EUVI) to their pro- gation in the heliosphere (with the HIs), which implies that a set of SECCHI images that covers the propagation of a CME from its initiation site to the Earth is composed of im- ?1 ages with very different spatial resolutions - from 1. 7 arcsecondspixel for EUVI to 2. 15 ?1 arcminutespixel for HI2, i. e. 75 times larger. A similar situation exists with the angular scales of the physical objects, since the size of a CME varies by orders of magnitude as it expands in the heliosphere.

IAU Symposium 172 Dynamics, Ephemerides and Astrometry of the Solar System was held in Paris in July, 1995. 250 scientists from 33 countries attended the symposium; 24 invited lectures and 165 contributed papers were presented (117 of which were posters). The papers covered topics on celestial mechanics (chaos and evolution of the solar system, asteroids, theories of the motion of the planets, the moon and the natural satellites), methods (symplectic mappings and elliptic functions), astrometry (CCD observations, VLBI and radar observations), ephemerides (representation and numerical integration) and on the history of celestial mechanics.

The information received from BeppoSAX, Chandra and other instruments in the last two years has more than doubled the number of samples of Gamma-Ray Bursts localized and followed up for afterglow search. This has also increased the interest of astronomers in GRBs. This book reviews the research of the last two years and covers the global properties of GRBs, GRB afterglows, GRB host galaxies, cosmology using GRBs, and theories for GRBs and their afterglows. Theoretical and observational aspects are presented as well as tools for the analysis of the data.

This volume is composed of extensive and detailed notes from the lectures given at the 40th Karpacz Winter School. This school focussed on quantum gravity phenomenology with emphasis on its relation to observational astrophysics and cosmology. These notes have been carefully edited with the aim to give advanced students and young researchers a balanced and accessible introduction to a rather heavily mathematical subject.

This volume covers different aspects of recent theoretical and observational work on magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma-physical process by which energy stored in magnetic field is converted, often explosively, into heat and kinetic energy. This collection of papers from the fields of solar and space physics, astrophysics, and laboratory plasma physics is especially timely in view of NASA's upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, which will use Earth's magetosphere as a laboratory to test, through in-situ measurement of the plasma, energetic particles, and electric and magnetic fields, the various and sometimes competing models and theories of magnetic reconnection.
This volume is aimed at researchers in solar physics, magnetospheric physics and plasma physics.
Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 160/1-4, 2011.

Astronomy is a scienti?c discipline that has developed a rapid and impressive growth in Spain. Thirty years ago, Spain occupied a purely anecdotal presence in the international context, but today it occupies the eighth position in the world in publication of astronomical articles, and, among other successes, owns and op- ates ninety per cent of the world's largest optical telescope GTC (Gran Telescopio Canarias). The Eighth Scienti?c Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Espanol a de Astronom a, SEA), held in Santander in July 7-11 2008, whose p- ceedings are in your hands, clearly shows the enthusiasm, motivation and quality of the present Spanish astronomical community. The event brought together 322 participants, who represent almost 50% of Spanish professional astronomers. This percentage, together with the continuously increasing, with respect to previous SEA meetings, number of oral presentations and poster contributions (179 and 127 respectively), con?rms that the SEA conferences have become a point of reference to assess the interests and achievements of astrophysical research in Spain. The most important and current topics of modern Astrophysics were taken into accountat thepreliminarymeeting, aswell as the numberandqualityofparticipants and their contributions, to select the invited speakers and oral contributors. We took a week to enjoy the high quality contributions submitted by Spanish astronomers to the Scienti?c Organizing Committee. The selection was dif?cult. We wish to acknowledge the gentle advice and commitment of the SOC members."

The objective of this workshop was to put together observational and theoretical works on outflows from different kinds of astrophysical objects, occurring on different scales and at various evolutionary phases, and to discuss the impact of observations from future space missions. For the stars, we thought to follow throughout the evolution the relevance (rates and dynamical rrodes) of the mass loss phenomenon, e. g. to explain how and when massive stars loose most of their ini tial mass to end up with typical WD masses. The observations of the solar wind were included for being a unique case where the origin and propagation of the outflow can be resolved. We thought that the comparison with similar phenomena occurring in galactic outflows would be fruitful, as demonstrated by recent works on galactic winds and jets. The interest of having this workshop in Torino came because there are groups in this area, at the Astronomical Observatory and at the Institute of Physics of the University, involved in the theoretical and observational studies of outflows from astrophysical objects. The members of the Scientific Organizing Conmi ttee were: V. Castellani, C. Cesarski, P. Conti, A. Ferrari, A. Gabriel, M. Grewing, Y. Kondo, H. Lamers, V. Manno, M. Rees and R. Schilizzi. The Local Organizing Conmi ttee was: L. Bianchi, G. Massone and E. Antonucci. During the workshop the following topics were treated: the solar wind, the mass loss from cool stars and from hot stars (m. s.