With the development of nuclear physics the theory of the stellar interior entered a new phase. Many new investigations have been conducted and the results published in a variety of specialized media. This book brings these results together in a single volume and summarizes the present status of the theory of stellar evolution. Originally published in 1958. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In this approachable and fascinating biography of the galaxy, an astrophysicist and folklorist details everything humans have discovered—from the Milky Way's formation to its eventual death, and what else there is to learn about the universe we call home.

After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it.

It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love.

After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world.

Massive stars play a crucial role in the Universe: they are important drivers for the photometric and chemical evolution of galaxies; they are sources of important elements, including those necessary for life; and, with their strong winds and supernova explosions, they feed the interstellar medium with momentum and kinetic energy, impacting on the star formation rate. Knowledge of the evolution of massive stars is important not only for stellar physics, but also for probing the evolution of galaxies and their star formation histories throughout cosmic time. This volume provides an introduction to these topics and to the techniques used to investigate the properties of massive stars, including asteroseismology, spectropolarimetry, and interferometry. It highlights synergies between these new techniques and more classical methods, to create a synthetic view of massive stars, leading researchers towards new and innovative solutions to the most topical questions regarding the evolution of massive stars.

Could Einstein have possibly anticipated directly testing the most captivating prediction of general relativity, that there exist isolated pockets of spacetime shielded completely from our own? Now, almost a century after that theory emerged, one of the world's leading astrophysicists presents a wealth of recent evidence that just such an entity, with a mass of about three million suns, is indeed lurking at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way--in the form of a supermassive ''black hole''

With this superbly illustrated, elegantly written, nontechnical account of the most enigmatic astronomical object yet observed, Fulvio Melia captures all the excitement of the growing realization that we are on the verge of actually seeing this exotic object within the next few years.

Melia traces our intellectual pilgrimage to the ''brooding behemoth'' at the heart of the Milky Way. He describes the dizzying technological advances that have recently brought us to the point of seeing through all the cosmic dust to a dark spot in a clouded cluster of stars in the constellation Sagittarius. Carefully assembling the compelling circumstantial evidence for its black hole status, he shows that it is primed to reveal itself as a glorious panorama of activity within this decade--through revolutionary images of its ''event horizon'' against the bright backdrop of nearby, radiating gas.

Uniquely, this book brings together a specific and fascinating astronomical subject--black holes--with a top researcher to provide both amateur and armchair astronomers, but also professional scientists seeking a concise overview of the topic, a real sense of the palpable thrill in the scientific community when an important discovery is imminent.

Every atom of our bodies has been part of a star. In this lively and compact introduction, astrophysicist Andrew King reveals how the laws of physics force stars to evolve, driving them through successive stages of maturity before their inevitable and sometimes spectacular deaths, to end as remnants such as black holes. The book shows how we know what stars are made of, how gravity forces stars like the Sun to shine by transmuting hydrogen into helium in their centers, and why this stage is so long-lived and stable. Eventually the star ends its life in one of just three ways, and much of its enriched chemical content is blasted into space in its death throes. Every dead star is far smaller and denser than when it began, and we see how astronomers can detect these stellar corpses as pulsars and black holes and other exotic objects. King also shows how astronomers now use stars to measure properties of the Universe, such as its expansion. Finally, the book asks how it is that stars form in the first place, and how they re-form out of the debris left by stars already dead. These birth events must also be what made planets, not only in our solar system, but around a large fraction of all stars.

This book is a graduate-level text covering the fundamental physics and chemistry required for a modern understanding of the interstellar medium. Radiation mechanisms are comprehensively presented, and extensive examples are drawn from observations in the X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, mm/sub mm, and radio observations. This book goes beyond a phenomenological study of the interstellar medium to give a detailed quantitative treatment of the radiative and dynamical interactions between stars and the interstellar medium. With an emphasis on a physical understanding of these processes, the mathematical derivations are clean, elegant and easily understandable by anyone with an undergraduate background in physics.

Embark on an awe-inspiring and informative journey through our Solar System and beyond in this illuminating astronomy book! Discover how big the Universe is, why our view of the sky is constantly changing, what came before the Big Bang, and so much more. 3, 2, 1, blast off! Inside the pages of this comprehensive guide to astronomy for beginners, you'll discover: - Simple text and step-by-step graphics make astronomy easy to understand - Fun facts and tip-of-the-tongue questions are presented through bite-sized factoids and question-and-answer features - Clear explanations demystifying more advanced topics such as cosmic rays, dark matter, and black hole collisions An out-of-this-world reference book about space that introduces you to the weird and wonderful world of astronomy and space exploration. From the structure of the Milky Way to the Earth's nearest celestial body, the Moon, How Space Works takes you on an unforgettable tour through the stars and galaxies, and to the furthest reaches of space! Answering all your burning questions about space, from ancient white dwarf stars to the Mars Rover, this visual guide explains the basics of astronomy through bold graphics and step-by-step artworks. It's the ultimate book for armchair astronomers and space-technology enthusiasts looking for reliable and up-to-date facts and explanations. DK's How Things Work series uses dynamic graphics and jargon-free text to explain the modern world simply and clearly. Packed with fascinating facts and stats, these visual guides cover everything from science to philosophy, making complex topics more accessible than ever before!

This text describes the microscopic physics operating in stars and demonstrates how stars respond from formation, through hydrogen-burning phases, up to the onset of helium burning. Intended for beginning graduate students and senior undergraduates with a solid background in physics, it illustrates the intricate interplay between the microscopic physical processes and the stars' macroscopic responses. The volume starts with the gravitationally contracting phase which carries the star from formation to the core hydrogen-burning main sequence, through the main sequence phase, through shell hydrogen-burning phases as a red giant, up to the onset of core helium burning. Particular emphasis is placed on describing the gravothermal responses of stars to nuclear transformations in the interior and energy loss from the surface, responses which express the very essence of stellar evolution. The volume is replete with many illustrations and detailed numerical solutions to prepare the reader to program and calculate evolutionary models.

In the interstellar medium - the space between the stars in galaxies - new stars are born from material that is replenished by the debris ejected by stars when they die. This book is a comprehensive manual for studying the collisional and radiative processes observed in the interstellar medium. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and extended to cover related topics in radiation theory. It considers the chemistry of the interstellar medium both at the present epoch and in the early Universe, and discusses the physics and chemistry of shock waves. The methods of calculation of the rates of collisional excitation of interstellar molecules and atoms are explained, emphasising the quantum mechanical method. This book will be ideal for researchers involved in the interstellar medium and star formation, and physical chemists specialising in collision theory or in the measurement of the rates of collision processes.

Though astrophysicists have developed a theoretical framework for understanding how the first stars and galaxies formed, only now are we able to begin testing those theories with actual observations of the very distant, early universe. We are entering a new and exciting era of discovery that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, and this book couldn't be more timely. It covers all the basic concepts in cosmology, drawing on insights from an astronomer who has pioneered much of this research over the past two decades.

Abraham Loeb starts from first principles, tracing the theoretical foundations of cosmology and carefully explaining the physics behind them. Topics include the gravitational growth of perturbations in an expanding universe, the abundance and properties of dark matter halos and galaxies, reionization, the observational methods used to detect the earliest galaxies and probe the diffuse gas between them--and much more.

Cosmology seeks to solve the fundamental mystery of our cosmic origins. This book offers a succinct and accessible primer at a time when breathtaking technological advances promise a wealth of new observational data on the first stars and galaxies.Provides a concise introduction to cosmology Covers all the basic concepts Gives an overview of the gravitational growth of perturbations in an expanding universe Explains the process of reionization Describes the observational methods used to detect the earliest galaxies

This 2007 volume presents the lectures from the sixteenth Winter School of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, which was dedicated to extrasolar planets. Research into extrasolar planets is one of the most exciting fields of astrophysics, and the past decade has seen a research leap from speculations on the existence of planets orbiting other stars to the discovery of around 200 planets to date. The book covers a wide range of issues, from the state-of-the-art observational techniques used to detect extrasolar planets, to the characterizations of these planets, and the techniques used in the remote detection of life. It also looks at the insights we can gain from our own Solar System, and how we can apply them. The contributors, all of high-standing in the field, provide a balanced and varied introduction to extrasolar planets for research astronomers and graduate students, bridging theoretical developments and observational advances.

IAU Symposium 272 presents an overview of the latest research into active OB stars. These massive, volatile objects serve as test beds for extreme conditions, and research into them has entered a new era with the advent of new space and round-based instrumentation. In this volume, renowned experts discuss the cutting-edge observations, state-of-the-art modeling and recently developed techniques such as asteroseismology, interferometry and spectropolarimetry that have improved our understanding of these extreme objects. Asteroseismology allows us to infer the internal structure of massive stars and their rotation; high-resolution spectropolarimetry provides clues about magnetic fields and the confinement of their circumstellar environments; and interferometry probes the shape of these environments and investigates differential rotation. Written for researchers and graduate students, this volume will appeal to all those interested in extreme physical processes as tools to study structure evolution and mass loss of active OB stars.

Covering both radial and nonradial oscillations, this book includes not only a thorough treatment of the basic theory of stellar pulsation but also a comprehensive synthesis of the most recent work done in this area. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Founded in 1911, the AAVSO boasts over 1200 members and observers and is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to variable star observation. This timely book marks the AAVSO's centennial year, presenting an authoritative and accurate history of this important association. Writing in an engaging and accessible style, the authors move chronologically through five eras of the AAVSO, discussing the evolution of its structure and purpose. Throughout the text, the main focus is on the thousands of individuals whose contributions have made the AAVSO's progress possible. Describing a century of interaction between amateur and professional astronomers, the authors celebrate the collaborative relationships that have existed over the years. As the definitive history of the first hundred years of the AAVSO, this text has broad appeal and will be of interest to amateur and professional astronomers, as well as historians and sociologists of science in general.

Guiding the reader through all the stages that lead to the formation of a star such as our Sun, this advanced textbook provides students with a complete overview of star formation. It examines the underlying physical processes that govern the evolution from a molecular cloud core to a main-sequence star, and focuses on the formation of solar-mass stars. Each chapter combines theory and observation, helping readers to connect with and understand the theory behind star formation. Beginning with an explanation of the interstellar medium and molecular clouds as sites of star formation, subsequent chapters address the building of typical stars and the formation of high-mass stars, concluding with a discussion of the by-products and consequences of star formation. This is a unique, self-contained text with sufficient background information for self-study, and is ideal for students and professional researchers alike.

Ever since the first observations of sunspots in the early seventeenth century, stellar rotation has been a major topic in astronomy and astrophysics. Jean-Louis Tassoul synthesizes a large number of theoretical investigations on rotating stars. Drawing upon his own research, Professor Tassoul also carefully critiques various competing ideas. In the first three chapters, the author provides a short historical sketch of stellar rotation, the main observational data on the Sun and other stars on which the subsequent theory is based, and the basic Newtonian hydrodynamics used to study rotating stars. Following a discussion of some general mechanical properties of stars in a state of permanent rotation, he reviews the main techniques for determining the structure of a rotating star and its stability with respect to infinitesimal disturbances. Since the actual distribution of angular momentum within stars is still unknown, Professor Tassoul considers various models of angular momentum as well as of meridional circulation. He devotes the rest of his study to the problems concerning various groups of stars and stages in stellar evolution. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The distribution of elements in the cosmos provides a powerful tool to study the Big Bang, the density of baryonic matter, nucleosynthesis and the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. Covering many exciting topics in astrophysics and cosmology, this textbook, written by a pioneer of the field, provides a lucid and wide-ranging introduction to the interdisciplinary subject of galactic chemical evolution. This updated new edition includes results from recent space missions, including WMAP and FUSE, and new material on abundances from stellar populations, nebular analysis, meteoric isotopic anomalies, and abundance analysis of X-ray gas. Simple derivations for key results are provided, together with problems and helpful solution hints, enabling the student to develop an understanding of results from numerical models and real observations. This book is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and also serves as an authoritative overview for researchers and professional scientists.

Globular clusters are roughly spherical, densely packed groups of stars found around galaxies. Most globular clusters probably formed at the same time as their host galaxies. Therefore they provide a unique fossil record of the conditions during the formation and early evolution of galaxies. This volume presents a comprehensive review of globular cluster systems. It summarizes their observed properties and shows how these constrain models of the structure of stars, the formation and evolution of galaxies and globular clusters, and the age of the Universe. For graduate students and researchers, this timely volume provides the definitive reference on globular cluster systems.

Ever since the first observations of sunspots in the early seventeenth century, stellar rotation has been a major topic in astronomy and astrophysics. Jean-Louis Tassoul synthesizes a large number of theoretical investigations on rotating stars. Drawing upon his own research, Professor Tassoul also carefully critiques various competing ideas. In the first three chapters, the author provides a short historical sketch of stellar rotation, the main observational data on the Sun and other stars on which the subsequent theory is based, and the basic Newtonian hydrodynamics used to study rotating stars. Following a discussion of some general mechanical properties of stars in a state of permanent rotation, he reviews the main techniques for determining the structure of a rotating star and its stability with respect to infinitesimal disturbances. Since the actual distribution of angular momentum within stars is still unknown, Professor Tassoul considers various models of angular momentum as well as of meridional circulation. He devotes the rest of his study to the problems concerning various groups of stars and stages in stellar evolution. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

From supernovae and gamma-ray bursts to the accelerating Universe, this is an exploration of the intellectual threads that lead to some of the most exciting ideas in modern astrophysics and cosmology. This fully updated second edition incorporates new material on binary stars, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, worm-holes, quantum gravity and string theory. It covers the origins of stars and their evolution, the mechanisms responsible for supernovae, and their progeny, neutron stars and black holes. It examines the theoretical ideas behind black holes and their manifestation in observational astronomy and presents neutron stars in all their variety known today. This book also covers the physics of the twentieth century, discussing quantum theory and Einstein's gravity, how these two theories collide, and the prospects for their reconciliation in the twenty-first century. This will be essential reading for undergraduate students in astronomy and astrophysics, and an excellent, accessible introduction for a wider audience.

Found throughout the universe, variable stars are fascinating objects to observe. Their brightness changes over time and they can easily be seen with even the most basic equipment. David Levy explains how to begin electronic (or CCD) observing, as well as how to observe variable stars through a small telescope or binoculars. Featuring a section on Southern hemisphere stars, this book covers various types of objects that can be observed by amateur astronomers, including more exotic phenomena like gamma ray bursts, blazars, and polars. It will motivate anyone with even a basic interest in astronomy to begin observing variable stars.
David H. Levy is one of the most successful comet hunters in history. He has discovered twenty-one, eight of them using a telescope in his own backyard. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California, Levy discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994, and is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, based at the Jarnac Observatory in Vail, Arizona.
In addition to being the author or editor of 31 books and other products, David Levy is the Science Editor for Parade magazine and contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine and the Canadian periodical, SkyNews. Frequently interviewed in the media, he has given almost a thousand lectures and appeared on many television programs. His most recent CUP book is David Levy's Guide to Observing and Discovering Comets (Cambridge, 2003). First Edition Pb (1989) 0-521-62755-9

Radio pulsars are rapidly rotating highly magnetized neutron stars. Studies of these fascinating objects have provided applications in solid-state physics, general relativity, galactic astronomy, astrometry, planetary physics and even cosmology. Most of these applications and much of what we know about neutron stars are derived from single-dish radio observations using state-of-the-art receivers and data acquisition systems. This comprehensive 2004 book is a unique resource that brings together the key observational techniques, background information and a review of results, including the discovery of a double pulsar system. Useful software tools are provided which can be used to analyse example data, made available on a related website. This work will be of great value not only to graduate students but also to researchers wishing to carry out and interpret a wide variety of radio pulsar observations.

This book was originally published in 2004. Black holes are among the most mysterious objects in the Universe. Weighing up to several billion Suns, massive black holes have long been suspected to be the central powerhouses of energetic phenomena such as quasars. Advances in astronomy have not only provided spectacular proof of this long-standing paradigm, but have revealed the unexpected result that far from being rare, exotic beasts, they inhabit the center of virtually all large galaxies. Candidate black holes have been identified in increasingly large numbers of galaxies, both inactive and active, to the point where statistical studies are possible. Fresh work has highlighted the close connection between the formation, growth, and evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. This volume contains the invited lectures from an international symposium that was held to explore this exciting theme, and is a valuable review for professional astronomers and graduate students.

This timely book is suitable for the general reader wishing to find answers to some of the intriguing questions now being asked about black holes. Although once recognized as the most destructive force in nature, following a cascade of astonishing discoveries, the opinion of supermassive black holes has undergone a dramatic shift. Astronomers are discovering that these objects may have been critical to the formation of structure in the early universe, spawning bursts of star formation, planets, and even life itself. Fulvio Melia is Associate Head of Physics and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He is author of Electrodynamics (University of Chicago, 2001), and a forthcoming title, The Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy (Princeton).

This book covers normal galaxies, distant galaxies, studies based on far-infrared diagnostics, quasar absorption lines, and the properties of nearby galaxies. The timely volume provides an essential reference for astronomers working in the field of high-redshift galaxies. It includes the lectures delivered at the XI Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, and reviews scientific results as well as main questions in the field.