This collection of articles emerged from the Nobel Symposium 98 that celebrated the centenary of the Nobel Prize as well as the one of the famous Swedish astronomer Bertil Lindblad. Many outstanding scientists contributed to this unique review of the state of the art in barred galaxy research. Theoretical papers describe their evolution, the dynamics as well as fundamental physical effects near their nuclei. Other contributions cover numerical and observational aspects and thus represent a very active area in astrophysics. The centre of our galaxy was also amply dealt with. The collection addresses researchers as well as graduate students.

Intelligent information Retrieval comprehensively surveys scientific information retrieval, which is characterized by growing convergence of information expressed in varying complementary forms of data - textual, numerical, image, and graphics; by the fundamental transformation which the scientific library is currently being subjected to; and by computer networking which as become an essential element of the research fabric. Intelligent Information Retrieval addresses enabling technologies, so-called `wide area network resource discovery tools', and the state of the art in astronomy and other sciences. This work is essential reading for astronomers, scientists in related disciplines, and all those involved in information storage and retrieval.

The book contains the notes of the lectures presented by outstanding experts at the 7th EADN School on plasma astrophysics. It is an up-to-date review of a number of basic topics in the physics of cosmic plasmas. The subject is treated both from a theoretical point of view and from that of the observational and diagnostic tools that provide us with the physically relevant data. The reader will have at hands a comprehensive and rather complete presentation of the subject, thanks also to the parallel development of the theoretical and experimental aspects. The book addresses graduate students and researchers in different areas who want to have a rapid and up-to-date introduction to this subject.

The five lectures presented in this volume address very timely mathematical problems in relativity and cosmology. "Part I" is devoted to the initial value and evolution problems of the Einstein equations. Especially it deals with the Einstein-Yang-Mills-Boltzmann system, fluid models with finite or infinite conductivity, global evolution of a new (two-phase) model for gravitational collapse and the structure of maximal, asymptotically flat, vacuum solutions of the constraint equations which have the additional property of containing trapped surfaces. "Part II" focuses on geometrical-topological problems in relativity and cosmology: on the role of cosmic censorship for the global structure of the Einstein-Maxwell equations and on the mathematical structure of quantum conformal superspace.

Modern astronomy has been characterized by an enormous growth in data acquisition - from new technologies in telescopes, detectors, and computation. One can now compile catalogs of tens or hundreds of millions of stars or galaxies and databases from satellite-based observations are reaching terabit proportions. This wealth of data gives rise to statistical challenges not previously encountered in astronomy. This book is the result of a workshop held at Pennsylvania State University in August 1991 that brought together leading astronomers and statisticians to consider statistical challenges encountered in modern astronomical research. The chapters have all been thoroughly revised in the light of the discussions at the conference, and some of the lively discussion is recorded here as well.

Several decades have elapsed since the publication of any similar book in the German language. The lack of such a book has been felt keenly by all friends of astronomy. In our space age, astronomical knowledge arouses public interest more and more. Practical observation at the telescope depends more than anything else on such knowledge. The educational value of such a training is undisputed. On the other hand, the work of the amateur astronomer can also contribute essentially to the work of the professionals. It is from these points of view that this handbook aims to help with versatile advice. At the same time, the book intends to show the wide range of applied astronomy, as it presents itself to the friend of the stars; in mathematical-physical fields, in precision mechanics and optics, and last but not least in the area of social relations. Beyond the circle of amateur astronomers the book is addressed to lecturers, teachers, students and pupils. It wishes to serve them as a guide to "astronomical experiments," which we suggest should be performed in primary and secondary schools, specialist colleges, and extramural courses.

Due to the advent of a new generation of detectors, X-ray polarimetry promises to join X-ray imaging, spectroscopy and timing as one of the main observational techniques in high energy astrophysics. This has renewed interest in the field, and indeed several polarimetric missions have recently been proposed. This volume provides a complete and up-to-date view of the subject for researchers in astrophysics. The contributors discuss the present status and perspectives of instruments, review current theoretical models, and examine future missions. As well as detailed papers, the book contains broad reviews that can be easily understood by astrophysicists new to the field.

There have been many developments in the field of light pollution over the last few years, and this second edition of 'Light Pollution - Responses and Remedies' will introduce them in detail. Examples include the appearance of anti-light pollution legislation in various countries, new departures in lighting design, human health implications, and the growing realization among the general public that lighting is not always a good thing. In this title, author Bob Mizon discusses the various ways in which wasted artificial light has damaged the quality of modern life, and suggest solutions. This book is for anyone who has experienced glare, discomfort, or nuisance from poorly directed lights; has wondered why we waste so much money lighting the sky; or anyone who simply wants to see the stars instead of a baleful urban glow. "Light Pollution, 2nd Edition" offers practical and inexpensive solutions to the world-wide problem of wasted artificial light, and emphasizes that light pollution is not just an astronomers' problem, but affects everyone in various ways.

The first edition of this text was written primarily by one of the present authors (HAS), with a chapter on instrumentation contributed by a second (NLA). The volume was well received, and to keep the text up-to-date a second edition was planned. For this second edition, a third author (WEK) was invited, whose background complemented that of the other two. Each of the authors was assigned several chapters as his primary task while the complete manuscript remained the second ary responsibility of all three. It is hoped that this approach has resulted in a work that is even more thorough than the first edition in covering the basic concepts of infrared spectroscopy. NELSON L. ALPERT WILLIAM E. KEISER HERMAN A. SZYMANSKI v PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION My experience with the many infrared spectroscopy institutes held at Canisius College and many discussions with both beginners and experienced practitioners in infrared spectroscopy have convinced me that there is a need for an introductory text devoted entirely to infrared spectroscopy, a text which can be utilized even by those who approach this study with only a limited background. This volume sprang from that conviction. It is intended for all who wish to use infrared spec troscopy in research - especially chemists doing structural work - in routine control work, in industrial development, or in medical appli cations or those military applications where it is employed as an analytical tool.

It would seem that any specialist in plasma physics studying a medium in which the interaction between particles is as distance-dependent as the inter action between stars and other gravitating masses would assert that the role of collective effects in the dynamics of gravitating systems must be decisive. However, among astronomers this point of view has been recog nized only very recently. So, comparatively recently, serious consideration has been devoted to theories of galactic spiral structure in which the dominant role is played by the orbital properties of individual stars rather than collec tive effects. In this connection we would like to draw the reader's attention to a difference in the scientific traditions of plasma physicists and astrono mers, whereby the former have explained the delay of the onset of controlled thermonuclear fusion by the "intrigues" of collective processes in the plasma, while many a generation of astronomers were calculating star motions, solar and lunar eclipses, and a number of other fine effects for many years ahead by making excellent use of only the laws of Newtonian mechanics. Therefore, for an astronomer, it is perhaps not easy to agree with the fact that the evolution of stellar systems is controlled mainly by collective effects, and the habitual methods of theoretical mechanics III astronomy must make way for the method of self-consistent fields."

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871) - astronomer, mathematician, chemist - was one of the most important English scientists of the nineteenth century. Son of the famous astronomer William Herschel and nephew of Caroline, he was persuaded by his father to pursue the astronomical investigations William could no longer undertake; John's subsequent career resulted in a knighthood and a lifetime of accolades. Outlines of Astronomy (1849), an updated and expanded version of his 1833 Treatise on Astronomy, went through eleven editions in two decades and was translated into several languages. Outlines examines terrestrial and celestial phenomena, providing the reader with a wide range of knowledge about the physical world as a whole. The work is an important textbook, the object of which 'is not to convince or refute opponents, nor to inquire ... for principles of which we are all the time in full possession - but simply to teach what is known'.

These Transactions provide a record of the formal organisational and administrative proceedings of the IAU XXVII General Assembly which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It includes the admission of new members, the Resolutions passed, an account of the regular Business Meetings of the Executive Committee, the Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups, and gives the detailed status of the Membership of the IAU. 2434 registered attendees from 76 nations enjoyed a rich scientific programme of 6 Symposia, 16 Joint Discussions, 10 Special Sessions, and 7 scientific sessions. During the programme over 700 papers were presented and more than 1500 posters displayed. The Proceedings of the Symposia are published in the Proceedings of the IAU Symposia Series, and those of the Invited Discourses, Joint Discussions and Special Sessions will feature in Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 15. Together with those 7 volumes, these Transactions cover the entire General Assembly.

The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) is a NASA Explorer mission that is the first space mission dedicated to imaging of the Earth's magnetosphere. IMAGE was launched from Vandenberg AFB into an elliptical polar orbit by a Delta II launch vehicle on March 25, 2000. The two-year prime sci entific mission of IMAGE began on May 25, 2000 after instrument commissioning was successfully completed. IMAGE has now been approved for operation until October 1,2005, and an additional two-year extension is now being considered by NASA. The papers in this volume represent many of the scientific results obtained dur ing the IMAGE prime mission and include some of the early correlative research with ground-based measurements, measurements from other spacecraft such as Cluster II, and relevant theory and modeling programs. All of the reported work is related to the overall IMAGE science objective: How does the magnetosphere respond globally to the changing conditions in the solar wind? IMAGE addresses this question with multi-spectral imaging of most of the important plasma pop ulations of the inner magnetosphere, combined with radio sounding of gradients of total plasma content. The new experimental techniques fall into the following areas: neutral atom imaging (NAI) over an energy range from 10 eV to 500 keY for detection of ionospheric outflow, the plasma sheet, and the ring current; far ultraviolet (FUV) imaging at 121-190 nm for detection of precipitating protons and the global aurora; extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging at 30.

Thework described in this has somewhat erratically, over monograph grown, of than a more interest inthe was firstaroused period thirty My subject years. thebeautiful and inBroucke.'sthesis also by see computations drawings (1963; Broucke where familiesof orbits in the restricted three 1968), periodic body for the Earth Moon ratio = were mass problem investigated (/.I 0.012155). These that natural for the existence ofthe a explanation drawingssuggested observed familiesand for the found the of orbits could be shapes perhaps by to the limit ] 0. a recourse y As first it a to as as step, appeared catalog completely possible necessary the orbits obtained in this limit. orbits of the first generaiing Generating hadbeen studied andother authors. Poincar6 specZes by (1892) Surprisingly, the two other had been Orbits ofthe however, species apparently neglected. second orbits with or consecutive a species, collisions, present comparatively the ofthe simple problem, only two body problem; no using equations yet had been done.An ofthe systematic ever constituent arcs study inventory was inH6non presented (1968). Also little work had been done on farmlies of orbits of the third very to Hill's A numerical species, was corresponding problem. investigation pub lished inR6non (1969).

These are the proceedings of international conference on Numerical As trophysics 1998 (NAP98), held at National Olympic Memorial Youth Cen ter, in Tokyo, Japan in the period of March 10 - 13, 1998, and hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory, Japan (NAOJ). In the last decade numerical simulations have grown up as a major tool for astrophysics. Numerical simulations give us invaluable informa tion on complex systems and physical processes under extreme conditions which can be neither realized by experiments nor directly observed. Super computers and special purpose computers may work as very large telescopes and special purpose telescopes for theoretical astrophysics, respectively. Nu merical astrophysics ranks with other tool-oriented astronomy such as ra dio astronomy, infrared astronomy, ultraviolet astronomy, X-ray astronomy, and ')'-ray astronomy. This conference, NAP98, was planned to explore recent advances in astrophysics aided by numerical simulations. The subjects of the confer ence included the large-scale structure formation, galaxy formation and evolution, star and planets formation, accretion disks, jets, gravitational wave emission, and plasma physics. NAP98 had also sessions on numerical methods and computer science. The conference was attended by 184 sci entists from 21 countries. We enjoyed excellent talks, posters, videos, and discussions: there are 40 oral presentations, 96 posters and 16 video pre sentations. We hope that these proceedings and accompanying CD-ROM replay the friendly but inspiring atmosphere of the conference."

The present 15th volume of the ISSI Space Science Series is devoted to Auroral Plasma Physics. The aurora is arguably the most intriguing phenomenon in space plasma physics. Not only is it the most spectacular manifestation of the Sun-Earth connection chain, but the underlying plasma processes are expected to be ubiqui- tous in the plasma universe. Recognizing the enormous progress made over the last decade in the understanding of the physics of the auroral acceleration processes, it seemed timely to write a comprehensive and integrated book on the subject. Re- cent advances concern the clarification of the nature of the acceleration process of the electrons that are responsible for the visible aurora, the recognition of the fundamental role of the large-scale current systems in organizing the auroral mor- phology, and of the interplay between particles and electromagnetic fields. The project began in March 1999, as a natural follow-up of the project on Magnetospheric Plasma Sources and Losses that resulted in volume 6 of this se- ries, with a planning meeting by a core-group that coordinated the project. The group consisted of J. E. Borovsky, Los Alamos National Laboratory; C. W. Carl- son, University of California, Berkeley; G. Haerendel, Max-Planck-Institut fur ex- traterrestrische Physik, Garching; B. Hultqvist, Swedish Intitute ofSpace Physics, H. E. J. Koskinen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki; W. Lotko, Kiruna; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; K. A. Lynch, University of New Hampshire, Durham and G. Marklund, Royal Institute ofTechnology, Stockholm. G. Paschmann, ISSI, Bern, was the project leader.

Over the last few years it has become apparent that fluid turbulence shares many common features with plasma turbulence, such as coherent structures and self-organization phenomena, passive scalar transport and anomalous diffusion. This book gathers very high level, current papers on these subjects. It is intended for scientists and researchers, lecturers and graduate students because of the review style of the papers.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the current observational and theoretical status in the field of the local and general interstellar medium. It contains contributions presented at the IAU Colloquium No. 166. Review articles and highlight talks will serve both as an introduction to the field for the undergraduate or the non-specialist and also give a summary of the most recent developments for the expert and researcher. These articles are supplemented by a representative number of original research papers. All contributions are fully refereed and have been edited with extensive care to provide a high-standard reference book. The scientific content spans a wide range from solar system measurements of dust grains to X-ray emission from distant galaxies.

The book contains courses taught to a public of Ph. D. students, post-docs and con?rmed researchers in all ?elds of heliospheric plasma physics. It aims at identifying physical issues which are common to two di?erent ?elds of astr- omy: solar and magnetospheric physics. Emphasis is given to basic processes of transport and conversion of energy: magnetic reconnection is discussed in detail from the viewpoints of MHD and kinetic physics. Processes of charged particle acceleration are reviewed and confronted with recent observations. The subject is introduced by a summary of MHD and the basic structures and parameters of the solar atmosphere, terrestrial ionosphere and mag- tosphere are reviewed. The book combines a pedagogic and comprehensive presentation of physical issues and raises fully open questions, with the c- plementary and sometimes con?icting views of geophysicists and solar phy- cists. The book's focus, while basic, opens new avenues. Observatory of Meudon, France Ludwig Klein IAS, Orsay, France Jean-Claude Vial OCA, France Jean-Pierre Rozelot August 2000 The Editors Preface Following the great success of the ?rst two CNRS Summer Schools on Solar Astrophysics held in Oleron (May 1996 and May 1997 - two schools devoted to the highlights of solar physics), I came to the conclusion that the initiative should be continued."

This specialized workshop was conceived during the workshop on "Non isotropic and Variable Outflows from Stars", which was held at the Space Telescope Science Institute in October, 1991. At that meeting, the four of us collectively decided that the time was ripe for an even more focussed discussion of the basic issues in the area of hot-star wind instability and its observable manifestations. Not that the big problems have been solved! Rather, we are currently in a phase of rapid development, both with regard to the models and to the observations. The key issue at this new workshop would be to decide how the time-dependent structures observed in hot-star winds (e. g. , NACs, DACs, blobs, clumps, filaments, shells, puffs, jets, etc. ) relate to radiative and other instabilities. Further questions concern the role of turbulence and the nature of its driver, and the effect of stellar rotation, pulsation, and magnetic fields on time-dependent phenomena in hot-star winds. Of no less importance is the impact of stellar wind variability on the derivation of mass-loss rates, on stellar evolution, and on momentum/energy deposition in the interstellar medium. To attain our goal of maximum confrontation (in the positive sense!) we decided: (1) to limit the workshop to the observers and theoreticians most active in this field in the world; (2) to insist that virtually all participants present a talk, thereby avoiding the distraction of poster sessions; and (3) to allocate approximately half of the allotted time to discussion.

Simon Newcomb (1835-1903) was an astronomer and mathematician remembered for his work in recalculating the major astronomical constants to a new international standard. He was a founding member of the American Astronomical Society and became its first president in 1899. Although Newcomb's mathematical work is well known, this autobiography, first published in 1903, focuses on his achievements and work as an astronomer. In it he provides an account of his scientific research with comments on his approach, which together with his descriptions of scientific discoveries and collaborations occurring in Washington DC show the variety of scientific research being conducted in the United States in the late nineteenth century. His detailed descriptions of how telescopes were used, together with accounts of his experience of working conditions in various observatories, provide valuable insights into astronomical research methods in the late nineteenth century.

This book is a collection of essays written by the very scientists and engineers who have led, and continue to lead, the scientific quest known as SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Divided into three parts, the first section, 'The Spirit of SETI Past', written by the surviving pioneers of this then emerging discipline, reviews the major projects undertaken during the first 50 years of SETI science and the results of that research. In the second section, 'The Spirit of SETI Present', the present-day science and technology is discussed in detail, providing the technical background to contemporary SETI instruments, experiments, and analytical techniques, including the processing of the received signals to extract potential alien communications. In the third and final section, 'The Spirit of SETI Future', the book looks ahead to the possible directions that SETI will take in the next 50 years, addressing such important topics as interstellar message construction, the risks and assumptions of interstellar communications, when we might make contact, what aliens might look like and what is likely to happen in the aftermath of such a contact.

The objective of the book is to find an answer to the rationale behind the human quest for the Mars exploration. As a comprehensive assessment for this query is undertaken, it is realized that the basic question 'Why Mars?' seeks various responses from technological, economic and geopolitical to strategic perspectives. The book is essentially targeted to understand India's desire to reach Mars. In the process, it also undertakes some implicit questioning of Mars programmes of various other states essentially to facilitate the setting up of the context for an assessment. The book is divided into two parts: Part I: This covers both science and politics associated with Mars missions in global scenario and discusses the salient features of various Mars Missions undertaken by various countries. Part II: This provides details in regards to India's Mars Mission.

Laser physics and nonlinear optics are fields which have been intimately con nected from their beginning. Nonlinear optical effects such as second-har monic generation fulfil vital functions in many laser systems. Conversely advances in laser development quickly lead to progress in nonlinear optics. Of particular importance has been the development of tunable visible and uv lasers. With the ability to tune the laser frequency into close resonance with atomic transition frequencies, one can produce a large resonance en hancement of the nonlinearity. This permits the observation of a great var iety of nonlinear optical processes in dilute media such as atomic vapours. In recent years much of the research effort in nonlinear optics has been directed towards the use of such media, and it is this area which forms the subject of the present book. We review a wide range of nonlinear optical processes in atomic vapours, molecular gases and cryogenic liquids. At the same time we have tried to treat the subject in sufficient depth to be useful to research workers in the field. To achieve this, a measure of selectivity has been introduced by emphasising those nonlinear processes which are seen to have applications as sources of tunable coherent radiation. Thus we have not discussed in any detail those nonlinear processes whose main applications are in spec troscopy, such as Doppler-free two-photon absorption."