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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > General
This book is the result of a working group sponsored by ISSI in
Bern, which was initially created to study possible ways to
calibrate a Far Ultraviolet (FUV) instrument after launch. In most
cases, ultraviolet instruments are well calibrated on the ground,
but unfortunately, optics and detectors in the FUV are very
sensitive to contaminants and it is very challenging to prevent
contamination before and during the test and launch sequences of a
space mission. Therefore, ground calibrations need to be confirmed
after launch and it is necessary to keep track of the temporal
evolution of the sensitivity of the instrument during the mission.
These proceedings are based upon the invited review papers and the research notes presented at the NATO Advanced Research Institute on "Artificial Particle Beams in Space Plasma Studies" held at Geilo, Norway April 21-26, 1981. In the last decade a number of research groups have employed artificial particle beams both from sounding rockets and satellites in order to study various ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena. However, the artificial particle beams used in this manner have given rise to a number of puzzling effects. Thus, instead of being just a probe for studying the ambient magnetosphere, the artificial particle beams have presented a rich variety of plasma physics problems, in parti ular various discharge phenomena, which in themselves are worthy of a careful study. The experimental studies in space using artificial particle beams have in turn given rise to both theore tical and laboratory studies. In the laboratory experi ments special attention has been paid to the problem of creating spacelike conditions in the vacuum chamber. The theoretical. work has addressed the question of beam plasma-neutral interaction with emphasis on the wave generation and the modified energy distributions of the charged particles. Numerical simulations have been used extensively. With the advent of the Space Shuttle in which several artificial particle beam experiments are planned for the 1980's, there is a growing interest in such experiments. Furthermore, there is a need for coordinating these studies, both in space and in the laboratory."
Translated from the original French by Bernard Sheehan; Edited and with an introduction byDr. William Sheehan, a neuroscientist and amateur astronomer who is also a research fellow of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona Le Verrier was a superb scientist. His discovery of Neptune in 1846 made him the most famous astronomer of his time. He produced a complete theory of the motions of the planets which served as a basis for planetary ephemeris for a full century. Doing this, he discovered an anomaly in the motion of Mercury which later became the first proof of General Relativity. He also founded European meteorology. However his arrogance and bad temper created many enemies, and he was even fired from his position of Director of the Paris Observatory."
This book contains the proceedings of the 1989 Crafoord Symposium organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The scientific field for the Crafoord Prize of 1989 was decided in 1988 by the Academy to be Magnetospheric Physics. On September 27,1989 the Academy awarded the 1989 Crafoord Prize to Professor J. A. Van Allen, Iowa City, USA "for his pioneer work in space research, in particular for the discovery of the high energy charged particles that are trapped in the Earth's magnetic field and form the radiation belts -often called the Van Allen belts - around the Earth". The subject for the Crafoord Symposium, which was held on September 28-29 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, was Magnetospheric Physics, Achievements and Prospects. Some seventy of the world's leading scientists in magnetospheric physics (see list of participants) were invited to the Symposium. The program contained only invited papers. After the ?resentation of the Crafoord Prize Laureate, Prof. J . A. Van Allen, and his specially invited lecture: "Active Experiments in Magnetospheric Physics" follows in these proceedings two papers on the achievements of magnetospheric research hitherto. The main part of the proceedings (8 papers) deal with the main theme of the Symposium: How we shall carry on magnetospheric research in the future. The Symposium was organized by five members of the Academy representing the field of space physics: Lars Block (Stockholm), Rolf Bostrom (Uppsala), Kerstin Fredga (Stockholm), Carl-Gunne Fiilthammar (Stockholm) and Bengt Hultqvist (Kiruna, Chairman).
Astronomy is the field of science devoted to the study of astronomical objects, such as stars, galaxies, and nebulae. Astronomers have gathered a wealth of knowledge about the universe through hundreds of years of painstaking observations. These observations are interpreted by the use of physical and chemical laws familiar to mankind. These interpretations supply information about the nature of these astronomical objects, allowing for the deduction of their surface and interior conditions. The science associated with these interpretations is called astrophysics. An Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics offers a comprehensive introduction to astronomy and astrophysics, complete with illustrative examples and illuminating homework problems. Requiring a familiarity with basic physics and mathematics, this undergraduate-level textbook: Addresses key physics concepts relevant to stellar observations, including radiation, electromagnetic spectrum, photometry, continuous and discrete spectrum, and spectral lines Describes instruments used for astronomical observations as well as how the radiation received is characterized and interpreted to determine the properties of stars Examines the structure of stars, the basic equations which explain stars in equilibrium, and the fusion reactions occurring in stellar cores Discusses the evolution of stars, the solar system, the dynamics of galaxies, and the fundamentals of modern cosmology Explores the universe at high redshifts, where it is dominated by objects such as active galaxies Solutions manual and figure slides available with qualifying course adoption An Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics teaches students how to interpret the night sky, providing them with a critical understanding of the stars and other heavenly bodies.
This is volume 1 of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems, a six-volume compendium of modern astronomical research, covering subjects of key interest to the main fields of contemporary astronomy. This volume on Telescopes and Instrumentation edited by Ian S. McLean presents, after a general Introduction to Telescopes, accessible review chapters on Robotic and Survey Telescopes, Segmented Mirror Telescopes, Honeycomb Mirrors for Large Telescopes, Active Thin-Mirror Telescopes, Optical and Infrared Interferometers, Submillimeter Telescopes, Radio Telescopes, Space Telescopes in the Ultraviolet, Optical, and Infrared (UV/O/IR), CMB Telescopes and Optical Systems, Very- High-Energy Gamma-Ray Telescopes, Instrumentation and Detectors, Silicon-Based Image Sensors, Long-Wavelength Infrared Detectors, and Astronomical Spectrographs. All chapters of the handbook were written by practicing professionals. They include sufficient background material and references to the current literature to allow readers to learn enough about a specialty within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology to get started on their own practical research projects. In the spirit of the series Stars and Stellar Systems published by Chicago University Press in the 1960s and 1970s, each chapter of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems can stand on its own as a fundamental review of its respective sub-discipline, and each volume can be used as a textbook or recommended reference work for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Advanced students and professional astronomers in their roles as both lecturers and researchers will welcome Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems as a comprehensive and pedagogical reference work on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.
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 imaging process in stellar interferometers is explained starting from first principles on wave propagation and diffraction. Wave propagation through turbulence is described in detail using Kolmogorov statistics. The impact of turbulence on the imaging process is discussed both for single telescopes and for interferometers. Correction methods (adaptive optics and fringe tracking) are presented including wavefront sensing/fringe sensing methods and closed loop operation. Instrumental techniques like beam combination and visibility measurements (modulus and phase) as well as Nulling and heterodyne interferometry are described. The book closes with examples of observing programmes linking the theory with individual astrophysical programmes. "
The Little Book of Stars answers, in the clearest language, the questions anyone might have about our heavenly canopy. How are stars born? How do they die? Why do they shine? How long do they shine? Is our star, the Sun, dying? How can you tell time from the stars? Or navigate? What are the measures of stars? Can we ever travel to other stars? In this engagingly written and concise book, the second in the Little Book series, noted astronomer James B. Kaler shows us "the significance that the stars have had in human life, how we have used them to tell our stories, and how we use them to find who and where we are."
The papers in this volume were delivered and responded to at the Third Conference of the International Society for the Study of Time. The meeting took place during sunny days, punctuated by an occasional brief storm, in the confer ence facilities of the OEsterreichisches College in Alpbach, Austria, from ]uly 1 to ]uly 10, 1976. In the middle of it came ]uly 4, the 200th anniversary of the Declaration ofindependence, and in honor ofparticipants from the United States there was a special session of papers on the subject of Freedom and Time. [See Fraser, Park in this volume. ] The effect of the papers was kaleidoscopic; reading the table of contents one can surmise the experience of those enthusiasts, and there were several, who heard them all. I think that most people who have been puzzled about time will agree that it is not clear wh at the puzzle is or from what direction the insights will come that will enable us to understand the situation a litde more clearly. As one of the participants wrote afterwards, "After all , we do not know apriori whether there exists areal unity in studies about time, but if one exists it must reveal itself progressively in the course of successive experiences such as these lectures. If it were easy to find, it would have been found already without the Society's help.
Nobel symposium No. 54 on High Latitude Magnetospheric/Iono- spheric Plasma Physics was organized in Kiruna, Sweden on March 22-25, 1982 by Kiruna Geophysical Institute and EISCAT Scientific Association. Some 50 leading experts from Western Europe, America and USSR were invited to the Symposium. One main purpose of the Symposium was to prepare for the intense European research effort in space plasma physics in the middle 1980's, in which the EISCAT facilities and the Swedish satellite Viking are two of the more important constituents. The prograuune of the symposium was tied to the physics of those regions of near space where EISCAT and Viking are expected to pro- vide important new observational results. This is rather well covered by the t it Ie of these proceedings: High Lat itude Space Plasma Physics. The first two sessions dealt with the physics of the high latitude ionosphere and the third one with how this part of near space is affected by the properties of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. The remaining three sessions covered fairly extensively the high latitude magnetospheric physics at altitudes of 1-2 earth radii, which is the main scien- tific object of the Viking project. The Prograuune COllDlittee of the Kiruna Nobel Symposium was composed of the following European scientists: P. Bauer (Issy-les-Moulineaux), R. Bostrom (Uppsala), C. G. FalthallDlar (Stockholm), T. Hagfors (Kiruna, Cochairman), o. Holt (Troms,s), B. Hultqvist (Kiruna, Cochairman), H. Kohl (Lindau), J. Oksman (Oulu), H. Rishbeth (Chilton), and L. Stenflo (Ume!).
In 1879, while a graduate student under Henry Rowland at the Physics Department of The Johns Hopkins University, Edwin Herbert Hall discovered what is now universally known as the Hall effect. A symposium was held at The Johns Hopkins University on November 13, 1979 to commemorate the lOOth anniversary of the discovery. Over 170 participants attended the symposium which included eleven in vited lectures and three speeches during the luncheon. During the past one hundred years, we have witnessed ever ex panding activities in the field of the Hall effect. The Hall effect is now an indispensable tool in the studies of many branches of condensed matter physics, especially in metals, semiconductors, and magnetic solids. Various components (over 200 million ) that utilize the Hall effect have been successfully incorporated into such devices as keyboards, automobile ignitions, gaussmeters, and satellites. This volume attempts to capture the important aspects of the Hall effect and its applications. It includes the papers presented at the symposium and eleven other invited papers. Detailed coverage of the Hall effect in amorphous and crystalline metals and alloys, in magnetic materials, in liquid metals, and in semiconductors is provided. Applications of the Hall effect in space technology and in studies of the aurora enrich the discussions of the Hall effect's utility in sensors and switches. The design and packaging of Hall elements in integrated circuit forms are illustrated."
Between 1920 and 1960 astronomers began working with scientists in other fields in order to better understand the nature of the solar system. Researchers made wide-ranging attempts to solve such problems as the nature of lunar and terrestrial craters, the origin of comets and meteors, and the birth of the solar system. While often tinged with controversy, this work provided the foundation for planetary science in the space age. Exploiting previously unused archival material, Ronald Doel investigates this emerging interdisciplinary scientific community and its influence on astronomy, meteorology, geology, and geophysics. He examines how studies in planetary science were influenced by shifts in institutional mandates, new research techniques, and Cold War government-military funding. Above all, the book explores an important branch of what is now called the environmental sciences. This book will interest historians of science as well as astronomers.
This is volume 4 of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems, a six-volume compendium of modern astronomical research, covering subjects of key interest to the main fields of contemporary astronomy. This volume on Stellar Structure and Evolution edited by Martin A. Barstow presents accessible review chapters on Stellar Structure, Stellar Atmospheres, The Sun as a Star, Asteroseismology, Star Formation, Young Stellar Objects and Protostellar Disks, Brown Dwarfs, Evolution of Solar and Intermediate- Mass Stars, The Evolution of High Mass Stars, Stellar Activity, White Dwarf Stars, Black Holes and Neutron Stars, Binaries and Multiple Stellar Systems, Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Stellar Winds. All chapters of the handbook were written by practicing professionals. They include sufficient background material and references to the current literature to allow readers to learn enough about a specialty within astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology to get started on their own practical research projects. In the spirit of the series Stars and Stellar Systems published by Chicago University Press in the 1960s and 1970s, each chapter of Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems can stand on its own as a fundamental review of its respective sub-discipline, and each volume can be used as a textbook or recommended reference work for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Advanced students and professional astronomers in their roles as both lecturers and researchers will welcome Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems as a comprehensive and pedagogical reference work on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.
G. M. Bernstein, M. L. Fischer, and P. L. Richards Department of Physics, University of California Berkeley, California 94720, U. S. A. J. B. Peterson Department of Physics, Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey 08540, U. S. A. T. Timusk Department of Physics, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1 , Canada ABSTRACT. Recent measurements of the diffuse background at millimeter wavelengths indicate no departure from a Planck spectrum near the peak of the blackbody curve. Anisotropy measurements indicate no structure, at the 2% level, in the recently detected submillimeter excess. We report here the results of an April 1987 balloon flight of an instrument designed to measure the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation from 1 mm to 3 mm. A description of the instrument can be found in Peterson, Richards, and Timusk (1985). Modifications were made to the apparatus and experimental procedure in order to identify and reduce systematic errors. Results from the latest flight indicate that two effects hamper the interpretation of the data. These systematic effects will be described in detail in a forthcoming publications; they are probably responsible for the non-Planckian spectrum measured by Woody and Richards (1981). Attempts to remove the systematic effects from our data yield the upper limits to the CBR brightness temperature in 4 bands from 1 mm to 3 mm. There is no evidence for an excess of radiation near the 2. 8 K blackbody peak.
h h This third volume of RC3 indudes data for galaxies between 12 and 24 . For convenience, we repeat the explanation of the catalogue entries below. Details of the reduction procedures, and Notes, References, and Appendices are in Volume 1. 2. The Catalogue The data for each galaxy are found on four successive lines on a single page. The entries are as follows: Column 1: Positions Line 1: RA and DEC = right ascension and dedination for the equinox 2000.0, precessed from the 1950.0 position in Column 1, Line 4, given to 0.1 second of time and 1 arcsec when available, and to 0.1 minute of time and 1 arcmin otherwise (Section 3.1.a). Line 2: land b = galactic longitude and latitude in the lAU 1958 system (Blaauw et al. 1960); both to O~O1. Line 3: SGL and SGB = supergalactic longitude and latitude in the RC2 system (Section 3.1.b), both to O~O1. Line 4: RA and DEC = right ascension and dedination for the equinox 1950.0 (Sec- tion 3.1.a). Column 2: Names = commonly used designations for the galaxies (Section 3.2). Line 1: Names (e.g., LMC, SMC) or NGC and IC designations. Line 2: UGC (Nilson 1973), ESO (Lauberts 1982), MCG (Vorontsov-Velyaminov et al. 1962-1974), UGCA (Nilson 1974), and CGCG (Zwicky et al. 1961-1968) des- ignations, given in that order of preference. MCG designations not listed here are given in UGC and ESO.
The year 2011 marked the 80th anniversary of Georges Lemaitre's primeval atom model of the universe, forerunner of the modern day Big Bang theory. Prompted by this momentous anniversary the Royal Astronomical Society decided to publish a volume of essays on the life, work and faith of this great cosmologist, who was also a Roman Catholic priest. The papers presented in this book examine in detail the historical, cosmological, philosophical and theological issues surrounding the development of the Big Bang theory from its beginnings in the pioneering work of Lemaitre through to the modern day. This book offers the best account in English of Lemaitre's life and work. It will be appreciated by professionals and graduate students interested in the history of cosmology.
A glass is disordered material like a viscous liquid and behaves mechanically like a solid. A glass is normally formed by supercooling the viscous liquid fast enough to avoid crystallization, and the liquid-glass transition occurs in diverse manners depending on the materials, their history, and the supercooling processes, among other factors. The glass transition in colloids, molecular systems, and polymers is studied worldwide. This book presents a unified theory of the liquid-glass transition on the basis of the two band model from statistical quantum field theory associated with the temperature Green's function method. It is firmly original in its approach and will be of interest to researchers and students specializing in the glass transition across the physical sciences.
The scope of the book is to give an overview of the history of
astroparticle physics, starting with the discovery of cosmic rays
(Victor Hess, 1912) and its background (X-ray, radioactivity).
Beyond Einstein's Gravity is a graduate level introduction to extended theories of gravity and cosmology, including variational principles, the weak-field limit, gravitational waves, mathematical tools, exact solutions, as well as cosmological and astrophysical applications. The book provides a critical overview of the research in this area and unifies the existing literature using a consistent notation. Although the results apply in principle to all alternative gravities, a special emphasis is on scalar-tensor and f(R) theories. They were studied by theoretical physicists from early on, and in the 1980s they appeared in attempts to renormalize General Relativity and in models of the early universe. Recently, these theories have seen a new lease of life, in both their metric and metric-affine versions, as models of the present acceleration of the universe without introducing the mysterious and exotic dark energy. The dark matter problem can also be addressed in extended gravity. These applications are contributing to a deeper understanding of the gravitational interaction from both the theoretical and the experimental point of view. An extensive bibliography guides the reader into more detailed literature on particular topics.
Viewed as a flashpoint of the Scientific Revolution, early modern astronomy witnessed a virtual explosion of ideas about the nature and structure of the world. This study explores these theories in a variety of intellectual settings, challenging our view of modern science as a straightforward successor to Aristotelian natural philosophy. It shows how astronomers dealt with celestial novelties by deploying old ideas in new ways and identifying more subtle notions of cosmic rationality. Beginning with the celestial spheres of Peurbach and ending with the evolutionary implications of the new star Mira Ceti, it surveys a pivotal phase in our understanding of the universe as a place of constant change that confirmed deeper patterns of cosmic order and stability.
Dramatic progress is a trademark of the recent study of globular cluster systems. Considerations about the formation and evolution compose the first chapter, followed by a chapter on young star clusters. Then come four chapters reviewing the globular cluster system of early-type, late-type and dwarf galaxies, as well as of groups of galaxies. One chapter is dedicated to stellar population models and their applications to the field. Finally a chapter reviews the kinematics of galaxies derived from globular cluster systems and another their role in the context of galaxy formation and evolution studies. As a whole, the book gives an up-to-date view of the field at the beginning of the new decade, which will without doubt again bring significant progress in our understanding of globular cluster systems and galaxy formation and evolution.
Although the development of ideas about the motion and trajectory of comets has been investigated piecemeal, we lack a comprehensive and detailed survey of ph- ical theories of comets. The available works either illustrate relatively short periods in the history of physical cometology or portray a landscape view without adequate details. The present study is an attempt to review - with more details - the major physical theories of comets in the past two millennia, from Aristotle to Whipple. My research, however, did not begin with antiquity. The basic question from which this project originated was a simple inquiry about the cosmic identity of comets at the dawn of the astronomical revolution: how did natural philosophers and astronomers define the nature and place of a new category of celestial objects - comets - after Brahe's estimation of cometary distances? It was from this turning point in the history of cometary theories that I expanded my studies in both the pre-modern and modern eras. A study starting merely from Brahe and ending with Newton, without covering classical and medieval thought about comets, would be incomplete and leave the fascinating achievements of post-Newtonian cometology unexplored.
Radio surveys play an important role in observational cosmology. However, until recently the surveys have been either of wide area but with low sensitivity or of small area with high sensitivity. Both limit the kinds of cosmology that can be carried out with radio surveys. This situation has been revolutionised in the past few years by the availability of new, large-area, high-sensitivity radio surveys at both low and high radio frequencies. These significant improvements allow studies based on both the statistics of the surveys themselves and multiwavelength follow-up of the galaxies and AGN responsible for the radio emission. It is therefore an opportune time to summarise progress in this field with a workshop. This book comprises the proceedings of the `Observational Cosmology with the New Radio Surveys' workshop, held on Tenerife, January 13-15, 1997. Topics covered include: lessons learned and important results from earlier surveys, descriptions of some of the new surveys, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure, radio source evolution, CMB studies, gravitational lensing and multiwavelength studies of distant radio sources.
by Pedro Waloschek The following autobiographical account of Rolf Wideroee's life and work is based on manuscripts and letters written by hirnself, most ofthem especially for this report. Data from audio and video recordings with his illustrations and from my notes taken during aseries ofmeetings between the two ofus were also included. Rolf Wideroee gave me access to many of his publications and to other documents from which I have extracted further information. I have compiled, edited and, where necessary, put the texts in chronological order. These were then corrected and supplemented by Rolf Wideroee during the course of several readings. The English translation was also checked by Wideroee and we were able to add some improvements and corrections. This account there fore stands as an authorised biography and is written in the first person. Mrs. Wideroee's accurate memory was of great assistance. The emphasis has been on RolfWideroee's life story and the first developments which led to modem particle accelerators. Techni cal and scientific comments have been kept as comprehensive and concise as possible. |
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