Presents an entertaining and accessible approach whilst also providing a rigorous and comprehensive presentation of the subject. Describes how to unveil the ages of stellar populations in distant galaxies that we cannot resolve into individual stars. Contains historical notes about these techniques, outstanding major problems, and a discussion on future developments in the field.

In 1965 Fritz Zwicky proposed a class of supernovae that he called "Type V", described as "excessively faint at maximum". There were only two members, SN1961v and Eta Carinae. We now know that Eta Carinae was not a true supernova, but if it were observed today in a distant galaxy we would call it a "supernova impostor". 170 years ago it experienced a "great eruption" lasting 20 years, expelling 10 solar masses or more, and survived. Eta Carinae is now acknowledged as the most massive, most luminous star in our region of the Galaxy, and it may be our only example of a very massive star in a pre-supernova state. In this book the editors and contributing authors review its remarkable history, physical state of the star and its ejecta, and its continuing instability. Chapters also include its relation to other massive, unstable stars, the massive star progenitors of supernovae, and the "first" stars in the Universe.

7 Hydrodynamic Instabilities in Close Binary Systems (Frederic A. Rasio) 121 7. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 7. 1. 1 The stability of self-gravitating fluid equilibria 121 7. 1. 2 Astrophysical motivation . 123 7. 1. 3 Common envelope systems 125 7. 2 Dynamical instabilities. . . . . . . 126 7. 2. 1 Physical mechanism . . . . 126 7. 2. 2 Application to coalescing neutron star binaries 127 7. 3 Secular instabilities. . . . . . . . . . . 130 7. 3. 1 Physical mechanism . . . . . . 130 7. 3. 2 Application to contact binaries 133 8 Common Envelope Evolution in Binary Systems (Mario Livio) 141 8. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 8. 2 The entrance into the common envelope phase . . . . . 142 8. 3 The outcome of the CE phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 8. 4 How close can we get to observing the common envelope Phase? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 8. 4. 1 How can PNe with binary nuclei be used to constrain CE physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 8. 4. 2 How can nova systems be used to constrain CE physics 148 8. 4. 3 Other tests of common envelope evolution 150 8. 5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 9 Structure and Evolution of Massive Close Binaries (Dany Vanbeveren) 155 9. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 9. 2 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 9. 3 Intermediate mass and massive single stars 156 9. 3. 1 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 9. 3. 2 Stellar structure equations for non-rotating IMS's and MS's 160 9. 3. 3 Evolutionary computations of non-rotating IMS's and MS's 162 9. 3. 4 Overall comparison with observations '" 163 9. 3. 5 The role of rotation in single star evolution . . .

This book provides an accessible introduction to the fascinating and topical subject of black holes. It bridges the gap between popular non-mathematical expositions and advanced research texts, using simple undergraduate level calculations and the most basic knowledge of relativity to explain current research. This means the theory can be understood by a wide audience of physicists, including those who are not necessarily interested in learning higher-level mathematical techniques.The third edition links more of the current research trends to fundamental aspects of the physics of black holes. Additionally: This new edition introduces a chapter dedicated to a selection of recent results. Existing chapters have been updated and new explanatory material has been added to aid in the understanding of the physics.This book is recommended reading for advanced undergraduate students and first-year postgraduates who will find it a useful stepping-stone to the advanced literature.

Presents an entertaining and accessible approach whilst also providing a rigorous and comprehensive presentation of the subject. Describes how to unveil the ages of stellar populations in distant galaxies that we cannot resolve into individual stars. Contains historical notes about these techniques, outstanding major problems, and a discussion on future developments in the field.

The first Asia-Pacific Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics took place from August 23 to August 28, 1999, at the Noda campus of the Sci ence University of Tokyo in Noda-city and Sawayaka Chiba Kenmin Plaza in Kashiwa-city, a suburb of Tokyo close to the Narita-Tokyo International Air port, with the Frontier Research Center for Computation Sciences (FRCCS) of the Science University of Tokyo as the host institute. The High Energy Accel erator Research Organization (KEK), the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP)-Osaka University, the Physical Society of Japan, and the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) supported this conference. The conference was initiated in the Asia Pacific area as a counterpart to the successful European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics (APFB99), in addition to the International Few-Body Conference Series and the Few Body Gordon Conference series in North America. The Physics of Few-Body Problems covers, as is well known, systems with finite numbers of particles in contrast to many-body systems with very large numbers of particles. Therefore, it covers such wide fields as mesoscopic, atom-molecular, exotic atom, nucleon, hyperon, and quark-gluon physics, plus their applications."

Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 53 held in Boulder, Colorado, 21-26 August 1972

Supernovae are among the most exciting things occurring in the universe. Much recent research has concentrated on phenomena related to supernovae. For example, the origin of the cosmic rays and the origin of the bulk of the heavy elements seem to be closely associated with the phenomenon of supernovae. With the discovery of the pulsar in the Crab, it seemed clear that supernovae were also intimately as sociated with the formation of neutron stars and perhaps even black holes. The purpose of the conference, of which this volume contains the proceedings, was to bring together the leaders of supernova re search, each of whom has concentrated on different aspects of the problem, to try to form a coherent picture both observationally and theoretically of our current understanding of supernovae. In so doing, key invited talks were presented on the light curves of super novae, both observationally and theoretically; on the possible uses of supernovae, for example in determination of the Hubble Constant; on the formation and evolution of supernova remnants, again both ob servationally and theoretically. The possibility that supernovae might explain quasars was also presented. A review of the current status of statistics of supernovae was presented, giving the rate at which they go off and the implications with regard to what mass stars are the progenitors for supernovae. Again, this was presented both from the observational point of view and from the theoretical stellar evolution point of view."

The book begins with a historical introduction, "Star Formation: The Early History", that presents new material of interest for students and historians of science. This is followed by two long articles on "Pre-Main-Sequence Evolution of Stars and Young Clusters" and "Observations of Young Stellar Objects". These articles on the fascinating problem of star formation from interstellar matter give a thorough overview of present-day theories and observations. The articles contain material so far unpublished in the astronomical literature. The book addresses graduate students and can be used as a textbook for advanced courses in stellar astrophysics.

By the star physicist and author of multiple #1 Sunday Times bestsellers, a major and definitive narrative work on black holes and how they can help us understand the universe.

At the heart of our galaxy lies a monster so deadly it can bend space, throwing vast jets of radiation millions of light years out into the cosmos. Its kind were the very first inhabitants of the universe, the black holes.

Today, across the universe, at the heart of every galaxy, and dotted throughout, mature black holes are creating chaos. And in a quiet part of the universe, the Swift satellite has picked up evidence of a gruesome death caused by one of these dark powers. High energy X-ray flares shooting out from deep within the Draco constellation are thought to be the dying cries of a white dwarf star being ripped apart by the intense tides of a supermassive black hole – heating it to millions of degrees as it is shredded at the event horizon.

They have the power to wipe out any of the universe’s other inhabitants, but no one has ever seen a black hole itself die. But 1.8 billion light years away, the LIGO instruments have recently detected something that could be the closest a black hole gets to death. Gravitational waves given off as two enormous black holes merge together. And now scientists think that these gravitational waves could be evidence of two black holes connecting to form a wormhole – a link through space and time. It seems outlandish, but today’s physicists are daring to think the unthinkable – that black holes could connect us to another universe.

At their very heart, black holes are also where Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity is stretched in almost unimaginable ways, revealing black holes as the key to our understanding of the fundamentals of our universe and perhaps all other universes.

Join Professors Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw in exploring our universe’s most mysterious inhabitants, how they are formed, why they are essential components of every galaxy, including our own, and what secrets they still hold, waiting to be discovered.

IAU Symposium No. 80, The HR Diagram - The 100th Anniversary of Henry Norris Russell was held on November 2-5, 1977 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D. C. , in order to commemmorate the birth of Henry Norris Russell on October 25, 1877 and to review current problems in the use of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. The IAU has sponsored two previous conferences concerned mainly with the HR diagram; The Position of Variable Stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, a colloquium held at Bamberg in 1965 and The Hertzsprung Russell Diagram (IAU Symposium No. 10, J. L. Greenstein, ed. ) held in Moscow in 1959. In 1974 a conference, Multicolor Photometry and the Theoretical HR Diagram (Dudley Obs. Report No. 9, A. G. D. Philip and D. S. Hayes, eds. ) was held in Albany, N. Y. ; and in 1964 a conference, Basic Data Pertaining to the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, was held at the Flagstaff Station of the U. S. Naval Observatory in honor of Ejnar Hertzsprung and to dedicate the 61-inch astrometric reflector. (Vistas in Astronomy Vol. ~, A. Beer and K. Aa. Strand, eds. , Pergamon Press, Oxford). Volume 12 of Vistas in Astronomy, The Henry Norris Russell Memorial Volume (1970), contains a review paper on Changing Interpretations of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram 1910-1940, A Historical Note by B. W. Sitterly.

On March 28 and 29, 1969, at the occasion of the dedication of the European Southern Observatory, some 90 astronomers from all over the world gathered at the ESO headquarters at Santiago de Chile for discussing problems of the Magellanic Clouds. They came from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Mexico, South Mrica and the United States as well as from Europe; these latter, naturally, mostly from the member states ofESO. The choice of the subject was an obvious one. When erecting the European Southern Observatory as a joint effort in European astronomy, it was agreed from the beginning that the field of research should be the southern sky, so far hardly explored with large telescopes. Among the objects to be investigated, the Magellanic Clouds rank highest, together with the galactic centre region and the southern spiral structure. Being located ten times closer than the nearest large stellar systems accessible to northern observers, and containing a stellar population ranging in age from the oldest down of star formation, the Clouds provide an ideal laboratory for research on to the stage current problems in astrophysics. Yet, most of the northern observational astronomers were hardly acquainted with the Magellanic Clouds; naturally, they are used to think in terms of research projects that can be conducted at their observatories. A survey of the status of knowledge and research on the Clouds therefore appeared in order now that the first- medium size- telescopes of ESO came into operation.

It is well known that stellar winds are variable, and the fluctuations are often cyclical in nature. This property seems to be shared by the winds of cool and hot stars, even though their outflows are driven by fundamentally different physical mechanisms. Since very similar models have been proposed to explain the cyclical wind variations observed in a wide variety of stars, the time was ripe for astrophysicists from many different sub-disciplines to present the state of the art in a concise form. The proceedings will provide a useful, up-to-date overview of the observations, interpretation, and modelling of the time-dependent mass outflows from all sorts of stars.

Black holes are becoming increasingly important in contemporary research in astrophysics, cosmology, theoretical physics, and mathematics. Indeed, they provoke some of the most fascinating questions in fundamental physics, which may lead to revolutions in scientific thought. Written by distinguished scientists, Classical and Quantum Black Holes provides a comprehensive panorama of black hole physics and mathematics from a modern point of view. The book begins with a general introduction, followed by five parts that cover several modern aspects of the subject, ranging from the observational and the experimental to the more theoretical and mathematical issues. The material is written at a level suitable for postgraduate students entering the field.

Galaxies have a history. This has become clear from recent sky surveys, which have shown that distant galaxies, formed early in the life of the Universe, differ from the nearby ones. New observational windows at ultraviolet, infrared and millimetric wavelengths (provided by ROSAT, IRAM, IUE, IRAS, ISO) have revealed that galaxies contain a wealth of components: very hot gas, atomic hydrogen, molecules, dust, dark matter. A significant advance is expected due to new instruments (VLT, FIRST, XMM) which will allow one to explore the most distant Universe. Three Euroconferences have been planned to punctuate this new epoch in galactic research, bringing together specialists in various fields of Astronomy. The first, held in Granada (Spain) in May 2000, addressed the observational clues. The second will take place in October 2001 in St Denis de la Reunion (France) and will review the basic building blocks and small-scale processes in galaxy evolution. The third will take place in July 2002 in Kiel (Germany) and will be devoted to the overall modelling of galaxy evolution. This book contains the proceedings of the first conference. It is recommended to researchers and PhD students in Astrophysics."

Humans have long thought that planetary systems similar to our own should exist around stars other than the Sun, yet the search for planets outside our Solar System has had a dismal history of discoveries that could not be confirmed. However, this all changed in 1995, with the past decade witnessing astonishing progress in this field; we now know of more than 200 extrasolar planets. These findings mark crucial milestones in the search for extraterrestrial life - arguably one of the most intriguing endeavors of modern science. These proceedings from the Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium on Extrasolar Planets explore one of the hottest topics in astronomy today. Discussions include the Kepler mission, observational constraints on dust disk lifetimes and the implications for planet formation, and gravitational instabilities in protoplanetary disks. With review papers written by world experts in their fields, this is an important resource on extrasolar planets.

Since their first detection 15 years ago, radio recombination lines from several elements have been observed in a wide variety of objects including HII regions, planetary nebulae, molecular clouds, the diffuse interstellar medium, and recently, other galaxies. The observations span almost the entire range from 0.1 to 100 GHz, and employ both single djsh and aperture synthesis techniques. The theory of radio recombination lines has also advanced strongly, to the point where it is perhaps one of the best-understood in astro physics. In a parallel development, it has become possible over the last decade to study these same highly-excited atoms in the laboratory; this work provides further confirmation of the theoretical framework. However there has been continuing controversy over the astrophysical interpre tation of radio recombination line observations, especially regarding the role of stimulated emission. A workshop was held in Ottawa on 24-25 August, 1979, bringing together many of the active scientists to review the field and discuss these questions of interpretation. A broad concensus has emerged: the subtleties of the line-formation process are understood, and the conditions under which reliable in formation can easily be extracted from the line measurements are known. It thus appears likely that the emphasis will shift increasingly from the study of the line phenomenon itself to further application in other areas of astrophysics, ranging from physical processes in plasmas (temperatures, densities, ionization structure), to the large-scale properties of our galaxy (abundances, kinematics, structure), and studies of extragalactic systems."

Interstellar dust grains catalyse chemical reactions, absorb, scatter, polarise and re-radiate starlight and constitute the building blocks for the formation of planets. Understanding this interstellar component is therefore of primary importance in many areas of astronomy & astrophysics. For example, observers need to understand how dust effects light passing through molecular clouds. Astrophysicists wish to comprehend how dust enables the collapse of clouds or how it determines the spectral behaviour of protostars, star forming regions or whole galaxies. This book gives a thorough theoretical description of the fundamental physics of interstellar dust: its composition, morphology, size distribution, dynamics, optical and thermal properties, alignment, polarisation, scattering, radiation and spectral features. This encyclopedic book provides the basic physics towards understanding the solid matter in interstellar space. It includes all the necessary physics, including solid state physics, radiative transport, optical properties, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. It then uses all of this basic physics in the specific case of dust grains in the interstellar medium. Interstellar dust clouds catalyze simple chemical reactions, absorbs, scatters, polarizes and re-radiates starlight and forms the building blocks for planet and stellar formation. Understanding this interstellar medium is then of primary importance in many areas of astronomy & astrophysics. For example observers need to understand how it effects light passing through dust and molecular clouds, astrophysicists need to comprehend the formation and structure of dust clouds and how it collapses to form stars and planets. Written in an accessible and descriptive manner, this will be essential supplementary reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking courses on the interstellar medium and active researchers in need of a single source of well illustrated and detailed information.

Distant galaxies encapsulate the various stages of galaxy evolution and formation from over 95% of the development of the universe. As early as twenty-five years ago, little was known about them, however since the first systematic survey was completed in the 1990s, increasing amounts of resources have been devoted to their discovery and research. This book summarises for the first time the numerous techniques used for observing, analysing, and understanding the evolution and formation of these distant galaxies.In this rapidly expanding research field, this text is an every-day companion handbook for graduate students and active researchers. It provides guidelines in sample selection, imaging, integrated spectroscopy and 3D spectroscopy, which help to avoid the numerous pitfalls of observational and analysis techniques in use in extragalactic astronomy. It also paves the way for establishing relations between fundamental properties of distant galaxies. At each step, the reader is assisted with numerous practical examples and ready-to-use methodology to help understand and analyse research.Francois Hammer worked initially in general relativity and made the first modelling of gravitational lenses prior to their spectroscopic confirmation. Following this, he became co-leader of the first complete survey of distant galaxies, the Canada-France-Redshift Survey. This led to the discovery of the strong decrease of the cosmic star formation density measured from UV light as z=1, which, alongside Hector Flores, they confirmed as bolometric and dust independent. With Mathieu Puech, they then pioneered the 3D spectroscopy of distant galaxies, leading to a major increase of understanding of the dynamic state of distant galaxies evidenced by the scatter of the Tully-Fisher relation. This led them to propose, with the addition to the team of Myriam Rodrigues, that galactic disks may survive or be rebuilt in gas-rich mergers, a scenario that is consistent with contemporary cosmological simulations. Besides extensive observational experience, the authors have led, or are leading, several instruments implemented or to be implemented at the largest telescopes, including VLT/Giraffe, VLT/X-shooter, VLT/MOONS and E-ELT/MOSAIC. They have also developed several observational techniques in adaptive optics, and in sky subtraction for integral field units and fibre instruments.

This book serves as a good introduction to the physics of pulsars by explaining the subject matter in simple terms which are understandable to both undergraduate physics students and also the general public. On the Pulsar links together ideas about physics, informatics and biology, and contains many original examples, problems and solutions. It starts with simple examples about the regular structures that are possible in strong magnetic fields and the author then suggests that special conditions on the pulsar can result in some forms of self-organization. It will also make a valuable teaching guide.

See the full beauty of our night sky revealed as never before in over 200 photographs from around the world in this stunning and giftable title. Bringing together the images of over 40 photographers across 25 countries, be astounded by the lights of the night sky in some of the darkest places on earth; discover the beauty of galaxies, planets and stars; view great celestial events; and see some of the world's most important landmarks against the backdrop of an incredible nightscape. Babak Tafreshi, founder of the international organisation The World at Night, has curated the images in this collection - many of them previously unseen - to reveal the true splendour of the sky at night. A specialist guide to night-sky photography will help you capture your own gorgeous images of the heavens. Commentary on the science, astronomy and photography accompany stunning images organised by theme: Symbols of all nations and religions embraced by one sky of endless beauties UNESCO World Heritage Sites at night The Universe revealed through constellations, sky motions, atmospheric phenomenon, Aurora and other wonders Images highlighting the beauty of dark skies away from light-polluted urban areas Celestial events, from great comets to spectacular eclipses Astro-tourism destinations, like ancient astronomical monuments and modern observatories

Magnetic Fields play a key role in the physics of star formation on all scales: from the formation of the large complexes of molecular clouds to the formation of solar-like planetary systems. The plasma physics involved is non-linear and very complex, which requires the development of large numerical codes. An additional difficulty is that the detection and study of magnetic fields is not easy from an observational point of view, and therefore theoretical models cannot easily be constrained.

In the week from April 21st to 25th in 2003, a meeting was held on the Campus of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) to join theoretical and observational efforts to address these issues. The objective was to define a set of relevant problems for the physics of star formation that can be properly addressed with the current or near-future instruments.

This book summarizes the results of this intensive week of work. The book is written in a comprehensive manner and reviews our current knowledge of the subject. It also represents an updated account of the ideas and thoughts of the scientists working in the field of Star Formation. The contributions are presented in six chapters which correspond to the six fundamental issues (sessions) on which the discussion was focused during the workshop: the physics of turbulence in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), the formation of structure in the ISM, the formation of stars within dense cores of molecular gas, the physics of accretion disks, the physics of outflows and their interaction with the ISM, and the interaction between the stellar magnetosphere and accretion disk.

Each chapter starts with a comprehensive summary written by one of the editors, which includes input from the contributions as well as the editor's own thoughts on the subject. For all these reasons the book is well-suited as a primer to introduce graduate students in the richness of this field of research.

The idea for organizing an Advanced Study Institute devoted largely to neutron star timing arose independently in three places, at Istanbul, Garching and Amster dam; when we became aware of each other's ideas we decided to join forces. The choice of a place for the Institute, in Turkey, appealed much to us all, and it was then quickly decided that Qe me would be an excellent spot. When the preparations for the Institute started, early in 1987, we could not have guessed how timely the subject actually was. Of course, the recently dis covered QPO phenomena in accreting neutron stars and half a dozen binary and millisecond radio pulsars known at the time formed one of the basic motivations for organizing this Institute. But none of us could have guessed that later in 1987 we were to witness the wonderful discovery of the binary and millisecond radio pulsars in globular clusters and, -as if Nature wished to give us a special present for this the discovery in March 1988 of a millisecond pulsar in an eclipsing binary Institu- system, the first eclipsing radio pulsar ever found, and the second fastest in the sky The discussion of this pulsar, its formation and fate was one of the highlights of this meeting, especially since its discoverers were among the participants of the Institute and could provide us with first-hand information."