IAU Symposium 291 features a rich harvest of recent scientific discoveries and looks forward to the many exciting avenues for future neutron-star research. The volume starts with general, lively, comprehensive introductions to three main themes that successfully communicate the excitement of current pulsar research. The subsequent reviews and contributions on hot topics cover: ongoing searches for pulsars, both radio and gamma-ray; neutron star formation and properties; binary pulsars; pulsar timing and tests of gravitational theories; magnetars; radio transients; radio, X-ray and gamma-ray pulse properties and emission mechanisms; and future facilities. This range of topics clearly illustrates the diverse nature and wide application of neutron-star research. Through a combination of introductory reviews and practically complete coverage of current results from across the electromagnetic spectrum, IAU S291 is the perfect reference for neutron-star researchers and also provides an excellent read for advanced undergraduate and starting graduate students.

In this book, the authors present current research in galactic study including its evolution, morphology and dynamics. Topics included in this compilation include the nature of motion in quiet and active galaxies with a satellite companion; empirical age-metallicity relation and empirical metallicity distribution of long-lived stars of different populations; radio quiet AGN properties vs. spin paradigm; and turbulent formation of protogalaxies at the end of the plasma epoch.

Deep within galaxies like the Milky Way, astronomers have found a fascinating legacy of Einstein's general theory of relativity: supermassive black holes. Connected to the evolution of the galaxies that contain these black holes, galactic nuclei are the sites of uniquely energetic events, including quasars, stellar tidal disruptions, and the generation of gravitational waves. This textbook is the first comprehensive introduction to dynamical processes occurring in the vicinity of supermassive black holes in their galactic environment. Filling a critical gap, it is an authoritative resource for astrophysics and physics graduate students, and researchers focusing on galactic nuclei, the astrophysics of massive black holes, galactic dynamics, and gravitational wave detection. It is an ideal text for an advanced graduate-level course on galactic nuclei and as supplementary reading in graduate-level courses on high-energy astrophysics and galactic dynamics.

David Merritt summarizes the theoretical work of the last three decades on the evolution of galactic nuclei, the formation of massive black holes, and the interaction between black holes and stars. He explores in depth such important topics as observations of galactic nuclei, dynamical models, weighing black holes, motion near supermassive black holes, evolution of nuclei due to gravitational encounters, loss cone theory, and binary supermassive black holes. Self-contained and up-to-date, the textbook includes a summary of the current literature and previously unpublished work by the author.

For researchers working on active galactic nuclei, galaxy evolution, and the generation of gravitational waves, this book will be an essential resource.

Fascinating, engaging and extremely visual, STARS AND GALAXIES, 10th Edition, is renowned for its current coverage, reader-friendly presentation and detailed--yet clear--explanations. The authors' goals are to help you use Astronomy to understand science, and use science to answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know? Available with WebAssign, the powerful digital solution that enriches the teaching and learning experience. It includes Virtual Astronomy Labs 3.0--a set of 20 interactive activities that combine analysis of real astronomical data with robust simulations--providing a true online laboratory experience for your Introductory Astronomy course.

What force do the Big Bang, the expansion of the Universe, dark matter and dark energy, black holes, and gravitational waves all have in common? This book uncovers gravity as a key to understanding these fascinating phenomena that have so captivated public interest in recent years. Readers will discover the latest findings on how this familiar force in our everyday lives powers the most colossal changes in the Universe. Written by the widely recognized French public scientist and leading astrophysicist Pierre Binetruy, the book also explains the recent experimental confirmation of the existence of gravitational waves.

Our understanding of the formation of stars and planetary systems has changed greatly since the first edition of this book was published. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, and now includes material on molecular clouds, binaries, star clusters and the stellar initial mass function (IMF), disk evolution and planet formation. This book provides a comprehensive picture of the formation of stars and planetary systems, from their beginnings in cold clouds of molecular gas to their emergence as new suns with planet-forming disks. At each stage gravity induces an inward accretion of mass, and this is a central theme for the book. The author brings together current observations, rigorous treatments of the relevant astrophysics, and 150 illustrations, to clarify the sequence of events in star and planet formation. It is a comprehensive account of the underlying physical processes of accretion for graduate students and researchers.

In less than a century, the accepted picture of the universe transformed from a stagnant place, composed entirely of our own Milky Way galaxy, to a realm inhabited by billions of individual galaxies, hurtling away from one another. We must thank, in part, Edwin P. Hubble, one of the greatest observational astronomers of the 20th century. In 1936, Hubble described his principal observations and conclusions in "The Realm of the Nebulae," which quickly became a classic work. Two new introductory pieces, by Robert P. Kirshner and Sean M. Carroll, explain advances since Hubble's time and his work's foundational importance.
"Meaningful, historically accurate, and thoroughly delightful reading."--Gail O. Clark, "Astronomy"

Pulsars are highly magnetised, rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name. This book reviews research from around the globe in the field of pulsars including anomalous X-ray pulsars; the arrival directions of ultrahigh energy extensive air particles registered at the Yakutsk extensive air shower array from 1974 to 2007; the observed rotation period of pulsar time properties; measuring the moment of inertia of the double pulsar and its usefulness in testing modified models of gravity and others.

Donald D. Clayton's Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis remains the standard work on the subject, a popular textbook for students in astronomy and astrophysics and a rich sourcebook for researchers. The basic principles of physics as they apply to the origin and evolution of stars and physical processes of the stellar interior are thoroughly and systematically set out. Clayton's new preface, which includes commentary and selected references to the recent literature, reviews the most important research carried out since the book's original publication in 1968.

IAU Symposium 356 summarises the most recent results in the field of active galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN). These are some of the most luminous sources in the Universe, also the most distant ones that we can observe, so they are very important for understanding the early Universe and its evolution through cosmic time. This volume gives an overview of the current status in the field of active galaxies including: AGN multiwavelength observations; different AGN types and their properties; AGN variability; active supermassive black holes and properties of galaxies in which they reside; triggering, feedback and shutting off AGN activity; relativistic jets and environments of active galaxies; and AGN evolution. IAU S356 was the third IAU symposium organised in Africa in the past 100 years since the IAU was established, and the first one organised in Ethiopia, highlighting current developments in astronomical research in Africa.