Much of what is known about the universe came from the study of celestial shadows. This book looks in detail at the way eclipses and other celestial shadows have given us amazing insights into the nature of the objects in our solar system and how they are even helping us discover and analyze planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. A variety of eclipses, transits, and occultations of the mooons of Jupiter and Saturn, Pluto and its satellite Charon, asteroids and stars have helped astronomers to work out their dimensions, structures, and shapes - even the existence of atmospheres and structures of exoplanets. Long before Columbus set out to reach the Far East by sailing West, the curved shadow of the Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse revealed that we inhabit a round world, a globe. More recently, comparisons of the sunlit and Earthlit parts of the Moon have been used to determine changes in the Earth's brightness as a way of monitoring possible effects in cloud coverage which may be related to global warming. Shadows were used by the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes to work out the first estimate of the circumference of the Earth, by Galileo to measure the heights of the lunar mountains and by eighteenth century astronomers to determine the scale of the Solar System itself. Some of the rarest and most wonderful shadows of all are those cast onto Earth by the lovely "Evening Star" Venus as it goes between the Earth and the Sun. These majestic transits of Venus occur at most two in a century; after the 2012 transit, there is not a chance to observe this phenomenon until 2117, while the more common sweep of a total solar eclipse creates one of the most dramatic and awe-inspiring events of nature. Though it may have once been a source of consternation or dread, solar eclipses now lead thousands of amateur astronomers and "eclipse-chasers" to travel the globe in order to experience the dramatic view under "totality." These phenomena are among the most spectacular available to observers and are given their full due in Westfall and Sheehan's comprehensive study.

Chaos theory plays an important role in modern physics and related sciences, but -, the most important results so far have been obtained in the study of gravitational systems applied to celestial mechanics. The present set of lectures introduces the mathematical methods used in the theory of singularities in gravitational systems, reviews modeling techniques for the simulation of close encounters and presents the state of the art about the study of diffusion of comets, wandering asteroids, meteors and planetary ring particles. The book will be of use to researchers and graduate students alike.

A few years ago, a real break-through happened in observational astronomy: the un derstanding of the effect of atmospheric turbulence on the structure of stellar images, and of ways to overcome this dramatic degradation. This opened a route to diffraction-limited observations with large telescopes in the optical domain. Soon, the first applications of this new technique led to some outstanding astrophysical results, both at visible and infrared wavelengths. Yet, the potential of interferometric observations is not fully foreseeable as the first long-baseline arrays of large optical telescopes are being built or cOIIllnissioned right now. In this respect a comparison with the evolution of radio-astronomy is tempting. From a situation where, in spite of the construction of giant antennas, low angular resolution was prevailing, the introduction of long baseline and very long baseline interferometry and the rapid mastering of sophisticated image reconstruction techniques, have brought on a nearly routine basis high dynamic range images with milliarcseconds resolution. This, of course, has completely changed our views of the radio sky."

These are the proceedings of a meeting in honour of Massimo Capaccioli at the occasion of his 70th birthday. The conference aimed at summarizing the results from the main current and past digital sky survey projects and at discussing how these can be used to inspire ongoing projects and better plan the future ones. Over the last decades, digital sky surveys performed with dedicated telescopes and finely-tuned wide-field cameras, have revolutionized astronomy. They have become the main tool to investigate the nearby and far away universe, thus providing new insights in the understanding of the galaxy structure and assembly across time, the dark components of the universe, as well as the history of our own galaxy. They have also opened the time domain leading to a new understanding of the transient phenomena in the universe. By providing public access to top quality data, digital surveys have also changed the everyday practice of astronomers who have become less dependent on direct access to large observing facilities. The full scientific exploitation of these surveys has also triggered significant advances in both space and ground based technology and in the field of multi-object spectroscopy. The various sections of this book are devoted to different relevant aspects of astrophysics in the era of digital sky surveys and include both review and shorter, more focused contributions.

This IAU Symposium brought together researchers who use CCDs and arrays, designers and manufacturers of CCDs and array mosaics, and those who write the software to control these devices and to reduce the large amounts of data contained in each frame. At the meeting such topics as plans for applying the new technology to the new large telescopes that have been built recently and those planned in the near future, new developments in infra-red arrays, advances and concerns with the use of CCDs in photometry and spectroscopy and the creation of large mosaics in photometry and spectroscopy, and the creation of large mosaics of chips which allow larger areas of the sky to be covered in a single frame were discussed. There were sessions devoted to the following topics: new developments in CCD technology; new developments in IR detector arrays; direct imaging with CCDs and other arrays; spectroscopy with CCDs and other arrays; and large field imaging with array mosaics. Scientific results of studies made with this technology were covered in the poster sessions. CCD and array detectors have become the detectors of choice at all the world's optical observatories. Such instruments on small university and college telescopes have turned these telescopes into instruments that can now do observations which in the past were done only on the largest telescopes. CCDs and arrays are known as "the people's detector" because of their ability to turn small telescopes into true research instruments. On large telescopes observations can be made of extremely faint and crowded objects that were impossible to observe before the advent of CCD and Array technology. The proceedings of this meeting should be useful to all those who are interested in the design, manufacture and use of CCDs and arrays for astronomical observations.

IAU Colloquium 165, Dynamics and Astrometry of Natural and Artificial Celestial Bodies, was held in Poznan, Poland, in July 1996, bringing together over 200 scientists from 27 countries who discussed their work in 179 oral and poster presentations. The present volume contains 83 of the papers presented at the meeting. The meeting brought together specialists from diverse fields who focused on the very close collaboration between dynamics and astrometry, where one discipline contributes to the progress of the other. The oral sessions were organized into general categories pertaining to: solar system dynamics; new observational techniques, catalogues, and astrometry; dynamics and observational problems of artificial satellites and space debris; rotation of solar system objects; reference systems and astronomical standards; new mathematical techniques; and three all-day poster sessions. This volume is divided into seven parts, comprising 83 contributions, a list of participants and an index.

It is now a well-established tradition that every four years, at the end of winter, a group of 'celestial mechanicians' from all over the world gather in the Austrian Alps at the invitation of R. Dvorak. This time the colloquium was held at Badhofgastein from March 19 to March 25, 2000 and was devoted to the 'New Developments in the Dynamics of Planetary Systems'. The papers covered a large range of questions of current interest: t- oretical questions (resonances, KAM theory, transport, ... ) and questions about numerical tools (synthetic elements, indicators of chaos, ... ) were particularly well represented; of course planetary theories and Near Earth Objects were also quite popular. Three special lectures were delivered in honor of deceased colleagues whom, to our dismay, we will no longer meet at the 'Austrian Colloquia'. W. Jefferys delivered the Heinrich Eichhorn lecture on 'Statistics for the Twenty-first Century Astrometry', a topic on which Heinrich Eichhorn was a specialist. A. Roy delivered a lecture honoring Victor Szehebely on 'Lifting the Darkness: Science in the Third Millenium', in which in wove anecdotes and remembrances of Victor which moved the audience very much. A. Lemaitre spoke in honor of Michele Moons on 'Mech anism of Capture in External Resonance'. The end of her talk was devoted to a short and moving biography of Michele illustrated by many slides."

The existence of blue straggler stars, which appear younger, hotter, and more massive than their siblings, is at odds with a simple picture of stellar evolution. Such stars should have exhausted their nuclear fuel and evolved long ago to become cooling white dwarfs. They are found to exist in globular clusters, open clusters, dwarf spheroidal galaxies of the Local Group, OB associations and as field stars. This book summarises the many advances in observational and theoretical work dedicated to blue straggler stars. Carefully edited extended contributions by well-known experts in the field cover all the relevant aspects of blue straggler stars research: Observations of blue straggler stars in their various environments; Binary stars and formation channels; Dynamics of globular clusters; Interpretation of observational data and comparison with models. The book also offers an introductory chapter on stellar evolution written by the editors of the book.

J 2 J. MICHAEL SHl: LL, HARLEY A. THRO: \SOX, JR., A: '>D S. ALAN STER: \3 I University of Colorado, Dept. of Astrophysical. Planetary, &. Atmospheric Sciences 2 University of Wyoming and KASA Headquarters, Code SR 3 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder Office On May 15-17. 1995, three Rocky Motultain research institutions hosted a confererJce to dis cuss the scientific basis, teclmological options, and programmatic implications of a large-scale effort to find and study Earth-like planets outside the Solar System. Our workshop attracted scientists, erJgineers, space agency administrators, and the public media to discuss and debate the most promising teclmological options and opportunities. Major programs and proposals to search for and study exo-planets were preserJted and discussed. In addition, our meeting - incided .with NASA's "roadmap" study for the Exploration of Neighboring Planetary Systems ( "'\PS). Our meeting was the first international confererJce on this subject, affording an op portunity for several members of this study to participate in the debates over new technologies. Our meeting proyed to be timely. Shortly thereafter, in late 199.5 and early 1996, two groups of astronomers annotulced the first discoveries of planetary companions to nearby stars. using high-precision radial velocity measuremerJts to detect the gravitational reflex motion of the star. The first three detections include a Jupiter-mass companion to the solar-like star. 51 Pegasi, and two remarkable objects of mass at least 2. 3 and 6."

The Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy organizes each year in the late winter or early spring an advanced course. The format of the school is always iden tical: three leading lecturers are invited to cover the subject in nine or ten lectures each and to deliver a written version of their lecture notes. Lectures are held in the morning and late afternoon, thus leaving ample time for discussion and skiing. These arrangements prove very convivial and lead to an excellent atmosphere in which to learn exciting new subjects and establish contacts with colleagues. A wide variety of people attend the school, including many young students, mostly from Europe, and some experienced researchers. The 20th Advanced Course of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy took place in Les Diablerets from 1 to 6 April 1990. It was devoted to observational and theoretical aspects of active galactic nuclei. The previous advanced courses of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy have regularly taken place in Saas-Fee, a small resort in the Swiss Alps, hence the name "Saas-Fee" used to de scribe the courses and lecture notes. In the last three years, however, the course was organized in Leysin and in Les Diablerets, both also situated in the Swiss Alps."

This book is written in a pedagogical style intelligible for graduate students. It reviews recent progress in black-hole and wormhole theory and in mathematical cosmology within the framework of Einstein's field equations and beyond, including quantum effects. This collection of essays, written by leading scientists of long standing reputation, should become an indispensable source for future research.

This book introduces the Statistical Drake Equation where, from a simple product of seven positive numbers, the Drake Equation is turned into the product of seven positive random variables. The mathematical consequences of this transformation are demonstrated and it is proven that the new random variable N for the number of communicating civilizations in the Galaxy must follow the lognormal probability distribution when the number of factors in the Drake equation is allowed to increase at will. Mathematical SETI also studies the proposed FOCAL (Fast Outgoing Cyclopean Astronomical Lens) space mission to the nearest Sun Focal Sphere at 550 AU and describes its consequences for future interstellar precursor missions and truly interstellar missions. In addition the author shows how SETI signal processing may be dramatically improved by use of the Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) rather than Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Finally, he describes the efforts made to persuade the United Nations to make the central part of the Moon Far Side a UN-protected zone, in order to preserve the unique radio-noise-free environment for future scientific use.

The History of Astronomy in the Orient has been vigorously researched in the last several decades. We may recall here the publications of Joseph Needham's monumental volumes on Science and Civilisation in China, one volume of which is devoted to Chinese Astron- omy, S. Nakayama's A History of Japanese Astronomy (Tokyo, 1969), and the School of Edward Kennedy's writings on Islamic Astronomy,1 which particularly culminated in the studies of the Critique of Ptolemaic Astronomy by the Islamic astronomers belong- ing to Na~lruddin rusI's School, established at Maragha Observatory during the l3-l4th 2 centuries. In this backdrop of the emphasis on astronomy in the Orient, the first IAU Colloquium (No.9 1 ) on "History of Oriental Astronomy" was organised during the IAU General Assem- bly, held in New Delhi, Nov. 13-16, 1985. The Proceedings ofthe Colloquium were then 3 published. The second effort by this Commission was to organise another International Colloquium on Interaction of European and Asian Astronomy, held in Vienna in Sept. 4 1990. Unfortunately its Proceedings could not be published. Noteworthy is that the Far East or the East Asia did not lag behind in this endeavour.

Interest world-wide in the provision of new observational astro nomical facilities in the form of ground-based optical telescopes of large aperture has never been higher than exists at present. The benefits to be gained from increased aperture size, however, are only utilised effectively if efficient instrumentation is also available. There have been significant improvements recently in this area, part icularly in detector technology and data handling as well as in optical design, so that systems which are currently being developed have the capability of being vastly more powerful in terms of the efficient use of photons than those which existed only 5 years ago. The rationale for the decision by Commission 9 of the International Astronomical Union to hold IAU Colloquium 67, therefore, was to obtain reports on these developments with the emphasis placed upon overall efficiency of the complete observational system - from telescope aperture right through to detector output. A fitting venue for the meeting was the site of the 6 metre BTA (Bolshoi Azimuth Telescope) at Zelenchukskaya in the Caucasus mount ains, USSR. The BTA is operated by the Special Astrophysical Observatory located at Nizhnij Arkhyz, a few kilometres from the telescope itself."

The work presented in this book is a major step towards understanding and eventually suppressing background in the direct search for dark matter particles scattering off germanium detectors. Although the flux of cosmic muons is reduced by many orders of magnitude in underground laboratories, the remaining energetic muons induce neutrons through various processes, neutrons that can potentially mimic a dark matter signal. This thesis describes the measurement of muon-induced neutrons over more than 3 years in the Modane underground laboratory. The data are complemented by a thorough modeling of the neutron signal using the GEANT4 simulation package, demonstrating the appropriateness of this tool to model these rare processes. As a result, a precise neutron production yield can be presented. Thus, future underground experiments will be able to reliably model the expected rate of muon-induced neutrons, making it possible to develop the necessary shielding concept to suppress this background component.

This volume comprises nine articles on Islamic astronomy published since 1989 by Benno van Dalen. Van Dalen was the first historian of Islamic astronomy who made full use of the new possibilities of computers in the early 1990s. He implemented various statistical and numerical methods that can be used to determine the mathematical properties of medieval astronomical tables, and utilized these to obtain entirely new, until then unattainable historical results concerning the interdependence of individual tables and hence of entire astronomical works. His programmes for analysing tables, making sexagesimal calculations and converting calendar dates continue to be widely used. The five articles in the first part of this collection explain the principles of a range of statistical methods for determining unknown parameter values underlying astronomical tables and present extensive step-by-step examples for their use. The four articles in the second part provide extensive studies of materials in unpublished primary sources on Islamic astronomy that heavily depend on these methods. The volume is completed with a detailed index.

This translation of"A Brief History of Radio Astronomy in the USSR"makes descriptions of the antennas and instrumentation used in the USSR, the astronomical discoveries, as well as interesting personal backgrounds of many of the early key players in Soviet radio astronomy available in the English language for the first time. This book is a collection of memoirs recounting an interesting but largely still dark era of Soviet astronomy. The arrangement of the essays is determined primarily by the time when radio astronomy studies began at the institutions involved. These include the Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN), Gorkii State University and the affiliated Physical-Technical Institute (GIFTI), Moscow State University Sternberg Astronomical institute (GAISH) and Space Research Institute (IKI), the Department of Radio Astronomy of the Main Astronomical Observatory in Pulkovo (GAO), Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine (SSR), Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IRE), Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere and Radio-Wave Propagation Institute (IZMIRAN), Siberian Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere and Radio-Wave Propagation (SibIZMIRAN), the Radio Astrophysical Observatory of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and Leningrad State University.

"A Brief History of Radio Astronomy in the USSR"is a fascinating source of information on a past era of scientific culture and fields of research including the Soviet SETI activities. Anyone interested in the recent history of science will enjoy reading this volume.

"

All theoretical and observational topics relevant to the understanding of the thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernova phenomenon are thoroughly and consistently reviewed by a panel including the foremost experts in the field. The book covers all aspects, ranging from the observations of SNe Ia at all stages and all wavelengths to the 2D and 3D modelling of thermonuclear flames in very dense plasmas. Scenarios for close binary evolution leading to SNe Ia are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the homogeneity vs. diversity of SNe Ia and on their use as standard candles to measure cosmological parameters. The book reflects the recent and very significant progress made in both the modelling of the explosions and in the observational field.

Analyses of photometric time series obtained from the MOST, CoRoT and Kepler space missions were presented at the 20th conference on Stellar Pulsations (Granada, September 2011). These results are leading to a re-appraisal of our views on stellar pulsation in some stars and posing some new and unexpected challenges. The very important and exciting role played by innovative ground-based observational techniques, such as interferometric measurements of giant pulsating stars and high-resolution spectroscopy in the near infrared, is also discussed. These Proceedings are distinguished by the format of the conference, which brings together a variety of related but different topics not found in other meetings of this nature.

"Astrochemistry and Astrobiology" is the debut volume in the new series "Physical Chemistry in Action." Aimed at both the novice and experienced researcher, this volume outlines the physico-chemical principles which underpin our attempts to understand astrochemistry and predict astrobiology. An introductory chapter includes fundamental aspects of physical chemistry required for understanding the field. Eight further chapters address specific topics, encompassing basic theory and models, up-to-date research and an outlook on future work. The last chapter examines each of the topics again but addressed from a different angle. Written and edited by international experts, this text is accessible for those entering the field of astrochemistry and astrobiology, while it still remains interesting for more experienced researchers.

This thesis presents the results of indirect dark matter searches in the gamma-ray sky of the near Universe, as seen by the MAGIC Telescopes. The author has proposed and led the 160 hours long observations of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Segue 1, which is the deepest survey of any such object by any Cherenkov telescope so far. Furthermore, she developed and completely characterized a new method, dubbed "Full Likelihood", that optimizes the sensitivity of Cherenkov instruments for detection of gamma-ray signals of dark matter origin. Compared to the standard analysis techniques, this novel approach introduces a sensitivity improvement of a factor of two (i.e. it requires 4 times less observation time to achieve the same result). In addition, it allows a straightforward merger of results from different targets and/or detectors. By selecting the optimal observational target and combining its very deep exposure with the Full Likelihood analysis of the acquired data, the author has improved the existing MAGIC bounds to the dark matter properties by more than one order of magnitude. Furthermore, for particles more massive than a few hundred GeV, those are the strongest constraints from dwarf galaxies achieved by any gamma-ray instrument, both ground-based or space-borne alike.

This volume presents the current knowledge of magnetic fields in diffuse astrophysical media. Starting with an overview of 21st century instrumentation to observe astrophysical magnetic fields, the chapters cover observational techniques, origin of magnetic fields, magnetic turbulence, basic processes in magnetized fluids, the role of magnetic fields for cosmic rays, in the interstellar medium and for star formation. Written by a group of leading experts the book represents an excellent overview of the field. Nonspecialists will find sufficient background to enter the field and be able to appreciate the state of the art.

This thesis represents the first wide-field photometric and spectroscopic survey of star clusters in the nearby late-spiral galaxy M33. This system is the nearest example of a dwarf spiral galaxy, which may have a unique role in the process of galaxy formation and evolution. The cold dark matter paradigm of galaxy formation envisions large spiral galaxies, such as the Milky Way, being formed from the merger and accretion of many smaller dwarf galaxies. The role that dwarf spiral galaxies play in this process is largely unclear. One of the goals of this thesis is to use the star cluster population of M33 to study its formation and evolution from its early stages to the present. The thesis presents a new comprehensive catalog of M33 star clusters, which includes magnitudes, colors, structural parameters, and several preliminary velocity measurements. Based on an analysis of these data, the thesis concludes that, among other things, the evolution of M33 has likely been influenced by its nearby massive neighbor M31.

The Ninth Course of the International School of Cosmology and Gravita tion of the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture is concerned with "Topological Properties and Global Structure of Space-Time." We consider this topic to possess great importance. Our choice has also been influenced by the fact that there are many quest ions as yet unre solved. Standard general relativity describes space-time as a four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifold, but it does not prescribe its large-scale structure. Inorderto attempt answers to some topological questions, such as whether our universe is open or closed, whether it is orientable, and whether it is complete or possesses singularities, various theoretical approaches to global aspects of gravitational physics are presented here. As topological questions playa role in non-standard theories as weIl, it will be found that some of the lectures and seminar talks in this volume adopt the point of view of standard relativity, whereas others are based on different theories, such as Kaluza-Klein theories, bimetric theories, and supergravity. We have found it difficult to organize these papers into classes, say standard and non-standard theory, or models with and without singularities. One paper, by R. Reasenberg, is experimental. Its purpose was to give the theorists present an inkling of the opportunities, as weIl as the pitfalls, of experimental research in gravitational physics. Accordingly, we have arranged all contributions alphabetically, by first-named) author."