Starlight: An Introduction to Stellar Physics for Amateurs

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Springer Science & Business Media, 3 ott 2009 - 277 pagine

This is a book about the physics of stars and starlight. The story of starlight is truly fascinating. Astronomers analyze and interpret the light from stars using photometry and spectroscopy, then inspirational detective work combines with the laws of physics to reveal the temperatures, masses, luminosities and outer structure of these far away points of light. The laws of physics themselves enable us to journey to the very center of a star and to understand its inner structure and source of energy!

Starlight provides an in-depth study of stellar astrophysics that requires only basic high school mathematics and physics, making it accessible to all amateur astronomers. Starlight teaches amateur astronomers about the physics of stars and starlight in a friendly, easy-to-read way. The reader will take away a profoundly deeper understanding of this truly fascinating subject – and find his practical observations more rewarding and fulfilling as a result.

 

Sommario

A River of Starlight
1
Starlight by Numbers
7
From Light to Starlight
23
Space The Great Radiation Field
58
A Multitude of Magnitudes for the Colors of Starlight
87
The Photons Must Get Through Radiative Transfer
118
First Look Inside a Star The Atmosphere
145
Deep Inside a Star
174
In the Space Between Stars
215
A Star Story 0 10 Billion Years in the Making
235
The Greek Alphabet
264
Astronomical and Physical Units and Constants
267
The Doppler Effect
271
Index
273
Copyright

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