Robinson Starlight

An Introduction to Stellar Physics for Amateurs
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4419-0708-0
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 273 Seiten

Reihe: The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Robinson, Keith

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Acknowledgements;5
2;Contents;6
3;About the Author;7
4;A River of Starlight;8
5;Starlight by Numbers;13
5.1; Large Numbers and Small Numbers;14
5.2; The Rule of Indices;15
5.3; The Rule of Indices for All Indices;17
5.4; Working with Powers of Ten;18
5.5; Scientific Notation;19
5.6; Star Distances by Numbers;22
5.7; Key Points;27
6;From Light to Starlight;29
6.1; Let There Be (an Idea About) Light;30
6.2; Natures Color Palette The Electromagnetic Spectrum;36
6.3; How to Measure the Wavelength of Light;40
6.4; The Spectrum, the Whole Spectrum, and Nothing but the Spectrum;43
6.5; A Brief Note on the Spectroscope;45
6.6; Light and Energy;46
6.7; Let There Be Another Idea About Light;48
6.8; The Parable of the Two Tables Blackbody Radiation;52
6.9; The Blackbody Spectrum;57
6.10; The Parable of the Blackbody and the Star;60
6.11; Key Points;62
7;Space -- The Great Radiation Field;64
7.1; Rivers of Energy;64
7.2; Measuring the Radiation Field;65
7.3; Sunlight Is Intense But Starlight Is Not ;70
7.4; How Many Light Bulbs Must You Screw in to Make a Star?;72
7.5; From Flux to Flux Ratio to Magnitude ;78
7.6; How to Calculate Magnitudes;82
7.7; Fixing the Magnitude Scale;84
7.8; Absolute Magnitude A Measure of Stellar Luminosity;86
7.9; Key Points;89
8;A Multitude of Magnitudes for the Colors of Starlight;91
8.1; Blackbody Stars;64
8.2; From Theories of Physics to Astronomical Observations;65
8.3; Star Partners Color and Magnitude;70
8.4; Color and Blackbody Temperature;72
8.5; Measuring Effective Temperatures for Real Stars;78
8.6; Yet Another Magnitude;82
8.7; Sorting Out Stellar Spectra;84
8.8; The HertzsprungRussell Diagram;86
8.9; Using the HR Diagram Template;89
8.10; A Different Kind of HR Diagram;117
8.11; Conclusion;118
8.12; Key Points;119
9;The Photons Must Get Through -- Radiative Transfer;122
9.1; Absorption The Photons Get Taken Out;64
9.2; The Photon Gets a Second Chance (and Maybe More) Scattering;65
9.3; New Photons for Old Emission;70
9.4; Symbiotic Nebulae An Illustration of Optical Depth in Action;72
9.5; Key Points;78
10;First Look Inside a Star -- The Atmosphere;147
10.1; Simple Radiative Transfer in the Photosphere;64
10.2; The Chromosphere and the Corona ;65
10.3; Yet Another Kind of HR Diagram;70
10.4; A Photosphere Full of Hydrogen Atoms;72
10.5; The Hydrogen Absorption Lines;78
10.6; The Ups and Downs of a Hydrogen Atom;82
10.7; The Ups and Downs of a Hydrogen Atom in a Photosphere;84
10.8; The Temperature of Vega;86
10.9; Return to the ColorColor Diagram;89
10.10; Model Atmospheres for Stars;117
10.11; Key Points;118
11;Deep Inside a Star;176
11.1; Hot Gas The Basics;64
11.2; From a Cylinder of Gas to the Structure of a Star;65
11.3; The Principles of Stellar Structure;70
11.4; From a Cylinder of Gas to Stellar Pulsation;72
11.5; Cepheid Variable Stars The Other Story;78
11.6; How to Make a Star Pulsate;82
11.7; Yet Another Gas Cylinder Experiment;84
11.8; Exciting Stellar Pulsation;86
11.9; The Right Kind of Gas in the Right Kind of Star;89
11.10; Details, Details;117
11.11; From a Cylinder of Gas to a Red Giant Star;118
11.12; Convection in Stars;119
11.13; The Stellar Core Source of the River of Starlight;207
11.14; Nuclear Fusion in Stars The Details;210
11.15; The CNO Cycle;213
11.16; Key Points;214
12;In the Space Between Stars;216
12.1; Winds from the Stars;64
12.2; Stardust;65
12.3; When the Galaxy Shrank;70
12.4; Space Dust;72
12.5; The Dimming of Starlight;78
12.6; Through the Atmosphere;82
12.7; Key Points;84
13;A Star Story 0 10 Billion Years in the Making ;235
13.1; The Middle of the Story Life on the Main Sequence;235
13.2; The Beginning of the Story From Atoms to Stars;239
13.3; The End of the Story Life After the Main Sequence;245
13.4; Stellar Evolution in Action;253
13.5; Old Stars, Young Stars, and New Stars from Old;257
13.6; The Legacy of Starlight;259
13.7; Conclusion;260
13.8; Key Points;262
14;Appendix 1: The Greek Alphabet;264
15;Appendix 2: Astronomical and Physical Units and Constants;265
15.1; Important Units;266
15.2; Constants;267
15.2.1; Physical Constants;267
15.2.2; Astronomical Constants;267
16;Appendix 3: The Doppler Effect;268
17;Index;270