Verschuur The Invisible Universe

The Story of Radio Astronomy
2. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-387-68360-7
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 156 Seiten

This is the story of radio astronomy, of how radio waves are generated by stars, supernova, quasars, colliding galaxies, and by the very beginnings of the universe itself. This revised book provides an update on the state of radio astronomy and those sections no longer regarded as cutting edge have been removed. With this book, aimed at a lay audience, you learn what astronomers are doing with those huge dishes. With each of these observatories, the scientists collect and analyze their data, 'listening' to the radio signals from space, in order to learn what is out there, and perhaps even if someone else may be listening as well.

Author of seven books, co-author or editor of 3 text books in radio astronomy and astronomy in general, has written over 80 scientific research articles, and  90 + popular astronomy articles.  He lectures widely on astronomical topics, pioneered the study of the interstellar magnetic field and active in radio astronomical studies of interstellar matter for over 40 years.  Published the first ever, full-length, technical paper on the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence in 1973.  Has taught in the physics departments of some half-a-dozen universities, world-wide.  He is the holder of a dozen patents. 

Autoren/Hrsg.

Verschuur, Gerrit

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Acknowledgments;6
2;Contents;8
3;Introduction: Adventure, Imagination, and Curiosity;13
3.1;The Exploration of the Radio Astronomical Unknown;13
3.2;Seeking New Knowledge;14
3.3;Radio Astronomy and Imagination;14
4;What is Radio Astronomy?;16
4.1;1.1. A Little History;16
4.2;1.2. The Birth of Radio Astronomy;17
4.3;1.3. So What Is Radio Astronomy?;20
4.3.1;1.3.1. How Radio Waves from Space are Generated;20
4.3.2;1.3.2. Radio Telescopes;20
4.3.3;1.3.3. What is a Radio Source?;22
4.4;1.4. Radio Interferometers;23
4.4.1;1.4.1. Very Large Array;23
4.4.2;1.4.2. Very Long Baseline Array;23
5;A Science is Born;26
5.1;2.1. Caught between Two Disciplines;26
5.2;2.2. Postwar YearsÛRadar Everywhere;28
5.3;2.3. The Southern Skies;30
5.4;2.4. Who Could Have Guessed?;31
5.5;2.5. Identity Crisis;32
5.6;2.6. An Epoch of Discovery;33
5.7;References;34
6;The Radio Sun and Planets;35
6.1;3.1. War Secrets;35
6.2;3.2. The Plasma Sun;35
6.3;3.3. Solar Radio Emission;37
6.4;3.4. The Quiet Sun;37
6.5;3.5. Solar Radio Bursts;37
6.6;3.6. Radio Signals from the Planets;38
6.7;3.7. JupiterÌs Radio Bursts;38
6.8;3.8. JupiterÌs Radiation Belts;39
6.9;3.9. The Planets as Radio Sources;41
6.10;3.10. Planetary Radar;41
7;The Galactic Radio Nebulae;45
7.1;4.1. The Supernova-Stardeath;45
7.2;4.2. Recent "Guest Stars";46
7.3;4.3. Cassiopeia A;47
7.4;4.4. Supernovae of Type I and Type II;47
7.5;4.5. Supernovae and Life;49
7.6;4.6. Emission Nebulae-Star Birth;50
7.7;4.7. HII Regions;51
7.8;4.8. Planetary Nebulae;51
8;Radio Waves from the Milky Way;52
8.1;5.1. "A Steady Hiss Type Static of Unknown Origin";52
8.2;5.2. Receiver Noise-"Listening" to Radio Sources;52
8.3;5.3. Grote Reber Maps the Milky Way;54
8.4;5.4. A Radio Map of the Whole Sky;54
8.5;5.5. The Appearance of the Radio Sky;55
8.6;5.6. Polarization of the Galactic Radio Waves;56
8.7;5.7. "Normal" Galaxies;56
8.8;5.8. A Note on Distances;57
8.9;5.9. The Shape of the Milky Way Galaxy;57
8.10;5.10. The Center of the Milky Way;58
8.11;5.11. Close-up Radio View of the Galactic Center;59
8.12;5.12. The Very Center and the Black Hole;61
9;Interstellar Hydrogen;63
9.1;6.1. Clouds of Destiny;63
9.2;6.2. Generation of the 21-cm Spectral Line;63
9.3;6.3. Observations of Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen;64
9.4;6.4. An Image of Interstellar Hydrogen;64
9.5;6.5. Seeing into the Depths of Space;65
9.6;6.6. Anomalous Velocity Hydrogen;67
9.7;6.7. Interstellar Magnetic Fields;67
9.8;6.8. Neutral Hydrogen in Other Galaxies;68
10;Interstellar Molecules;71
10.1;7.1. Chemical Factories in Space;71
10.2;7.2. What is a Molecule?;74
10.3;7.3. Molecular Spectral Lines;74
10.4;7.4. Masers in Space;75
10.5;7.5. Mega-Masers;78
10.6;7.6. Giant Molecular Clouds;78
10.7;7.7. The Stages Immediately Following Star Birth;79
11;Pulsars;81
11.1;8.1. Scintillation of Radio Sources;81
11.2;8.2. The Discovery of Pulsars;81
11.3;8.3. Where are the Pulsars?;83
11.4;8.4. Formation of Neutron Stars;84
11.5;8.5. Binary Pulsars-Nature's Fabulous Space Labs;86
11.6;8.6. Millisecond Pulsars;88
11.7;8.7. What Pulse Timing Tells Us?;89
11.8;8.8. Pulsars in Globular Clusters;90
12;The Galactic Superstars;91
12.1;9.1. The Curious Object SS433;91
12.2;9.2. A Black Hole and its Accretion Disk;93
12.3;9.3. Precession of the Accretion Disk;94
12.4;9.4. Radio Stars;95
12.5;9.5. Novae;97
12.6;9.6. Other Superstars;98
13;Radio Galaxies;99
13.1;10.1. On Finding Distances in Astronomy;99
13.2;10.2. Chaos in Distant Galaxies;99
13.3;10.3. The Largest "Things" in the Universe;100
13.4;10.4. Cygnus A;100
13.5;10.5. The Radio Emitting Jets;101
14;Quasars;108
14.1;11.1. The Discovery of Quasars;108
14.2;11.2. Brightness Variations;109
14.3;11.3. Parent Galaxies;110
14.4;11.4. Quasars: The Modern View;111
15;The Grand Unification: Active Galactic Nuclei;114
15.1;12.1. Cosmic Jets;114
15.2;12.2. Seyfert Galaxies;116
15.3;12.3. The Energy Diet of a Jet;116
15.4;12.4. Faster than Light-Superluminal Motions;117
15.5;12.5. Active Galactic Nuclei;118
15.6;12.6. Black Holes;119
15.7;12.7. Precession;121
15.8;12.8. Galactic Cannibalism;122
16;Beyond the Quasars-Radio Cosmology;124
16.1;13.1. A Cosmic Perspective;124
16.2;13.2. Radio Astronomy and Cosmology;125
16.3;13.3. The Microwave Background;126
16.4;13.4. Beyond the Big Bang-Multiple Universes;127
16.5;13.5. How Smooth is Space?;128
16.6;13.6. Missing Mass (Dark Matter?);130
16.7;13.7. Gravitational Lenses;131
17;On The Radio Astronomical Quest For Extraterrestrial Intelligence;134
17.1;14.1. "And Now for Something Completely Different";134
17.2;14.2. The Harsh Realities of the SETI Equation - A Modern Heresy;135
18;Radio Telescopes: The Future;142
18.1;15.1. Bigger and Better;143
18.2;15.2. Low-Noise Receivers;145
18.3;15.3. SMA - The Submillimeter Array;145
18.4;15.4. Planned Arrays;145
18.4.1;15.4.1. ALMA - The Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array;146
18.4.2;15.4.2. LOFAR - Low Frequency Array;148
18.4.3;15.4.3. SKA - The Square Kilometer Array;149
18.4.4;15.4.4. PAPER - Portable Array to Probe the Epoch of Ionization;150
19;What's It All About?;152
19.1;16.1. Expecting the Unexpected;152
19.2;16.2. Are We Still Open to the Unexpected?;153
19.3;16.3. How Much Longer Will Radio Astronomy Last?;153
19.4;16.4. So, What's It All About?;154
20;Appendix;157
20.1;A.1. "Seeing" Radio Waves;157
20.2;A.2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum;157
20.2.1;A.2.1. Wavelength and Frequency;158
20.2.2;A.2.2. The Wavelength Range of the Electromagnetic Spectrum;158
20.2.3;A.2.3. Atmospheric Windows;158
20.2.4;A.2.4. Spectral Lines;159
20.2.5;A.2.5. The Redshift and the Doppler Effect;159
20.2.6;A.2.6. Velocities in Radio Astronomy;159
20.3;A.3. The Brightness of Radio Sources;160
20.4;A.4. Radio Spectra - Identifying the Emission Mechanism;160
20.5;A.5. Notation;161
20.6;A.6. Position Measurement and Angular Accuracy;161
20.7;A.7. Astronomical Coordinate Systems;162
20.8;A.8. Astronomical Distances - Looking Back in Time;163
20.9;A.9. Keeping Things (Radio) Quiet;163
21;Index;164