When you look up at the sky at night and see the stars, do you understand what you're looking at? What is starlight made up of, and how does it travel to us? How are stars born, and how do they die? How do we figure out how far away are the stars and how massive they are? Can we know which stars will go supernova and which will end up as white dwarfs or black holes? How long will our Sun continue to shine down on us, and how do we know its age?

There are so many questions, and in this engaging and informative book by Keith Robinson, which serves as a companion to his very popular earlier book called Spectroscopy - the Key to the Stars, you will learn the basics of stellar physics and the answers to many of these questions, as well as how to figure out some of those answers for yourself.

We have come so far in our understanding of stellar light and heat. By reading this book, you, too, can understand many of the secrets of the fiery Sun that rules our Solar System and the gemlike points of light in the night sky.

Zusammenfassung

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.

Inhalt
A River of Starlight.- Starlight by Numbers.- From Light to Starlight.- Space The Great Radiation Field.- A Multitude of Magnitudes for the Colors of Starlight.- The Photons Must Get Through Radiative Transfer.- First Look Inside a Star The Atmosphere.- Deep Inside a Star.- In the Space Between Stars.- A Star Story ? 10 Billion Years in the Making.