This substantially rewritten and expanded fourth edition outlines the most up-to-date methods and tools of radio astronomy. Tools of Radio Astronomy gives a unified treatment of the entire field of radio astronomy, from centimeter to sub-millimeter wavelengths and using single telescopes as well as interferometers. The basic physical principles are described and a complete outline of the instrumentation, observational techniques, and methods of measurement and analysis are given. The goal of this standard reference and text is to prepare readers to carry out observations and relate the data to physical processes in interstellar space. In this fourth edition, the chapter on interferometry and aperture synthesis has been thoroughly revised in the light of most recent developments, as has been the chapter on molecules in interstellar space, and material on receiver technology.

From reviews of previous editions:

"People use this book so much because it describes what one needs in order actually to do radio astronomy ... and it will remain relevant for a long time...This book is an excellent graduate level text - the best available by far. It is also the best reference book for the practising astronomer who wants to do radio astronomy properly, to interpret the jargon or to understand some of the details of current literature." Physics Today

"This is the one book you should buy if you want to become a radio astronomer. (...) I have used the first and second editions as a postgraduate textbook for many years, and will now recommend the third edition to my students." The Observatory

Klappentext

1. Most authoritative and established of graduate-level textbooks and references in the field.

2. Provides not only specialists with the details they need but also non-specialists with access to the jargon and basics of this vital field.

3. New edition offers completely rewritten chaptes on interferometry and aperture synthsis, as well as thoroughly revised chapters on receiver technology and interstellar molecules.

4. From the reviews of previous editions: "Nowadays Rohlfs and Wilson`s Tools of Radio Astronomy is the inevitable reference book. This is the one book you should buy if you want to become a radio astronomer. "

   The Observatory, 2001 "An excellent survey of the tools a radio astronomer needs to pursue the trade... The neatly encapsulated derivations of many classical relations will make the book useful to lecturer and student and practicing astronomer alike." American Scientist

   "People use this book so much because it describes what one needs in order to actually do radio astronomy... This book is an excellent graduate level text - the best available by far. It is also the best reference book for practicing astronomers who want to do radio astronomy properly, to interpret jargon or to understand some of the details of the literature." *Physics Today

   Inhalt

   1. Radio Astronomical Fundamentals.- 2. Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Fundamentals.- 3. Wave Polarization.- 4. Signal Processing and Receivers.- 5. Fundamentals of Antenna Theory.- 6. Filled Aperture Antennas.- 7. Observational Methods.- 8. Interferometers and Aperture Synthesis.- 9. Emission Mechanisms of Continuous Radiation.- 10. Some Examples of Thermal and Nonthermal Radio Sources.- 11. Spectral Line Fundamentals.- 12. Line Radiation of Neutral Hydrogen.- 13. Recombination Lines.- 14. Molecules in Interstellar Space.- A. Some Useful Vector Relations.- B. The Fourier Transform.- C. The Hankel Transform.- D. A List of Calibration Radio Sources.- References.