This classic text - aimed at senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics and astronomy - presents a wide range of concepts in sufficient depth to give the reader a quantitative understanding of the subject. Emphasising physical concepts, it provides the student with a series of astrophysical sketches, concluding with a synthesis of all the subjects discussed in the book, sketching the history of the universe from its beginning to the formation of the Sun and the planets.

Inhalt

1 An Approach to Astrophysics.- 1:1 Channels for Astronomical Information.- 1:2 X-Ray Astronomy: Development of a New Field.- 1:3 The Appropriate Set of Physical Laws.- 1:4 The Formation of Stars.- 1:5 Evolution of Stars.- 1:6 Abundance of the Chemical Elements in Stars and the Solar System.- 1:7 Origin of the Solar System.- 1:8 The Local Group of Galaxies.- 1:9 Galaxy Formation.- 1:10 Black Holes.- 1:11 Turbulence.- 1:12 Problems of Life.- 1:13 Unobserved Astronomical Objects.- 2 The Cosmic Distance Scale.- 2:1 Size of the Solar System.- 2:2 Trigonometric Parallax.- 2:3 Spectroscopic Parallax.- 2:4 The Moving Cluster Method.- 2:5 Method of Wilson and Bappu.- 2:6 Superposition of Main Sequences.- 2:7 RR Lyrae Variables.- 2:8 Cepheid Variables.- 2:9 Novae and Hu Regions.- 2:10 Supernovae.- 2:11 The Tully-Fisher Relation.- 2:12 Distance-Red-Shift Relation.- 2:13 Distances and Velocities.- 2:14 Seeliger's Theorem and Number Counts in Cosmology.- Problems Dealing with the Size of Astronomical Objects.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 3 Dynamics and Masses of Astronomical Bodies.- 3:1 Universal Gravitational Attraction.- 3:2 Ellipses and Conic Sections.- 3:3 Central Force.- 3:4 Two-Body Problem with Attractive Force.- 3:5 Kepler's Laws.- 3:6 Determination of the Gravitational Constant.- 3:7 The Concept of Mass.- 3:8 Inertial Frames of Reference - The Equivalence Principle.- 3:9 Gravitational Red Shift and Time Dilation.- 3:10 Measures of Time.- 3:11 Uses of Pulsar Time.- 3:12 Galactic Rotation.- 3:13 Scattering in an Inverse Square Law Field.- 3:14 Stellar Drag.- 3:15 Virial Theorem.- 3:16 Stability Against Tidal Disruption.- Additional Problems.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 4 Random Processes.- 4:1 Random Events.- 4:2 Random Walk.- 4:3 Distribution Functions, Probabilities, and Mean Values.- 4:4 Projected Length of Randomly Oriented Rods.- 4:5 The Motion of Molecules.- 4:6 Ideal Gas Law.- 4:7 Radiation Kinetics.- 4:8 Isothermal Distributions.- 4:9 Atmospheric Density.- 4:10 Particle Energy Distribution in an Atmosphere.- 4:11 Phase Space.- 4:12 Angular Diameters of Stars.- 4:13 The Spectrum of Light Inside and Outside a Hot Body.- 4:14 Boltzmann Equation and Liouville's Theorem.- 4:15 Fermi-Dirac Statistics.- 4:16 The Saha Equation.- 4:17 Mean Values.- 4:18 Fluctuations.- 4:19 The First Law of Thermodynamics.- 4:20 Isothermal and Adiabatic Processes.- 4:21 Formation of Condensations and the Stability of the Interstellar Medium.- 4:22 Ionized Gases and Assemblies of Stars.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 5 Photons and Fast Particles.- 5:1 The Relativity Principle.- 5:2 Relativistic Terminology.- 5:3 Relative Motion.- 5:4 Four-Vectors.- 5:5 Aberration of Light.- 5:6 Momentum, Mass, and Energy.- 5:7 The Doppler Effect.- 5:8 Poynting-Robertson Drag on a Grain.- 5:9 Motion Through the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.- 5:10 Particles at High Energies.- 5:11 High-Energy Collisions.- 5:12 Faster-Than-Light Particles.- 5:13 Strong Gravitational Fields.- 5:14 Gravitational Time Delay; Deflection of Light.- 5:15 Gravitational Lenses.- 5:16 An Independent Measure of the Hubble Constant.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 6 Electromagnetic Processes in Space.- 6:1 Coulomb's Law and Dielectric Displacement.- 6:2 Cosmic Magnetic Fields.- 6:3 Ohm's Law and Dissipation.- 6:4 Magnetic Acceleration of Particles.- 6:5 Ampère's Law and the Relation Between Cosmic Currents and Magnetic Fields.- 6:6 Magnetic Mirrors, Magnetic Bottles, and Cosmic Ray Particles.- 6:7 Maxwell's Equations.- 6:8 The Wave Equation.- 6:9 Phase and Group Velocity.- 6:10 Energy Density, Pressure, and the Poynting Vector.- 6:11 Propagation of Waves Through a Tenuous Ionized Medium.- 6:12 Faraday Rotation.- 6:13 Light Emission by Slowly Moving Charges.- 6:14 Gravitational Radiation.- 6:15 Light Scattering by Unbound Charges.- 6:16 Scattering by Bound Charges.- 6:17 Extinction by Interstellar Grains.- 6:18 Absorption and Emission of Radiation by a Plasma.- 6:19 Radiation from Thermal Radio Sources.- 6:20 Synchrotron Radiation.- 6:21 The Synchrotron Radiation Spectrum.- 6:22 The Compton Effect and Inverse Compton Effect.- 6:23 The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect.- 6:24 Synchrotron Emission and the Inverse Compton Effect on a Cosmic Scale.- 6:25 The Cherenkov Effect.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 7 Quantum Processes in Astrophysics.- 7:1 Absorption and Emission of Radiation by Atomic Systems.- 7:2 Quantization of Atomic Systems.- 7:3 Atomic Hydrogen and Hydrogenlike Spectra.- 7:4 Spectra of Ionized Hydrogen.- 7:5 Hydrogen Molecules.- 7:6 The Information Contained in Spectral Lines.- 7:7 Selection Rules.- 7:8 Absorption and Emission Line Profile.- 7:9 Quantum Mechanical Transition Probabilities.- 7:10 Stimulated Emission, Coherent Processes, and Blackbody Radiation.- 7:11 Stimulated Emission and Cosmic Masers.- 7:12 Stellar Opacity.- 7:13 Chemical Composition of Stellar Atmospheres - The Radiative Transfer Problem.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 8 Stars.- 8:1 Observations.- 8:2 Sources of Stellar Energy.- 8:3 Requirements Imposed on Stellar Models.- 8:4 Mathematical Formulation of the Theory.- 8:5 Relaxation Times.- 8:6 Equation of State.- 8:7 Luminosity.- 8:8 Opacity Inside a Star.- 8:9 Convective Transfer.- 8:10 Nuclear Reaction Rates.- 8:11 Particles and Basic Particle Interactions.- 8:12 Energy-Generating Processes in Stars.- 8:13 The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram and Stellar Evolution.- 8:14 Evidence for Stellar Evolution, as Seen from the Surface Composition of Some Stars.- 8:15 The Possibility of Direct Observations of Nuclear Processes in Stars.- 8:16 Population III Stars.- 8:17 Compact Stars.- 8:18 White Dwarf Stars.- 8:19 Supernovae, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes.- 8:20 Vibration and Rotation of Stars.- Additional Problems.- Answers to Problems.- 9 Cosmic Gas and Dust.- 9:1 Observations.- 9:2 Strömgren Spheres.- 9:3 Pressure Propagation and the Speed of Sound.- 9:4 Shock Fronts and Ionization Fronts.- 9:5 Origin of Cosmic Magnetic Fields.- 9:6 Dynamo Amplification of Magnetic Fields.- 9:7 Cosmic Ray Particles in the Interstellar Medium.- 9:8 Formation of Molecules and Grains.- 9:9 Infrared Emission from Galactic Sources.- 9:10 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.- 9:11 Heating and Cooling by Grains.- 9:12 Orientation of Interstellar Grains.- 9:13 Dark Matter.- Additional Problems.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 10 Formation of Stars and Planetary Systems.- 10:1 Star Formation.- 10:2 Gravitational Condensation of Matter.- 10:3 Jeans Criterion.- 10:4 Hydrostatics of Gaseous Clouds.- 10:5 Ambipolar Diffusion.- 10:6 Triggered Collapse.- 10:7 Energy Dissipation.- 10:8 Cooling of Dense Clouds by Grain Radiation.- 10:9 Condensation in the Early Solar Nebula.- 10:10 The Evidence Provided by Meteorites.- 10:11 Formation of Primitive Condensates in the Early Solar Nebula.- 10:12 Formation of Planetesimals.- 10:13 Condensation in the Primeval Solar Nebula.- Answers to Selected Problems.- 11 The Universe We Inhabit.- 11:1 Questions About the Universe.- 11:2 Isotropy and Homogeneity of the Universe.- 11:3 Cosmological Principle.- 11:4 Homogeneous Isotropic Models of the Universe.- 11:5 Measuring the Geometric Properties of the Universe.- 11:6 Topology of the Universe.- 11:7 Dynamics on a Cosmic Scale.- 11:8 Some Simple Models of the Universe.- 11:9 The Einstein Equations.- 11:10 Self-Regenerating Universes.- 11:11 Olbers's Paradox.- 11:12 Horizon of a Universe.- 11:13 Bulging.- 11:14 Cosmological Mod…