Observer's Guide to Stellar Evolution
The Birth, Life and Death of Stars
Published on 6. November 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
XVII, 238 pages
978-1-85233-465-9 (ISBN)
Description
Stellar evolution - the birth, development and death of stars - is central
to our current understanding of astronomy. This area of astrophysics is
often portrayed as being difficult and mathematical, but Mike Inglis
brings it to life in a unique way, combining a step-by-step introduction
with suggestions for making practical observations of stars at different
stages in their evolution. Every amateur astronomer - regardless of their
current level of knowledge - will find this book fascinating and
informative.
More details
Series
Edition
Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2003
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Popular/general
Illustrations
XVII, 238 p.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
400 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85233-465-9 (9781852334659)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4471-0059-1
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr. Mike Inglis was born in Wales in the UK, but lives and works in the USA, where he is Professor of Astrophysics at Suffolk County Community College, State University of New York. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, NASA's Solar System Ambassador, a Member of the American Astronomical Society, a Member of the Association for Astronomy in Education, and a Member of the Society of Popular Astronomy. He is the author of many books and papers including "Field Guide to Deep Sky Objects" (Springer, 2012, 2nd Edition), "An Observer's Guide to Stellar Evolution" (Springer, 2003), "Astronomy of the Milky Way, Vol. I and II" (Springer, 2004), "Astrophysics is Easy (Springer, 2007). He is the Series Editor of Springer's "Practical Astronomy Observing Guides."
Content
A Brief Introduction.- 1 Stellar Evolution - The Basics.- 1.1 Distance to the Stars.- 1.2 The Nearest Stars.- 1.3 The Brightness and Luminosity of Stars.- 1.4 The Magnitudes of Stars.- 1.5 The Brightest Stars.- 1.6 The Colour of Stars.- 1.7 The Size and Mass of Stars.- 1.8 The Biggest Stars.- 1.9 The Constituents of Stars.- 1.10 The Spectra of Stars.- 1.11 Stellar Classification.- 1.12 The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.- 1.13 The H-R Diagram and a Star's Radius.- 1.14 The H-R Diagram and a Star's Luminosity.- 1.15 The H-R Diagram and a Star's Mass.- 2 Beginnings - Star Birth.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 The Interstellar Medium.- 2.3 Nebulae.- 2.4 Molecular Clouds.- 2.5 Protostars.- 2.6 Pre-Main Sequence Evolution.- 2.7 Mass Loss and Mass Gain.- 2.8 Star Clusters.- 2.9 Stellar Associations and Streams.- 2.10 Star Formation Triggers.- 3 The Main Sequence and Beyond.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Our Nearest Star - The Sun.- 3.3 From the Surface to the Core.- 3.4 The Proton-Proton Chain.- 3.5 The Flow of Energy from the Core to the Surface.- 3.6 Main Sequence Lifetimes.- 3.7 Towards the Red Giant.- 3.8 Helium Burning and the Helium Flash.- 3.9 Red Giants, Star Clusters and the H-R Diagram.- 3.10 Post-Main Sequence Star Clusters: The Globular Clusters.- 3.11 Stars That Pulsate.- 3.12 Cepheid Variables and the Period-Luminosity Relationship.- 3.13 Cepheid Variables: Temperature and Mass.- 3.14 RR Lyrae and Long-Period Variable Stars.- 4 The End Point - Star Death.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The Asymptotic Giant Branch.- 4.3 Dredge-Ups.- 4.4 Mass Loss and Stellar Winds.- 4.5 Infrared Stars.- 4.6 The End of an AGB Star's Life.- 4.7 Planetary Nebulae.- 4.8 White Dwarf Stars.- 4.9 Electron Degeneracy and White Dwarfs.- 4.10 The Chandrasekhar Limit.- 4.11 WhiteDwarf Evolution.- 4.12 White Dwarf Origins.- 4.13 High-Mass Stars: Nuclear Burning and an Onion.- 4.14 Iron, Supernovae and the Formation of the Elements.- 4.15 The Supernova Remnant.- 4.16 A Final Note on Supernovae.- 4.17 Neutron Stars, Pulsars and Black Holes.- 4.18 From Beginning to End.- Appendix 1 Degeneracy.- Appendix 2 Books, Magazines and Organizations.- Appendix 3 The Greek Alphabet.- Appendix 4 Colour Photographs.- Object Index.