Spectroscopy: The Key to the Stars

This is the first non-technical book on spectroscopy written specifically for practical amateur astronomers. It includes all the science necessary for a qualitative understanding of stellar spectra, but avoids a mathematical treatment which would alienate many of its intended readers. Any amateur astronomer who carries out observational spectroscopy and who wants a non-technical account of the physical processes which determine the intensity and profile morphology of lines in stellar spectra will find this is the only book written specially for them. It is an ideal companion to existing books on observational amateur astronomical spectroscopy.

Keith Robinson obtained a degree in physics from the University of Lancaster, and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

More can be learned about physical processes going on in stars and nebulae by understanding and analyzing their spectra than by any other means.

Many amateur astronomers who use CCD cameras are taking up spectroscopy as part of their observational program, but until now the physics that underlies astronomical spectroscopy has been confined to advanced academic books.

Not any more!

In Spectroscopy - the Key to the Stars, Keith Robinson describes the physics and physical processes that cause the stellar spectra to be as they are... spectra that amateur astronomers can image with today's commercially-made equipment. Written specifically for amateur astronomers, this book assumes only a basic knowledge of physics but looks in detail at many topics, including energy levels in atoms, the molecular spectra of red stars, emission lines in nebulae, and much, much more.

Here is everything you need to know about how the atomic processes in stars and nebulae produce the spectra that amateur astronomers can image, and why spectroscopy is such a powerful tool for astronomers.

Auteur

Keith Robinson obtained a degree in physics from the University of Lancaster, and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Résumé

While most amateur astronomers know about the red shift, have a general idea of the way that the emission and absorption lines in stellar spectra provide an insight into the atomic processes of the star, it is unusual to find someone who has any kind of detailed knowledge. The reason isn't lack on interest far from it but is because all the books currently available are pitched at professional astronomers and degree students, and are to say the least, difficult to read.

This is the first non-technical book on this subject, written specifically for practical amateur astronomers. It includes all the science necessary for a qualitative understanding of stellar spectra, but avoids a mathematical treatment which would alienate many of its intended readers.

Any amateur astronomer who carries out (or who is interested in) observational spectroscopy and who wants a non-technical account of the physical processes which determine the intensity and profile morphology of lines in stellar spectra will find this is the only book written specially for him. And of course, "armchair astronomers" who simply want to understand the physical processes which shape lines in stellar spectra will find this book equally fascinating.

Contenu
SpectroscopyA New Golden Age for Amateur Astronomy.- The Basic StuffLight Radiation and Atoms.- Behind the LinesThe Magnificent Energy Level Structure of an Atom.- Our Old Friend the Doppler Effect.- When Is a Spectral Line Not a Spectral Line?.- Stellar Spectra and That Famous Mnemonic.- Cool but not SmoothThe Molecular Spectra of Red Stars.- Glows in the DarkEmission Lines and Nebulae.- Glowing VorticesAccretion Disks.- The P Cygni Profile and Friends.- Spectral MagnetismThe Zeeman Effect.- 'How Much Gold in Them There Stars?'The Curve of Growth.