Observers Guide To Stellar Evolution

Stellar evolution - the birth, development and death of stars - is central to our current understanding of astronomy, but surprisingly the majority of amateur astronomers lack a full understanding of the physics of stars. Current books on the market tend to be highly theoretical and off-putting, in Observer's Guide to Stellar Evolution, Mike Inglis brings this subject to life in a unique way. By combining a step-by-step introduction with suggestions for practical observations of stars at different stages in their evolution, amateur astronomers regardless of their current level of knowledge, will find this book fascinating and informative. -Accessible to every amateur astronomer, regardless of background knowledge. -Step-by-step introduction to the theory of stellar evolution. -Includes many examples of stars at different stages in their evolution, that the reader can observe for him/herself. -Mathematics is made accessible by being presented in 'boxes'that readers can skip over if they prefer!

Amateur astronomers of all expertise from beginner to experienced will find this a thorough star cluster atlas perfect for easy use at the telescope or through binoculars. It enables practical observers to locate the approximate positions of objects in the sky, organized by constellation. This book was specifically designed as an atlas and written for easy use in field conditions. The maps are in black-and-white so that they can be read by the light of a red LED observer’s reading light. The clusters and their names/numbers are printed in bold black, against a “grayed-out” background of stars and constellation figures. To be used as a self-contained reference, the book provides the reader with detailed and up-to-date coverage of objects visible with small-, medium-, and large-aperture telescopes, and is equally useful for simple and computer-controlled telescopes. In practice, GO-TO telescopes can usually locate clusters accurately enough to be seen in a low-magnification eyepiece, but this of course first requires that the observer knows what is visible in the sky at a given time and from a given location, so as to input a locatable object. This is where "The Observer's Guide to Star Clusters" steps in as an essential aid to finding star clusters to observe and an essential piece of equipment for all amateur astronomers.

The sum of centuries of speculation on the probable course of evolution in stars is discussed by one of the world's greatest astronomers, with a full report of his own conclusions, How long stars exist, the relation of their luminosity to their mass, the evolution of a star in relation to the main sequence, the significance of rotation, are among the crucial problems considered. While the discussion is replete with technical detail, sufficient background is included to enable the amateur astronomer or anyone with scientific training to follow the argument. Originally published in 1950. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This second edition of Mike Inglis's classic guide to observing the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere updates all of the science about the target objects with new findings from the astrophysics field. In addition, the book boasts a larger format with entirely re-drawn maps. Newly laid out for ease of use with an increased number of images in color, it updates and improves the first edition to remain the most comprehensive text on the subject. One of the wonders of the universe we live in is the Milky Way, and this book provides a wonderful tour of its highlights for amateur astronomers observing below the equator. In its pages, Southern Hemisphere observers interested in viewing our own galaxy's finest features will find every constellation that the Milky Way passes through with detailed descriptions of the many objects that can be found therein, including stars, double and multiple stars, emission nebulae, planetary nebulae, dark nebulae and supernovae remnants, open and galactic clusters, and galaxies. The book also details the one thing that is often left out of observing guides - the amazing star clouds of the Milky Way itself. Accompanying the descriptive text there are many star charts and maps, as well as the latest images made by observatories around the world and in space along with those taken by amateur astronomers. This second edition's updated scientific material and an easy-to-use layout perfect for many nights of fruitful observation.

Over the last decade we have witnessed a rapid change in our understanding of the late stages of stellar evolution. A major stimulus to this has been the synthesis of observational data from different wavebands of the electromagnetic spectrum. The advent of infrared astronomy has led to the discovery of many luminous. late-type stars obscured by their circumstellar dust envelope. Sources discovered in the IRC and AFGL infrared sky surveys were followed up by radio observa tions, leading to the widespread use of the OH and CO molecules as probes of the circumstellar envelopes. Advances in the technique of aperture synthesis have made possible observations with unprecedent resolving power, both in spectral-line and continuum. The success of the recent IRAS sky survey, with the detection of over 250,000 sources, brings the promise of even more exciting years ahead. This area of astronomical research is also blessed with the close collaboration between theorists and observers. New ideas are constantly being quantitatively tested by new data. Theoretical predictions are eagerly used as guides for further observations. This conference was initiated with the following objective: bring together workers in optical, infrared, radio and theoretical astronomy and let them confront each other. Based on the post-conference res ponses we received, many of the participants have indeed found this Workshop a stimulating experience. The Workshop on the Late Stages of Stellar Evolution was held from 2-5 June 1986 in Calgary, Canada.

The diverse forms that stars assume in the course of their lives can all be derived from the initial conditions: the mass and the original chemical composition. In this textbook Stars and Stellar Evolution the basic concepts of stellar structure and the main roads of stellar evolution are described. First, the observable parameters are presented, which are based on the radiation emerging from a stellar atmosphere. Then the basic physics is described, such as the physics of gases, radiation transport, and nuclear processes, followed by essential aspects of modelling the structure of stars. After a chapter on star formation, the various steps in the evolution of stars are presented. This leads us to brown dwarfs, to the way a star changes into the red-giant state and numerous other stages of evolution and ultimately to the stellar ashes such as white dwarfs, supernovae and neutron stars. Stellar winds, stellar rotation and convection all in uence the way a star evolves. The evolution of binary stars is included by using several canonical examples in which interactive processes lead to X-ray binaries and supernovae of type Ia. Finally, the consequences of the study of stellar evolution are tied to observed mass and luminosity functions and to the overall evolution of matter in the universe. The authors aim at reaching an understanding of stars and their evolution by both graduate students and astronomers who are not themselves investigating stars. To that end, numerous graphs and sketches, among which the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is the dominant one, help trace the ways of stellar evolution. Ample references to specialised review articles as well as to relevant research papers are included.