Fundamentals of Astrophysics
Cambridge University Press, 6/3/2021
EAN 9781108844390, ISBN10: 1108844391
Hardcover, 304 pages, 24.9 x 19.8 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This concise textbook, designed specifically for a one-semester course in astrophysics, introduces astrophysical concepts to undergraduate science and engineering students with a background in college-level, calculus-based physics. The text is organized into five parts covering: stellar properties; stellar structure and evolution; the interstellar medium and star/planet formation; the Milky Way and other galaxies; and cosmology. Structured around short easily digestible chapters, instructors have flexibility to adjust their course's emphasis as it suits them. Exposition drawn from the author's decade of teaching his course guides students toward a basic but quantitative understanding, with 'quick questions' to spur practice in basic computations, together with more challenging multi-part exercises at the end of each chapter. Advanced concepts like the quantum nature of energy and radiation are developed as needed. The text's approach and level bridge the wide gap between introductory astronomy texts for non-science majors and advanced undergraduate texts for astrophysics majors.
Part I. Stellar Properties
1. Introduction
2. Astronomical Distances
3. Stellar Luminosity
4. Surface Temperature from a Star's Color
5. Stellar Radius from Luminosity and Temperature
6. Composition and Ionization from Stellar Spectra
7. Surface Gravity and Escape/Orbital Speed
8. Stellar Ages and Lifetimes
9. Stellar Space Velocities
10. Using Binary Systems to Determine Masses and Radii
11. Stellar Rotation
12. Light Intensity and Absorption
13. Observational Methods
14. Our Sun
Part II. Stellar Structure and Evolution
15. Hydrostatic Balance between Pressure and Gravity
16. Transport of Radiation from Interior to Surface
17. Structure of Radiative vs. Convective Stellar Envelopes
18. Hydrogen Fusion and the Mass Range of Stars
19. Post-Main-Sequence Evolution
Low-Mass Stars
20. Post-Main-Sequence Evolution
High-Mass Stars
Part III. Interstellar Medium and Formation of Stars and Planets
21. The Interstellar Medium (ISM)
22. Star Formation
23. Origin of Planetary Systems
24. Water Planet Earth
25. Extra-Solar Planets
Part IV. Our Milky Way and Other Galaxies
26. Our Milky Way Galaxy
27. External Galaxies
28. Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and Quasars
29. Large Scale Structure and Galaxy Formation and Evolution
Part V. Cosmology
30. Newtonian Dynamical Model of Universe Expansion
31. Accelerating Universe with a Cosmological Constant
32. The Hot Big Bang
33. Eras in the Evolution of the Universe
Part VI. Appendices.