Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe
Cambridge University Press
Edition: 2, 1/4/2007
EAN 9780521857147, ISBN10: 0521857147
Hardcover, 358 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm
Language: English
From supernovae and gamma-ray bursts to the accelerating Universe, this is an exploration of the intellectual threads that lead to some of the most exciting ideas in modern astrophysics and cosmology. This fully updated second edition incorporates new material on binary stars, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, worm-holes, quantum gravity and string theory. It covers the origins of stars and their evolution, the mechanisms responsible for supernovae, and their progeny, neutron stars and black holes. It examines the theoretical ideas behind black holes and their manifestation in observational astronomy and presents neutron stars in all their variety known today. This book also covers the physics of the twentieth century, discussing quantum theory and Einstein's gravity, how these two theories collide, and the prospects for their reconciliation in the twenty-first century. This will be essential reading for undergraduate students in astronomy and astrophysics, and an excellent, accessible introduction for a wider audience.
Preface
1. Setting the stage
star formation and hydrogen burning in single stars
2. Stellar death
the inexorable grip of gravity
3. Dancing with stars
binary stellar evolution
4. Accretion disks
flat stars
5. White Dwarfs
quantum dots
6. Supernovae
stellar catastrophes
7. Supernova 1987A
lessons and enigmas
8. Neutron stars
atoms with attitude
9. Black holes in theory
into the abyss
10. Black holes in fact
exploring the reality
11. Gamma-ray bursts, black holes and the universe
long, long ago and far, far away
12. Supernovae and the universe
13. Worm holes and time machines
tunnels in space and time
14. Beyond
the frontiers
Index.