About Stars

On a clear and moonless night, especially in remote areas such as deserts, myriads of points of light cover the sky. The great majority of them are stars, many like the Sun, but so far away that they can only be seen as point sources of light. The problem faced by astronomers is to find their properties and distances, just from the light they emit. This is done by using the knowledge of science, mainly physics, acquired from small-scale experiments carried out on Earth. However, the stars themselves are laboratories in which matter behaves in ways that cannot be reproduced on Earth so, in finding out about stars, we complement scientific knowledge gained from earthbound experimentation.

This book describes the means — some very ingenious — by which to explore the properties, locations and planetary companions of stars, and provides a sound foundation for further study.
Contents: About the AuthorIntroductionCreating Material for the First Stars:The Creation of the First MatterMaking Stars:Some Useful Physical TheoryThe Evolution of the UniverseThe Formation and Evolution of StarsThe Structure and Composition of Stars:The Equilibrium of Main-Sequence StarsFinding the Compositions of StarsThe Distances of Stars:Finding the Distances of Nearby Stationary StarsFinding the Distances and Velocities of Nearby Moving StarsFinding Distances to Faraway StarsThe General Properties of Stars:Determining the Radii of StarsDetermining the Masses of StarsOther Stars and Star-like ObjectsExoplanets:Planets About Other StarsThe Nebula TheoryThe Capture TheoryAppendices:Planck's Radiation Law and Quantum PhysicsThe Relativistic Doppler EffectEnergy Production in StarsRadiation PressureElectron Degeneracy PressureThe Eddington Accretion MechanismSolutions to ProblemsReferencesName IndexSubject Index
Readership: Undergraduate physics degree, educated laypeople, or those with a general interest. Stars;Astronomy;Physics00