Download or read book The Solar Chromosphere and Corona Quiet Sun written by R.G. Athay and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 517 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The widespread tendency in solar physics to divide the solar atmosphere into separate layers and to distinguish phenomena of solar activity from phenomena of the quiet Sun emphasizes the wide ranging diversity of physical conditions and events occurring in the solar atmosphere. This diversity spans the range from a neutral, essentially quiescent atmosphere to a highly ionized, violently convective atmosphere; from a domain in which magnetic field effects are unimportant to a domain in which the magnetic pressure exceeds the gas pressure, and from a domain in which the particle motions are Maxwellian to a domain in which an appreciable fraction of the particles is accelerated to relativistic energies. It is now widely recognized that the chromosphere and corona have a common origin in the mechanical energy flux generated in the hydrogen convection zone lying beneath the photosphere. Furthermore, magnetic field phenomena appear to be as vital to the structure of th~ quiet Sun as to the active Sun. For these reasons it appears desirable to present a unified treatment of the entire solar atmosphere, both active and quiet, in a single volume. On the other hand, such a treatise must be very long if it is to avoid being superficial, and it is very difficult for a single author to write authoritatively on such a wide range of topics.

Download or read book Physics of Magnetospheric Substorms written by Syun-Ichi Akasofu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Man, through intensive observations of natural phenomena, has learned about some of the basic principles which govern nature. The aurora is one of the most fascinating of these natural phenomena, and by studying it, man has just begun to comprehend auroral phenomena in terms of basic cosmic electrodynamic processes. The systematic and extensive observation of the aurora during and after the great international enterprise, the International Geophysical Year (lGY), led to the concept of the auroral substorm. Like many other geophysical phenomena, auroral displays have a dual time (universal- and local-time) dependence when seen by a ground-based observer. Thus, it was a difficult task for single observers, rotating with the Earth once a day, to grasp a transient feature of a large-scale auroral display. Such a complexity is inevitable in studying many geophysical features, in particular the polar upper atmospheric phenomena. However, it was found that their complexity began to unfold when the concept of the auroral substorm was introduced. In a book entitled Polar and Magnetospheric Substorms, the predeces sor to this book, I tried to describe the auroral phenomena as completely as possible in terms of the concept of the auroral substorm. At that time, the first satellite observations of particles and magnetic fields during substorms were just becoming available, and it was suggested that the auroral sub storm is a manifestation of a magnetospheric phenomenon called the magnetospheric substorm.

Download or read book Physics of the Solar Corona written by Markus Aschwanden and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-01-30 with total page 946 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thorough introduction to solar physics based on recent spacecraft observations. The author introduces the solar corona and sets it in the context of basic plasma physics before moving on to discuss plasma instabilities and plasma heating processes. The latest results on coronal heating and radiation are presented. Spectacular phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections are described in detail, together with their potential effects on the Earth.

Download or read book Introduction to the Physics of Stellar Interiors written by V. Kourganoff and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All astrophysicists are acquainted with the fundamental works ofS. Chandrasekhar [6] and M. Schwarzschild [1] concerning the internal structure of stars. Although both of these works accentuate the principal mathematical devices of the theory (and use, for this reason, notations that are rather perplexing for the non-specialist), the work of Schwarzschild is distinguished by care in demonstrating the physical meaning of the principal equations, while that of Chandrasekhar makes every effort not to skip a single step in the calculations. On the other hand, Schwarz schild , who considers his two introductory chapters as simple reviews of results which are already known, passes a bit rapidly over certain difficult arguments, and Chandrasekhar never goes far enough in the analysis of the physical mechanisms involved. From another point of view, the excellent review articles published in the Ency clopedia of Physics [5] by M. H. Wrubel, P. Ledoux, and others, and those published in Stars and Stellar Systems [4] by H. Reeves, B. Stromgren, R. L. Sears and R. R. Brownlee, and others, are principally intended for research workers who are already initiated into the theory of internal structure. These monographs are on a level that is clearly too high for the general physicist who is approaching these astrophysical questions for the first time, and more particularly for the post-graduate student.

Download or read book Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects written by International Astronomical Union. Colloquium and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1983-04-30 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings of IAU Colloquium No. 72, held in Haifa, Israel, August 9-13, 1982

Download or read book Jacobi Dynamics written by V.I. Ferronsky and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book sets forth and builds upon the fundamentals of the dynamics of natural systems in formulating the problem presented by Jacobi in his famous lecture series "Vorlesungen tiber Dynamik" (Jacobi, 1884). In the dynamics of systems described by models of discrete and continuous media, the many-body problem is usually solved in some approximation, or the behaviour of the medium is studied at each point of the space it occupies. Such an approach requires the system of equations of motion to be written in terms of space co-ordinates and velocities, in which case the requirements of an internal observer for a detailed description of the processes are satisfied. In the dynamics discussed here we study the time behaviour of the fundamental integral characteristics of the physical system, i. e. the Jacobi function (moment of inertia) and energy (potential, kinetic and total), which are functions of mass density distribution, and the structure of a system. This approach satisfies the requirements of an external observer. It is designed to solve the problem of global dynamics and the evolution of natural systems in which the motion of the system's individual elements written in space co-ordinates and velocities is of no interest. It is important to note that an integral approach is made to internal and external interactions of a system which results in radiation and absorption of energy. This effect constitutes the basic physical content of global dynamics and the evolution of natural systems.

Download or read book Ionospheric Effects of Solar Flares written by Hermine Vloemans and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances resulting from an interaction of the Solar Flare radiation with the constituents of the upper atmosphere constitute one of the three major aspects of ground level monitoring of solar flares -the other two being optical observations of flares, and the observations of solar bursts in radio wavelengths. SIDs, therefore, form a major part of flare monitoring programme in many observatories. Unlike the other two, however, the ionospheric effects of flares provide one major additional source of interest - the reaction of the ionospheric plasma to an impulsive ionization. The high atmosphere provides a low pressure laboratory without walls in which a host of reactions occur between electrons, ions and neutral particles. The resulting products and their distributions may bear no resemblance to those of the primary neutral constituents or their direct ionization products. The variations with the time of the day, with season and with solar activity that form the bulk of the ionospheric measurements are too slow to allow any insight into the nature of these ionospheric reactions whose lifetimes are often very short. The relaxation time of the ionospheric ionization is only a few minutes or fraction of a minute in the lower ionosphere and in the E-region and is about 30 min to an hour at 300 km. The flares provide a sudden short impulse comparable to these time scales.

Download or read book Introduction to Astronomical Photometry written by M. Golay and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The material given in this 'Introduction to astronomical photometry' is the subject matter of a lecture at the University of Geneva. It is, therefore, intended for those students, physicists or mathematicians, who have completed their bachelor's degree or diploma, and are intending to work for their Ph.D. in astronomy. We assume then the elementary ideas of astrophysics, magnitude, colour index, spectral classes, luminosity classes, gradient, atmospheric extinction are already known. The student may find it useful to re-read the work of Schatzman [1], Dufay [2] and Aller [254] before embarking upon the study of this 'Introduction to astronomical photometry'. It is not our aim in this book to deal with every aspect of stellar photometry. On the contrary, we shall restriet ourselves to looking at subjects ofwhich knowledge seems to us essential for someone who has to use photometrie quantities in his astronomical research. We are, therefore, keeping the interests of the photometrie measurements user partieularly in mind. We shall only discuss very superficially the technical prob lems and reduction methods for atmospheric extinction. These problems are dealt with very clearly in Astronomical Techniques [3]; the first by A. Lallemand, H. L.

Download or read book Investigating the Universe written by F.D. Kahn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Zdenek Kopal is sixty-seven this year even though his scientific activity, enthusiasm and springy step hardly betray the ad vancement in years. He carne to Manchester as Professor of Astronomy thirty years ago after a very fruitful association of fourteen years with the Harvard Observatory. Much impressed with the young man, Harlow Shapley, who with characteristic insight had recognised in Kopal the qualities that have since made him an outstanding leader in ec1ipsing binary research, had invited him over as a Research Associate. In the subsequent decade Kopal set about the task of introducing analytical rigour in the solution of orbit al elements that hitherto had depended ex c1usively on the semigraphical procedures introduced by Russell and exploited fully by Shapley. These first efforts stimulated publication of the first of his many books on ec1ipsing variables; the Introductian ta the Study of Ec/ipsing Variables summarized these iterative methods and remains a c1assic in this field. Soon after the appearance of this volume in print, Kopal gave a course on this subject for the graduate students at Harvard. I was one of those who had the opportunity to attend it and learn much on the need of care and precision in the practice of photoelectric photometry and the importance of exploiting such data to the fullest extent with methods of increasing resolving power.

Download or read book Stellar Paths written by P. Kamp and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the latest effort in a sequence of presentations begun in 1949 with a series of lectures on long-focus photographic astrometry given by the author as Fulbright professor in Paris at the invitation by the late H. Mineur, at that time Director of the Institut d' Astrophysique. These earlier lectures were published as a series of review articles in Popular Astronomy (1951) and appeared both as Contributions de l'Institut d'Astrophysique, Serie A, No. 81 and as reprint No. 75 of Sproul Observatory. A more elaborate presenta tion was given in 1963 in Stars and Stellar Systems, which was followed by Principles of Astrometry (1967, W. H. Freeman & Co.). During the second half of 1974, again under Fulbright auspices, at the invitation of Pik Sin The, I lectured at the Astronomical Institute in Amster dam, followed by a short course in May-June 1978 at the invitation of E. P. J. van den Heuvel. I gave a more extensive course at the Institut d' As trophysique at the invitation of J. C. Pecker of the College de France and of J. Audouze, Director of the LA.P. Both in Amsterdam and in Paris I had presented occasional astrometric topics at various times. The opportunity to lecture in France and in Holland has facilitated, influenced and improved the organization and contents of the presentations on the subject of long-focus photographic astrometry.

Download or read book Physics of the Solar Corona written by Constantin J. Macris and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Language of the Stars written by Zdenek Kopal and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eclipsing Variables - What They can Tell Us and What We can do with Them The aim of the present book will be to provide an introduction to the inter pretation of the observed light changes of eclipsing binary stars and their analysis for the elements of the respective systems. Whenever we study the properties of any celestial body - be it a planet or a star - all information we wish to gain can reach us through two different channels: their gravitational attraction, and their light. Gravitational interaction between our Earth and its celestial neighbours is, however, measurable only at distances of the order of the dimensions of our solar system; and the only means of communication with the realm of the stars are their nimble-footed photons reaching us - with appropriate time-lag - across the intervening gaps of space. As long as a star is single and emits constant light, it does not constitute a very revealing source of information. A spectrometry of its light can disclose, to be sure, the temperature (colour, or ionization) of the star's semi-transparent outer layers, their chemical composition, and prevalent pressure (through Stark effect) or magnetic field (Zeeman effect), it can disclose even some information about its absolute luminosity or rate of spin. It cannot, however, tell us anything about what we should like to know most - namely, the mass or size (i.e., density) of the respective configuration; its absolute dimensions, or its internal structure.

Download or read book Gravity Particles and Astrophysics written by P. Wesson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the relationship between gravitation and elementary particle physics, and the implications of these subjects for astrophysics. There has, in recent years, been renewed interest in theories that connect up gravitation and particle physics, and in the astrophysical consequences of such theories. Some of these accounts involve a time-variation of the Newtonian gravitational parameter, G. In this respect, the present book may be regarded as a companion to my Cosmology and Geophysics (Hilger, Bristol, 1978). There is some overlap as regards the discussion of G-variability, but the emphasis in the present book is on astrophysics while the emphasis in the other one is on geophysics. The subject is a very broad one indeed, and in giving a review of it I have adopted a somewhat unorthodox way of presenting the material involved. The main reason for this is that a review of such a wide subject should aim at two levels: the level of the person who is interested in it, and the level of the person who is professionally engaged in research into it. To achieve such a two-level coverage, I have split the text up into two parts. The first part (Chapters 1-7) represents a relatively non-technical overview of the subject, while the second part (Chapters 8-11) represents a technical examination of the most important aspects of non-Einsteinian gravitational theory and its relation to astrophysics.

Download or read book Cosmic Plasma written by H. Alfvèn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The general background of this monograph and the aim of it is described in detail in Chapter I. As stated in 1.7 it is written according to the principle that "when rigour appears to conflict with simplicity, simplicity is given preference", which means that it is intended for a rather broad public. Not only graduate students but also advanced undergraduates should be able to understand at least most of it. This monograph is the result of many years of inspiring discussions with a number of colleagues, for which I want to thank them very much. Especially I should mention the groups in Stockholm and La Jolla: in Stockholm, Dr Carl-Gunne Flilthammar and many of his collaborators, including Drs Lars Block, Per Carlqvist, Lennart lindberg, Michael Raadu, Staffan Torven, Miroslav Babic, and Itlgvar Axniis, and further, Drs Bo Lehnert and Bjorn Bonnevier, all at the Royal Institute of Technology. Of other col leagues in Sweden, I should mention Dr Bertel Laurent, Stockholm University, Dr Aina Elvius, The Stockholm Observatory, and Dr Bengt Hultqvist, Kiruna. In La Jolla my thanks go first of all to Dr Gustaf Arrhenius, who once invited me to La Jolla, which was the start of a most interesting collaboration; further, to Dr W.B.

Download or read book Dynamics of Close Binary Systems written by Zdenek Kopal and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1978-08-31 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of the present book will be to provide a comprehensive account of our present knowledge of the theory of dynamical phenomena exhibited by elose binary systems; and on the basis of such phenomena as have been attested by available observations to outline probable evolutionary trends of such systems in the course of time. The evolution of the stars - motivated by nuelear as weIl as gravitation al energy sources - constitutes nowadays a well-established branch of stellar astronomy. No theo ries of such an evolution are as yet sufficently specific - let alone infallible - not to require continual tests by a confrontation of their consequences with the observed prop erties of actual stars at different stages of their evolution. The discriminating power of such tests depends, of course, on the range of information offered by the test objects. Single stars which move alone in space are now known to represent only a minority of objects constituting our Galaxy (cf. Chapter 1-2); and are, moreover, not very revealing of their basic physical characteristics - such as their masses or absolute dimensions. If there were no binary systems in the sky, the only star whose vital statistics would be fully known to us would be our Sun.

Download or read book Astrophysics from Spacelab written by P.L. Bernacca and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A meeting on "Astrophysics. from Spacelab" was held at the Internatio nal Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, in the Autumn of 1976. Scope of the meeting was to bring to the attention of an increasing number of physi cists and astrophysicists, including scientists from developing countries, the new facil ities made available by the combination of the Shuttle and the Spacelab programmes. This book starts from that meeting and includes, together with reports presented in Trieste, duly updated, a few additional reviews on selected to pi cs. In the first part, D.J. Shapland and G. Giampalmo (liThe Shuttle and the Spacelab") present the design and the programmatic data of these advanced transportation systems and orbital laboratories. Vittorio Manno introduces the scientific programmes coordinated and led to execution by the European Space Agency ("ESA Programmes in Astronomy and Astrophys i cs "). J.D. Rosendha 1 (liThe NASA Programmes in Astronomy and Astrophysics") summarizes the activi ties in solar physics, high-energy astrophysics and astronomy planned in the United States of America by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as well as the expected use of the space shuttle and spacelab in their first year of operation

Download or read book Topics in Interstellar Matter written by Hugo van Woerden and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interstellar matter is one of the most active fields of research in present-day astronomy. Observational information spans the full electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays through rocket-ultraviolet, optical, infrared and millimeter to long radio waves. Results of research in physical chemistry find as much application as mathematical methods. Interstellar matter plays a leading role in studies of our Galaxy and of external galaxies, and contributes increasingly to stellar astronomy. At the 16th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, held in August 1976 in Grenoble, France, the many new developments in this vast field were surveyed in a number of sessions of Commission 34 (Interstellar Matter), mostly jointly with other Commissions of the Union. Separate sessions were devoted to: The hot interstellar gas phase, Interaction of stars and interstellar medium, Interstellar molecules and dust, The large-scale distribution of interstellar matter in the Galaxy, and Interstellar matter in external galaxies. Twenty-four invited review papers were presented and discussed in these sessions. The quality and success of these topical reviews made it seem desirable to make them available to a wider audience. Professor Edith Muller, the new General Secretary of the IAU, enthusiastically supported the idea. Most importantly, the reviewers - who had originally been pro mised that an oral paper was the only requirement - agreed to prepare written versions. I am grateful to Mrs. Muller, to the authors, and to Reidel Publishing for their collaboration in the preparation of this book.