Fundamental astronomy

Fundamental Astronomy gives a well-balanced and comprehensive introduction to the various fields of classical and modern astronomy. While emphasizing both the astronomical concepts and the underlying physical principles, the text provides a sound basis for more profound studies in the astronomical sciences. The present revised and enlarged third edition of this successful textbook includes a host of new knowledge acquired in recent years. In particular the chapters on observations and on the physics of the Sun have been thoroughly revised.

1. Introduction -- 2. Spherical Astronomy -- 3. Observations and Instruments -- 4. Photometric Concepts and Magnitudes -- 5. Radiation Mechanisms -- 6. Temperatures -- 7. Celestial Mechanics -- 8. The Solar System -- 9. Stellar Spectra -- 10. Binary Stars and Stellar Masses -- 11. Stellar Structure -- 12. Stellar Evolution -- 13. The Sun -- 14. Variable Stars -- 15. Compact Stars -- 16. The Interstellar Medium -- 17. Star Clusters and Associations -- 18. The Milky Way -- 19. Galaxies -- 20. Cosmology -- Appendices -- A. Mathematics -- A.1 Geometry -- A.2 Taylor Series -- A.3 Vector Calculus -- A.4 Conic Sections -- A.5 Multiple Integrals -- A.6 Numerical Solution of an Equation -- B. Quantum Mechanics -- B.1 Quantum Mechanical Model of Atoms. Quantum Numbers -- B.2 Selection Rules and Transition Probabilities -- B.3 Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle -- B.4 Exclusion Principle -- C. Theory of Relativity -- C.1 Basic Concepts -- C.2 Lorentz Transformation. Minkowski Space -- C.3 General Relativity -- C.4 Tests of General Relativity -- D. Radio Astronomy Fundamentals -- D.1 Antenna Definitions -- D.2 Antenna Temperature and Flux Density -- E. Tables -- Answers to Exercises -- Furthe…