The Observation and Analysis of Stellar Photospheres

A rigorous, engaging advanced textbook on stellar atmospheres: from equipment and observational techniques to analysis and applications.

David F. Gray (Author)

9781009078016, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 December 2021

550 pages
24.4 x 16.9 x 2.8 cm, 0.912 kg

'David Gray's book puts the decades of the author's hands-on experience, combined with his scientific ingenuity, into a form that students and young researcher love. Clearly, David Gray's book has evolved. The Fourth Edition is not just a graduate student's textbook, it is now also an up-to-date window into practical stellar astrophysical research. As in the past, all my graduate students will get it as their bible.' Prof. Klaus G. Strassmeier, University of Potsdam, and Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, Germany

This textbook describes the equipment, observational techniques, and analysis used in the investigation of stellar photospheres. Now in its fourth edition, the text has been thoroughly updated and revised to be more accessible to students. New figures have been added to illustrate key concepts, while diagrams have been redrawn and refreshed throughout. The book starts by developing the tools of analysis, and then demonstrates how they can be applied. Topics covered include radiation transfer, models of stellar photospheres, spectroscopic equipment, how to observe stellar spectra, and techniques for measuring stellar temperatures, radii, surface gravities, chemical composition, velocity fields, and rotation rates. Up-to-date results for real stars are included. Written for starting graduate students or advanced undergraduates, this textbook also includes a wealth of reference material useful to researchers. eBook formats include color imagery while print formats are greyscale only; a wide selection of the color images are available online.

Preface to the first edition
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the third edition
Preface to the fourth edition
1. Background
2. Fourier transforms
3. Spectroscopic tools
4. Light detectors
5. Radiation terms and definitions
6. The black body and its radiation
7. Energy transport in stellar photospheres
8. The continuous absorption coefficient
9. The model photosphere
10. Analysis of stellar continua
11. The line absorption coefficient
12. The measurement of spectral lines
13. The behavior of spectral lines
14. The measurement of stellar radii and temperatures
15. The measurement of surface gravity
16. The measurement of chemical composition
17. Velocity fields in stellar photospheres
18. Stellar rotation
Appendix A. Useful constants
Appendix B: Approximate physical parameters of stars
Appendix C. Atomic data
Appendix D. The strongest lines in the solar spectrum
Appendix E. Computation of random errors
Index.

Subject Areas: Astrophysics [PHVB], Astronomical observation: observatories, equipment & methods [PGG]